Chater’s, Saffron Walden, Essex: ‘Promises little and completely overdelivers’ – restaurant review

Chater's, Saffron Walden: ‘It’s all so perfectly curated that the quality really does speak for itself.’ Photograph: Emma Guscott Photography/The Guardian

Saffron Walden is idyllic on a summer’s day, like a Ladybird Classic version of how Great Britain whiles away its balmy weekends: strolling on grassy heaths, browsing antique stores or buying small-batch preserves from the jolly market. Obviously, having watched a lot of Midsomer Murders, I suspect that, behind closed doors, Saffron Walden is in fact a virulent bed of deceit and deadly avarice, but on the surface it is plain gorgeous. Just off the main shopping area sits Church Street, a pretty thoroughfare with yet more antique showrooms, Grade 1 historic houses and, since late last summer, Chater’s, a space that does almost everything in a low-key but deftly curated way.

Chater’s pecorino with local honey and coffee: ‘Like a chewable espresso martini.’ Photograph: Emma Guscott Photography/The Guardian