Beaconsfield, Italian Restaurant Guide

A restaurant-within-a-restaurant, open in July 2025 within the town’s Crazy Bear (whose ownership was itself rejigged at the start of 2025). Well-known chef, Carlo Scotto, has come on board to bring an ambitious 14-seat chef’s table concept to the town in an open-kitchen environment whose launch PR promises ‘an intimate front-row seat to culinary artistry as it unfolds, with an atmosphere that feels more like a private dinner party than a conventional restaurant’. There are two experiences both with optional matched wines: the lighter, six-course ‘Carlo’s Edit’ (Tuesday to Saturday at 6pm) and ‘The Full Experience’ with eight courses (Tuesday to Saturday at 7.45pm). Sample dishes include Pickled Attika Kohlrabi, Langoustine, Jalapeno, Purple Shiso with Salad Burnet and a Moroccan Spiced Duck with morels.

2024 Review: This “great local” has had an up-and-down time of it of late, with the Gerrards Cross branch under new management, and The Grocer at 91, which had pivoted to being a food shop in the pandemic, now closed. On the plus side, this “very busy” outpost is still going strong with its “reliable” (if pricey) sandwiches, salads and toasties, and they also recently opened a new Amersham venue, The Grocer at 2 (Whielden St), spanning a grocery store and café.

2022 Review: This ultra-stylish boutique hotel reopened in late 2016 after a multi-million-pound, two-year renovation. Its “lovely food choices” run the whole gamut from Japanese dishes through to sourdough pizzas, and a large garden contributes to what's “an ideal spot on the way to Henley”.

2022 Review: Set in a “lovely building” with tables under a 200-year-old olive tree, this restaurant – one of eight in a local chain – is frequently packed with regulars, who come back for its “good honest Italian fare at a reasonable price”. There’s “something for everyone on the menu”.

“Traditional, family-run Italian restaurant” – known for its “tasty food and a pleasant interior” – a fixture on the Henley waterfront “for circa 30 years”. It does a roaring trade during the annual Henley Regatta.