Hay-on-Wye, better known for its literary pursuits than its culinary scene, has gained a new British restaurant this week.

Chapters is the work of debutante restaurateurs Charmaine Blatchford and Mark McHugo, who have come up with a relaxed fine-dining concept focused on local produce and sustainability…

The restaurant has opened at the former site of St John’s Place, which offered locals and tourists a “small, well-considered weekly changing menu”.

The new team will hope for similar results at the 22-cover site, where dishes include heritage tomato salad with goat’s cheese and basil, and Herefordshire pork loin, confit carrot and cider jus.

McHugo is the chef behind the enterprise. He was previously head chef at Six Senses Zighy Bay hotel in Oman, and junior sous chef at Arden hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon. He met Blatchford, who will lead front of house, at Cellar Door in Hereford, his most recent endeavour.

“There’s a proper community feel to Hay,” Blatchford told The Caterer, adding that the idea is to serve “high-end food but without any pretentiousness.”