including two AA Rosettes and recognition from Michelin, Harden's and Restaurant Magazine.
In 2008, it was forced to close due to a fire in a neighbouring property, only to reopen the following year.
In the interim, Laurie went to stage at Noma, returning to Artichoke inspired by chef Rene Redzepi and his team's innovative Scandinavian approach.
Artichoke
Ranked 48th in the Good Food Guide 2020, Artichoke specialises in modern British food, showcasing the best local produce executed to a high degree of proficiency.
Set in a 16th century red-brick house, the 16-seater restaurant's traditional wooden interior is complemented by a modern interior decor. After the fire, the couple took over the adjacent building, extending the restaurant into a large main room with a semi-open kitchen.
Guests are given a choice between a tasting menu, regular prix-fixe and a set lunch menu, all with vegetarian options.
Expect dishes such as al dente risotto with parsley and Lancashire bomb, triple-cooked chips seasoned with powdered capers and vinegar in mussel and cider sauce, hop-smoked sea trout tartare with apple, pickled mooli and beetroot sorbet, Cambridge burnt cream with poached rhubarb, blood orange and aerated white chocolate.
Chiltern Black Ale bread with lamb-fat butter is the popular precursor to all meals.
Upon visiting the restaurant in 2011, Guardian food critic John Lanchester called Artichoke "a neighbourhood restaurant in a low-key commuter-belt town, a place where Terry and June would have felt at ease, but one that's on top of contemporary trends and executing them with command, precision and a degree of relaxedness. The place is still on fire, but now it's in the happy, metaphorical way."
