Café au Chocolat

The authentic crêpes at Café au Chocolat are to die for – ‘as good as in Brittany’ one French visitor remarked. Ooh la la - the highest accolade! Lunch on a savoury variety, made with naturally gluten free buckwheat flour, perhaps stuffed with mushroom and spinach or with hummus, rocket and sun-dried tomatoes. Follow up with a sweet strawberry and salted caramel version if you've space to do a double.

This evocatively named, sky-blue café is tucked up a side street in Stamford, one of England's finest Georgian towns. Vintage furniture, a 17th-century cast-iron range and scuffed panelling give a sense of tousled Parisienne chic, inspired by owner Krystyna’s European grand tours. Her preference is for unfussy food: rich, single-origin coffee, freshly squeezed juices, and French-style patisseries. Chocolate in its many forms is omnipresent. The brownies are sublime and the French truffles and orange-scented hot chocolate délicieux. Their second café (in Green St, Cambridge) opens in 2023.