Cool Places
The Hand & Flowers
126 West Street Marlow Buckinghamshire SL7 2BP.
Husband-and-wife team Tom and Beth Kerridge preside over this much-garlanded restaurant with rooms on the outskirts of Marlow. It may look like a pub from the outside, but Tom's cooking has earned two Michelin stars and an AA restaurant-of the-year gong, so this is very much about dining rather than drinking. However, despite those Michelin stars, there's no starched tablecloth formality here. The tables are rustic, and the menu a no-nonsense mix of seasonal, hearty English and French dishes – line-caught cod, loin of Cotswold venison, Bérigoule mushroom with lettuce and ash. Sunday lunches, including the headline Roast Chateaubriand of Lancashire Beef, are a cut above.
