It took Paul Foster several years to find the perfect site for his own restaurant. Finally having found it in picturesque Stratford-upon-Avon, he opened Salt in March 2017. It was thanks to a crowdfunding campaign that saw Paul and his wife Rhiain raise the £100,000 needed to set out on their own, and with the restaurant now serving some of the best food in the Midlands, it appears it was worth all the anxiety and hard work.

With à la carte, tasting and Sunday lunch menus, there’s plenty to choose from, and Paul ensures the dishes change in accordance with the seasons. Vegetarians and vegans are catered for (provided you inform the team in advance), and Paul has even set up a few raised beds in the restaurant garden.

The restaurant itself is housed inside a sixteenth century building with plenty of character – think old wooden beams, an open fireplace and stone floors. Before Paul took over the site it was home to a forty-cover tapas restaurant, but the new interior allows for a relaxed atmosphere with a stripped back décor. The food is central to everything at Salt (as it should be), with Paul continuing to cook the same lauded cuisine that made him well known at Mallory Court. Meats are dry-cured and aged in-house for a more intense flavour.

Paul knows how hard it is to keep staff in the hospitality industry – especially outside London – and has followed in the footsteps of chefs such as Sat Bains by offering perks and reasonable working hours to his team. Salt is already the shining star in Stratford’s food scene, and Paul’s cooking continues to evolve and delight.