The first time we visited Alchemilla we managed to walk straight past it, so unassuming is the front of the building. As you head out to the outskirts of Nottingham city centre, a glass door embedded in the arches of a beautiful old brick coaching house signals the entrance. Walking through is like the discovery of some great ancient Mayan temple crypt – moss sprawls across exposed brick walls and the sun streams through skylights in the ceiling, throwing shadows across the stone floor.

It’s amazing to think this beautiful building sat derelict for decades before Alex Bond found it. It took extensive work to get it into shape but it stands today as one of the most progressive, exciting restaurants in the country. Alex’s journey from chef to restaurateur started some years ago now – it was something of an epiphany, he says, when he and his wife (a horticulturist by trade) started to explore the possibilities of what could be done with a plant-based diet. That experimentation and desire to put vegetables front and centre in his dishes led directly to the menu you see at Alchemilla today, a menu that won Alex and his brigade a Michelin star in 2019.

Many dishes at Alchemilla are vegetarian and vegan (or can easily be made as such), but serving a veg-first menu doesn’t necessarily mean serving vegetarian food. A braised cabbage dish puts the humble brassica in the spotlight but Alex serves it with a punchy bordelaise sauce and caramelised cream. Beautiful fresh ceps are accompanied by both white button and field mushrooms, glazed with Marmite and served with aged beef tartare. The desserts – so often an afterthought – are superb, and include the likes of hay custard with Bramley apple and burnt sugar, and frozen yoghurt with pine and wood sorrel.

Equally admirable is the sustainable, waste-free approach taken up in the kitchen. The aforementioned Marmite is made in-house from leftover sourdough and yeast. The team at Alchemilla age all their meat, then use the offcuts to flavour other dishes. Seasonal ingredients are pickled and fermented, then used in dishes throughout the year. It’s intelligent cooking that comes through on the plate – both style and substance in equally impressive measure.