When Chris and Gunna Chown opened Plas Bodegroes in August 1986, the term Restaurant with Rooms was unheard of in Wales, as was any notion of Modern Welsh cookery. Combine this with the geographic remoteness of the property; they chose to achieve their dream, and the dream could easily have become a nightmare. However, their single minded determination was rewarded by becoming the first Welsh restaurant to gain a Michelin-star, followed by three AA-Rosettes and Good Food Guide UK Restaurant of the Year.

Chris and Gunna had a near perfect canvas on which to work. Dreamy, creamy Plas Bodegroes is a Grade 2 Star listed Georgian manor house tucked away in peaceful grounds on the rugged Llyn Peninsula. The locality boasts some of Wales’ best walking and beaches, and Chris and Gunna have enhanced the feel of the restaurant with a stunning collection of contemporary Welsh Art, much of it inspired by the Peninsula.

Chris’s formula in the kitchen has been a simple one – source the best Welsh ingredients and let them speak for themselves. The results are honest, intense flavours with inventive twists that are well-informed, not faddy.

So he uses wind dried Carmarthen ham to enhance his monkfish salad, Glasfryn Parc Welsh Black beef in two ways to reinterpret the classic flavour of beef and onions, and rhubarb and elderflower from his own kitchen garden.