The Old Library
Ashburton, Devon
The commitment to regionalism at the Old Library extends to Amy Mitchell and Joe Suttie themselves, 'locally grown chefs', as they put it. Facing Ashburton's town car park, their café-style venue features hand-crafted furniture clustered around a busy service counter, where the action motors through the day from fortifying full breakfasts (meat or veggie) and various filled croissants to lunches centred on the likes of 'house eggs' with roasted red peppers and squash or 'beet about the bush' (beetroot salad with quinoa, avocado, feta and rocket, plus optional chorizo). There are no bookings, it's simply a first come, first served set-up. A popular supper club (which is bookable) operates a couple of evenings each month: a typical seven-course menu (£65) might feature Thai crab bisque and an 'exotic' mushroom tart ahead of pan-fried hake fillet with celeriac, braised baby gem and chicken jus; then comes a pre-dessert (perhaps lemon sherbert mousse), before a hazelnut millefeuille rounds things off. A short list of mainly European wines fits the bill. Sign up for the email notifications.
