The Wizard - Nether Alderley

Standing close to the famous red sandstone escarpment of Alderley Edge (a place of mythic renown and magical legends), this particular 'wizard' has cleverly transformed itself from an easy-going local pub into a slick, professionally run restaurant.

Inside, it exudes affluent open-plan rusticity, with flagstone floors, beams and scrubbed wood tables. Paul Beattie's daily menus cover a lot of ground and there's plenty of ambition in dishes such as carpaccio of beef with wasabi slaw, watercress and beetroot chips.

He also conjures up modern gastropub classics (grilled fillet of halibut on colcannon with pancetta) and sound ideas from the modern European repertoire (tian of crab with gaucamole, cannon of lamb with bubble 'n' squeak and rosemary jus, for example). To finish, expect anything from lemon crème brûlée to apple and blackberry crumble.