Seasonality
Maidenhead, Berkshire
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Best Local Restaurant: South East
Locals have welcomed this ‘beacon of loveliness’ in Maidenhead town centre with universal acclaim. Seasonality, run by chef Wesley Smalley and his wife Francesca, grew out of a lockdown project to provide dine-at-home boxes of high-quality food to the surrounding area. That service is still running, but now this attractive little restaurant on a parade of shops is the mainstay of the business. The bright, modern interior (white furniture, wooden flooring, bare brick walls enlivened by colourful prints of ingredients) is dominated by a new central island kitchen, where Smalley creates his dishes. At lunchtime, an upbeat soundtrack keeps the young crowd of office-workers and couples abuzz, as do the beautifully composed plates of food from the seasonally attuned fixed-price menu (the same line-up is available, for a few pounds more, at dinner). In early summer, you might see a creamy and subtly flavoured nettle velouté poured onto a curl of cured pollock with a scattering of smoked fish eggs: classy stuff, especially when combined with a side order of excellent home-baked fennel and onion-seed bread. Main course could be miso-roasted celeriac with borlotti beans and shaved fennel salad, or a thick, succulent fillet of sea bream matched with rock samphire, chicken mousseline, little brown shrimps and a rich bisque sauce – the punchy flavours skilfully united. The presentation of puddings is equally accomplished, as in a large white marshmallow enclosing a nutty ball of pumpkin-seed ‘financier’ resting in a vibrantly orange, rather sweet, mango sauce, with coconut ice cream on top. At lunch, a simple list of by-the-glass wines is offered (together with local bottled beers); the owners also run wine-pairing evenings and supper clubs. There’s an appealing community-accented feel to the place that's bolstered by the vibe from charming, young staff and regulars excited to have discovered such exceptional food at (relatively) bargain prices. ‘It’s almost too good to be true,' exclaimed one fan. Overblown, overpriced venues in the vicinity take note. Payment by card only.
