LUXURY hotel Dormy House, in Broadway, launched two new restaurants earlier this year. Michael Purton visited to sample the new culinary delights.

There has been something of a culinary shake-up at Dormy House, the 38-room country house hotel which sits on the 400-acre Farncombe Estate in the Cotswolds. Under the helm of culinary director Martin Burge, the Back Garden and MO have opened, alongside the existing restaurant, The Potting Shed.

At The Back Garden, former two Michelin-starred chef Martin and head chef Sam Bowser have created a menu where every dish showcases the best of the Cotswolds. Locality, sustainability and seasonality are at the heart of the menu, with ingredients also sourced from Dormy House's new kitchen garden.

On my visit, I started with the Ashlyn goat’s cheese mousse with dandelion, apple balsamic and walnut, while for my main I opted for the new season lamb with pressed belly, potato & turnip gratin and parsley purée. Then, for dessert, I chose the chocolate soufflé with buttermilk & thyme sorbet (£52.50 for three courses).

I was hugely impressed by each dish, which was both delicious and beautifully presented, and the cloudy cider – Cotswold Cider Company's No Brainer (£4.50 a pint) – I chose was a fantastically crisp companion to the meal.

The Back Garden is open seven days a week from 7pm – 9.30pm and for Sunday lunch from 12.30 – 2.30pm.

MO is described as an "intimate, immersive and fun" dining experience, where up to 12 guests sit at a horseshoe bar to watch the chefs create each dish in front of them. There is an eight-course tasting menu which changes daily with deliveries from local producers, unexpected ingredients and produce from the hotel’s new kitchen garden, and once again Martin Burge and Sam Bowser are the creative forces.

When we dined at MO the menu consisted of duck egg, lobster, tomato, turbot, lamb, billy moo cheese, bilberry and chocolate (£110 per person and £55 for wine pairing) and each dish was exquisite, tasting all the better because we could see the care and skill with which Sam Bowser and his sous-chef created every course. They also spoke with passion about the process, explaining why their methods brought the best from each ingredient.

MO is open Wednesday to Sunday evenings for dinner and places can be booked individually or as a group of 12. All guests are to be seated for dinner at 7.30pm.

In terms of style, the decor at both The Back Garden and MO is spot on, with warm hues and touches of colour that create a modern feel which doesn't detract from the grandeur of the country house setting.

As you can see, both The Back Garden and MO are excellent additions to Dormy House, which was already among the finest hotels in the Cotswolds and has a first class spa.

See dormyhouse.co.uk for details on the three restaurants and room rates.