For the main, we chose a rather majestic looking ‘Cote de Boeuf with béarnaise sauce, watercress and truffle and Parmesan chips’. It was swoon-worthingly good – we began to wonder if in fact it was better than the efforts of the famed London steakhouse group, Hawksmoor (high praise in the world of steak cooking). The truffle and Parmesan chips put regular chips to shame, although a special mention must go to the sauces, not only béarnaise, but bone marrow and beefy gravy too – all three were exceptional. I will probably be sorely disappointed in future restaurants at what will be mere shadows of these sauces. For dessert, we had some tough choices to make, because you aren’t let down by the pastry section here. As a compromise, we chose three: ‘banana parfait, chocolate and peanut brittle, caramel ice cream’, ‘sticky toffee pudding, toffee sauce and walnut semi-freddo’ and ‘blackberry frangipane tart, crème fraîche sorbet’. Each impressed in its own way – pushed for a favourite, I would choose the sticky toffee pudding, if only by a whisker.

We left Burnt Truffle full to the brim, but luckily managed to recover our appetites in time for Sunday lunch at Sticky Walnut. We were given what I think was the best table in the restaurant – in full view of the kitchen and next to a shelf crammed with amazing cookbooks and wine (I think need to get myself one of those). Before I go further, one thing needs to be said – Sunday lunch at Sticky Walnut is ridiculously good value for money. At 3 courses for £20, I couldn’t quite believe my eyes. I briefly considered moving to Chester.

For starters we chose ‘chicken liver pâté, apricot and cumin chutney, toasted focaccia’ and ‘oven roast baby beets, walnut praline, fresh goat’s curd, spicy pumpkin seeds’. Both were excellent, although highlights had to be the chutney (who knew apricot and cumin seeds worked so well?) and the walnut praline, which added a hint of sweetness and crunch to the soft beetroot and curd.

I’d not had a proper roast dinner for ages, and so I was quite excited about the prospect of Sticky Walnut’s beef with all the trimmings. They over-delivered on my expectations – the meat was perfectly cooked, the roast potatoes were crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, the carrot purée was velvety-smooth and the beans and kale absolutely spot on. As at Burnt Truffle, they excelled with the sauce – probably the best gravy I’ve ever tasted. I honestly don’t know how they packed in so much flavour and got such a beautiful sheen. I’m not a fan of Yorkshire puddings (to my boyfriend’s advantage), but he assured me it was perfect. The second main was ‘rolled and stuffed pork belly, crispy crackling and pearl barley’ – and here it was the stuffing that really shone, although the pearl barley deserves an honourable mention too (along with another sensational sauce).

We just about had room for dessert, and decided on the ‘raspberry cheesecake, pecan butter biscuit and raspberry jam’ and the ‘chocolate ganache, poached cherries and cassis sorbet’. To our surprise, the cheesecake came deconstructed – but not in the way which makes you sigh in mourning for the real thing. Each of the component parts were miles better than any regular cheesecake, especially the pecan butter biscuit. The chocolate ganache was intensely rich, but wonderfully offset by the poached cherries and cassis sorbet.

Front of house so often go unmentioned in restaurant reviews, and Adam and Emma have built solid teams in both venues. Utterly charming and with a passion for the restaurants, they all seem to magically appear whenever you need them. I asked in both restaurants which wines the staff would personally pick to accompany certain dishes and they came up trumps every time. When the team have the knowledge – use them. I often find myself being taken down a totally different path to what I would have chosen myself, and it almost always results in some brilliant new discoveries.

With a third restaurant on the cards near Manchester, I’ll certainly be planning a trip when it’s ready (covering all three, of course). In the meantime, I’ll stick to following the thrills and spills on Twitter, whether Gary’s running the account or not. As long as he’s still behind the stoves, everything will be just fine.

Learn more about Sticky Walnut and Burnt Truffle, and follow them on Twitter for a fantastic insight into the industry.