Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sticky Walnut
MODERN EUROPEAN Formerly the Village Bistro, this
cozy restaurant has wowed customers under its new ownership, offering upscale,
creative modern cooking at very good prices that make it well worth the slight schlepp
from central Chester (it's a 10-min. walk outside the walls). This is hearty rather than
fine dining, with a fashionable, rustic edge to it: According to the season, expect oven-
roast beets with fresh ricotta, sticky walnuts, and spicy pumpkin seeds; rope-grown
Shetland mussels, spicy sausage, onion, and white wine; and whole chargrilled mack-
erel with lemon marmalade and wild rocket.
11 Charles St., Hoole, Chester.
&
01244/400400.
www.stickywalnut.com/menu.html. Reservations
recommended. Main courses £7-£13. MC, V. Tues-Sat noon-10pm, Sun noon-6pm.
Shopping
Chester is a prime shopping destination, with the highlight being the unique
Rows,
with one tier of shops at street level, the others stacked on top along a sort of galleried
balcony. Offerings on the Rows include both high-street stalwarts and quirkier one-
offs, including tobacco shops, china shops, jewelers, and antiques dealers. Several
Chester stores, including wine and spirits merchant
Corks Out,
21 Watergate Street
(
&
01244/310455
), are in atmospheric medieval crypts.
North of Chester, at Ellesmere Port, the
Cheshire Oaks (McArthur Glen)
Designer Outlet
(
&
0151/348-5600;
www.cheshireoaksdesigneroutlet.com) has
145 designer and high-street stores offering reductions of up to 60%.
Where to Stay
For the
Chester Grosvenor and Spa,
see the “Simon Radley at the Chester Gros-
venor” review, above, under “Where to Eat.” There's an
ABode
(£89-£210 double,
including breakfast) in a modern building in central Chester, with a
Michael Caines
restaurant. You'll find self-catering holiday cottages on the grounds of both
Tatton
Park
(p. 576) and
Lyme Park
(p. 576).
Green Bough Hotel
Winner of countless awards, this luxurious haven,
about a 10-minute walk from the center of Chester exudes the intimacy lacking at
the Grosvenor, with just over a dozen individually designed rooms, a rooftop garden,
a champagne bar, and a fine-dining restaurant, the
Olive Tree,
also award-winning
for its imaginative cuisine using mainly local produce (think foragers' broth with pearl
barley and Parmesan ice cream, crispy Gloucestershire Old Spot belly pork with cin-
namon and apple compôte, and Madagascan vanilla soufflé with mango and lime
coulis). The no-children-under-13 policy makes this a good contender for a romantic
retreat, reinforced by the plush but understated decor, including cast-iron, half-tester,
or carved wooden beds in many rooms.
60 Hoole Rd., Chester, Cheshire CH2 3NL. www.chestergreenboughhotel.com.
&
01244/326241.
15
units. £175-£195 double; from £245 suite. Rates include full Cheshire breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Free
parking.
Amenities:
Restaurant; bar; room service; free DVD library; treatments (at spa in center), free
Wi-Fi.
In room:
TV, hair dryer, free Wi-Fi.
Kingsley Lodge
This is another intimate hideaway with a no-children-
under-13 rule. It's a 1950s' Arts and Crafts-style villa in landscaped gardens in an
exclusive residential neighborhood in Wilmslow, offering sumptuous boutique-style
rooms and little else but peace and quiet. Since opening in 2002, it's been a bit of an
insider secret among luxury hoteliers, style journalists, and discerning celebrities,
who all fall for the timelessly chic decor with original works of art, handcrafted
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