Andria
Dartmouth, Devon
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In the holidaymakers' Arcadia of the South Hams, the best restaurants are found where locals shore up the year-round trade and visitors are merely a seasonal bonus. There are few better examples than Andria, where the appetite of Dartmouth and its surrounding towns is more than enough to sustain this venture, which Italian chef Luca Berardino runs with love and sharp kitchen skills. He brought his talent to the UK by way of training in Paris, making him a true purveyor of modern European cooking. The modest, wood-panelled front room, softened by warm lighting and the happy buzz of diners, forms a backdrop to a sharing-plates menu where the pleasure of rosy-pink beef fillet is almost outshone by its counterparts of glossy, deeply flavoured peppercorn sauce and a confit beef-fat croûton, while the smoked butter sauce on pearly Brixham cod wouldn’t be out of place at The Ritz. It’s not all plain sailing though: irregular clumps of finishing salt result in some erratic seasoning. Not every dish stands out, but those that do are endearing – sweet cabbage with Madras butter and lime, for example. So too is the dedicated pastrywork: a delicate lemon tart and a powerful 72% chocolate millefeuille are proof enough. Service is friendly, if not always polished. Wines start at £21, becoming more interesting further down the list.
