M6, junction 37, Cumbria
Three Hares cafe/bistro/bakery
Distance from junction: 10 min
For delicious, freshly baked goodies, this place is tops. Sweet treats might feature red wine and chocolate cake, banana and maple syrup loaf, and overfilled doughnuts. The tiny shop in charming Sedbergh’s old lanes is also a bustling, informal cafe and bistro, often crowded with people savouring coffee and a book, and a large bay at the back looks on to the garden.
An excellent range of lunches includes smoked mackerel with blue cheese and walnut risotto (£5.95). Game often features alongside standard meats, perhaps hare, saffron and caper stews, or pork chops marinated in zhoug paste.
Soup and sandwich £6.50. 57 Main Street, Sedbergh, LA10 5AB, threeharescafe.co.uk
M6, junction 19, Cheshire
The Lambing Shed farm shop/cafe/deli
Distance from junction: 10 min
Floor-to-ceiling windows make this former barn sunny and light, and the shop is stocked to the brim with delicious products sourced with the philosophy of “fresh, local and simple”. Head to the deli for hamper-worthy cheese, homemade coleslaw, charcuterie and pies.
From an elegant patio you can glimpse the 400 acres of Cheshire fields from which owners the Mitchell family have been producing award-winning meats for decades. That meat is available to eat in the cafe, where you’ll find burgers, bacon and freshly baked sausage rolls. For lighter bites, there’s Tatton rarebit, quiche of the day or a slab of homemade cake.
Grazing plates such as homemade black pudding and apple fritters, with mustard alioli £3.95. Moseley Hall Farm, Knutsford, WA16 8RB, thelambingshed.com
M5 junction 9, Gloucestershire
Teddington Stores farm shop
Distance from junction: 7 min
Former city worker Deborah has waved her magic wand over Teddington Stores – once a Little Chef – transforming it into a fabulous food hall to champion local producers and the good food of her farming roots. Step inside the foyer and you’re greeted by a wall of scent from the resident florist’s displays. Across the corridor there’s a bijou coffee shop with a handful of tables (and charging points) where you can sup a Lavazza coffee and a hunk of homemade scone or crumbly pastry. In the food hall beyond, broad oak tables stand loaded with goodies from the neighbouring area.
The butchery counter is a new addition serving fresh meat and high-end frozen meals in the freezer will dupe any in-law into thinking you’ve cooked up a storm yourself.
Brie, tomato chutney and salad sandwich with crisps £6.95. Evesham Road, Teddington, GL20 8NE, teddingtonstores.co.uk
M5, junction 28, Mid Devon
The Bakehouse cafe/bistro
Distance from junction: 2 min
Once Cullompton’s family grocer, the Bakehouse is now a fabulous cafe and bistro. Painted a bright shade of teal with bottle green tiles and a mosaic entrance, it’s an eye-catching addition to the High Street. Inside, it’s a homely collection of antique furniture with a large serving hub in the centre, buzzing with life and stacked with cakes.
A corridor at the back opens up into another room where a woodburner crackles against the bare brick walls and broad windows in cooler months. Lunch is simple – toasties, quiches and salads with home baked strudels and shortbread to follow. In the evening at weekends, the cafe becomes a bistro and wine bar serving seasonal dishes such as duck confit with puy lentils, spicy meatballs, arancini and meze platters.
BLT £6.50. 3 High Street, EX15 1AB, thebakehousecullompton.co.uk
A30, Launceston, Cornwall
The Springer Spaniel pub
Distance from junction: 6 min
A bit of a honeypot for Cornwall’s foodies, the Springer Spaniel is a charming village pub with a cracking kitchen in the hamlet of Treburley. Starters might include conference pears with goat cheese mousse and pickled walnuts, or South Devon crab with watermelon. For mains, barbecued aubergine with pearl barley, or lamb rump with tzatziki. Desserts are sensational: a selection of lemony mouthfuls, strawberry and yoghurt parfait, or walnut cake with blue cheese ice cream and candied walnuts. Pub classics and bar snacks stand alongside the à la carte menu for more casual dining.
‘Pub classics’ from £9.50, more for à la carte. Treburley, Launceston, PL15 9NS, thespringerspaniel.co.uk
A38, Totnes, Devon
The Curator cafe/restaurant
Distance from Buckfastleigh junction: 14 min
Part-coffee shop, part-vintage shop, The Curator has a youthful feel and great decor – walls are decorated with vintage surfboards and retro paintings. Coffee is the speciality, with 10 varieties of wood-fired coffee beans on offer. Feast on Italian sandwiches made with homemade breads, smoked haddock frittata, Italian sausages, antipasti with smoked meats and semifreddo dessert. There are takeaway options and an all-day menu.
Cured meat and mozzarella sandwich £6.25. The Plains, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 5DR, italianfoodheroes.com
A303, Somerton, Somerset
The White Hart Inn
Distance from Podimore junction: 7 min
A handsome, 16th-century country pub at the edge of Somerton’s octagonal market square, the White Hart has stripped floorboards, log burners and antler chandeliers. With broad skylights and sash windows, the bar is bright and The bar is filled with slouchy chairs and sofas. Shadowy nooks with low-slung lights and chinks of stained-glass are enticing havens for kicking back.
The menu shows seasonal West Country cooking in its best light and the fish is smoked on site. Lunch and dinner includes delights such as babaganoush salad, slow-cooked aubergine, grilled Cornish mackerel and courgette and mozzarella frittas.
Cheddar, chutney and salad ciabatta £7. Market Place, Somerton, TA11 7LX, whitehartsomerton.com
A303, Wylye, Wiltshire
Bird and Carter farm shop/cafe/deli
Distance from junction: 9 min
The deli counters offer smoked fish, Wiltshire ham, fresh pasta, antipasti and some of the best scotch eggs around. There is cafe seating at the far end, a room with a bank of antique drawers, woodburner and large windows looking out to the paddocks. There are plenty of high chairs and toys and books for little ones. The doors open at breakfast, serving eggs, bacon and sausages. Sandwiches, quiches and pies are tasty, cakes are original – chocolate Guinness, ginger meringue.
Ploughman’s platter £7.75. Chilhampton Farm, Warminster Road, Wilton, SP20AB, birdandcarter.co.uk
A48, junction B4310, near Llanarthne
Wright’s Food Emporium
Distance from junction: 7 min
When it outgrew its previous home in a nearby farm shop, Wright’s Food Emporium moved, smartly, into the Golden Grove Arms, a former village pub. The network of rooms lend themselves perfectly to the holistic foodie concept, with a deli, cafe, weekend bistro and wine shop. Eat generous antipasto platters (the charcuterie is excellent) and salads in the bright conservatory, and pork belly cubano in the dining room or courtyard garden.
Pork belly cubano £8. Golden Grove Arms, Llanarthne, SA32 8JU, wrightsfood.co.uk
M4, junction 15, Wiltshire
Three Trees farm shop/cafe
Distance from junction: 2 min
Three Trees is a family-run farm housed on what was once the Chiseldon army camp. Take a pew in the airy cafe and watch sheep and cows chew the cud against the backdrop of Liddington Castle.
Cakes are homebaked. Tasty meals and snacks – Welsh rarebit, baked camembert, sandwiches, burgers, chili con carne and filled jacket potatoes – are made from ingredients for sale in the shop. Much of the meat comes from the fields and woodland outside (which makes for unbeatable breakfast sausages), the rest from other Wiltshire producers. Pick up a sirloin for dinner at the butchery, and a bag of fudge for the journey.
BLT £5.50. The Ridgeway, Chiseldon, SN4 0HT, threetreesfarm.co.uk
A1, junction 48,
North Yorkshire
Bowe & Co cafe/deli
Distance from junction: 4 min
Pretty Boroughbridge is bounded by gently rolling hills and pockets of history. Stretch your legs by the River Ure or walk to the edge of town to find three ancient standing stones, known as the Devil’s Arrows and said to have been flung there by Satan. Refuel at Bowe & Co, a friendly cafe-deli on the High Street. Regulars rave about the salads, which are served alongside soups (maybe beetroot and horseradish), quiches and frittatas.
The go-to Yorkshire platter is an enormous plate of salads, cooked ham, cheese, crisps and a pork pie. Cakes are playful – try the coconut and Malibu, raspberry and amaretto or orange and almond. Coffee is deliciously smooth; the tea is Yorkshire of course. The deli counter is ripe for the picking – fabulous cheeses, sandwiches (maybe pastrami or local roast beef) and anti pasti.
Bacon buttie £4.75, 27 High St, Boroughbridge, YO51 9AW, boweandco.com
A1, Clipsham, Rutland
The Olive Branch pub
Distance from Stretton junction: 2 min
A model country pub with a relaxed upmarket vibe, the Olive Branch was once three cottages built to house farm labourers, before they were knocked together to make a pub in 1890. Now it has been developed by new owners. In winter, chestnuts roast on the fire. Outside, a lush lawn is fringed with burgeoning borders.
Great lunches and dinners are made from seasonal produce, perhaps a beef and wild mushroom lasagne. Cocktails are made with herbs from the paddock. If you like what you taste, loot the dinky shop for recipe books, wines, local woodwork and jars of beef dripping.
Devilled white bait, parsley mayo £7.50. Main Street, Clipsham, LE15 7SH, theolivebranchpub.co.uk
M1, junction 23, Loughborough
Oakley Grange farm shop/deli/cafe
Distance from junction: 8 min
Walking into this tastefully converted brick barn, you are greeted by a bulging deli counter of fresh bread, chutneys, infused oils, cheeses, chocolates, sugar mice and farm meat.
Breakfasts of home-cured bacon, Whole Earth beans and artisan bread segue into gourmet sandwiches, farmer’s antipasti, portobello mushrooms stuffed with gruyère cheese and herbs, and chicken and three-cheese pie. Munch cakes, perhaps hazelnut tart or chocolate brownie, with your coffee.
Soup and sandwich £6.95. Shepshed Road, LE12 5LL, oakleygrange.co.uk
M11, junction 12, near Cambridge
Flock cafe
Distance from junction: 2 min
This cafe is at the heart of Burwash Manor, a wonderful complex of independent shops and cafes housed in converted farm buildings on a 400-acre working organic farm. Flock serves homemade food from the old stables; a sunny patio outside is good for al fresco dining. Avocado and halloumi on sourdough with Portobello mushrooms and eggs is one of Flock’s most fêted breakfasts. Lunch might be carrot and ginger soup with crème fraiche, or turmeric-roasted cauliflower tart. Cakes are irresistibly good, from gluten-free carrot cake to almond and ricotta. There’s plenty of free parking, a children’s play area and three signposted farm walks.
Savoury tart £6. Units 1 & 2, Burwash Manor, CB23 7EY, flockcafe.co.uk
A14, junction 43/44, Suffolk
Ben’s Restaurant
Distance from junction: 4 min
Bury St Edmunds is well worth breaking your journey for with its cathedral, ruined abbey and surrounding gardens and medieval streets with many independent shops. Ben’s Restaurant is a short stroll from the Abbey Gardens. A truly field-to-fork affair, Ben’s uses rare-breed pork and lamb in dishes such as pressed pork shoulder and chipolatas served with homemade tagliatelle in tomato sauce. There’s also plenty for vegetarians and gluten-free diners – try roasted and puréed beetroot with quinoa. Almost everything on sale is local, including wine from nearby vineyards and Aspall cider.
The restaurant is relaxed and family friendly. The space is contemporary and light-filled with quirky art on the walls. Dining here you will discover the best of Suffolk on a plate. Ben’s burger £12. 43–45 Churchgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1RG, bensrestaurant.co.uk
This is an edited extract from The Extra Mile by Alastair Sawday and Laura Collacott (£12.99, theextramileguide)
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