Lovage by Lee - The incredible Bakewell restaurant that is well on its way to a Michelin Star

When you hear Bakewell, I'm sure the first thing you think of is a tart, I mean you're only human. But I'm here to tell you the Derbyshire town is home to something even more stupendous...

A restaurant that from the outside is relatively unassuming, but on the inside is a gastronomic haven serving 'proper' British food that you'll be thinking about several weeks later.

At least this was my experience at Lovage by Lee Smith, a restaurant that has been praised by critics for its laid-back approach to fine dining, and one that I believe is on track for a coveted Michelin Star.

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Lovage already features in the Michelin Guide and chef patron Lee Smith holds a star, making this a real contender for an award next year.

The menu pays tribute to Bakewell's location in the Peaks, with dishes such as venison and beef taking centre stage. But for me, the star of the entire dining experience was the snacks and (what I like to call pre-starters).

We devoured warm homemade bread with salty, flavour-packed lovage butter as an homage to the restaurant's name. And a tantalising crispy truffle and parmesan bonbon that to be quite frank I could have eaten a dozen of.

The snacks delivered on taste and presentation, they weren't pretentious or over the top but rather a simply delicious scene setter for what turned out to be one of my favourite ever meals.

The restaurant itself is stylish and understated, offering industrial glamour with a cool country feel, boasting wooden tables, large comfortable chairs, and fairy lights strung across the window, framing the picture-perfect snowy scenes outside.

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The staff were knowledgeable, polite, well-presented and not 'stiff' as can be the case in a lot of fine-dining establishments. Each dish was given a thoughtful introduction and drinks were topped up all the way through.

Our starters married together fine dining and delicious eating. My dining partner enjoyed the steak tartare and praised the hash brown as 'ruining all others for all eternity'. I opted for the trout which was served cured alongside a fresh apple gel that cut through the fattiness of the fish like a blade.

The mains were unctuous and meaty. I had the venison haunch which was braised to the point of melting with a velvety smooth truffle mash, carrots and savoy cabbage. The flavours were deep and wintry like red wine in front of a cold fire.

My dining partner enjoyed the beef fillet, served with triple-cooked chips and a glazed shallot this was a far cry from your standard mid-week meal. The chips alone are worth writing about, thick, and crispy, emanating that they were simultaneously terrible for your health and amazing for your soul.

The desserts had a tough act to follow but don't worry they surpassed expectations. My partner was delighted by the chocolate tart served with tonka bean ice cream and hazelnut praline, a dish that both sounded and tasted worthy of MasterChef. It was glossy, gorgeous and bitter.

I chose the blackberry soufflé with tarragon ice cream and vanilla ice cream. I know I previously praised this restaurant for its lack of pretentiousness but this is exactly the sort of dessert I love, in your face, fancy and beautiful to look at. A puffed lilac soufflé with contrasting green ice cream meant it was as aesthetically pleasing as it was palatable.

Best of all, we were able to talk to Lee himself, as he popped out of the busy kitchen to socialise. He told us about his impressive career and the restaurant's seasonal menu (hello, basil ice cream). He also surprised us with flaky, light, sugar-coated mince pies that were warm and fresh from the oven.

There is a science to balancing flavours that Lovage delivers wholly, while the meal overall was rich and decadent, I didn't leave feeling rotund or unable to walk. I was (possibly for the first time in a long time) satiated.

I'm not usually a fan of fine-dining restaurants, I often find them to be a bit awkward and uncomfortable, as though picking up the wrong fork would result in being smote by Dionysis. That's what makes Lovage so great - you get all the joy of fine-dining without the ego.

I can't express enough how much I think people should visit this restaurant, it's in my opinion, on the precipice of great things and I wouldn't be at all surprised if, over the next few years, it became a destination dining spot - with people traveling the length and breadth of the country to visit.

If you're new to fine dining, or simply want something amazing to eat near Bakewell, book a table - you won't regret it.