- in a small restaurant in the Cotswold town of Cheltenham. Where other chefs have been seduced by the lure and bright lights of television and media stardom, David has been cooking relentlessly, not missing a single service since the day the restaurant's doors first opened in 1987. In the ensuing years he has established himself as a superb chef whose every new dish attracts the attention of fellow professionals and foodies alike. Amazingly, all this extraordinary food comes out of a kitchen with a brigade of just three! It is this necessary paring down of process and technique that makes his recipes so approachable for the domestic cook. His passion for wild food, which he searches out in the countryside near his home, adds a very singular and appealing dimension to his food and gives his book, Essence, its very special flavour. Beautiful photography by Lisa Barber completes this very special book. Foreword by Gordon Ramsay. David's follow-up book, Dessert, published in 2009, is also available.

This magnificent aspirational cookery book, exquisitely photographed and designed, is the British equivalent of The French Laundry Cookbook - a restaurant recipe book from a chef at the height of his powers. Famed the world over for his dedication and single mindedness, his cuisine is both about essential flavors and the inspirational use of wild food picked from the Cotswold countryside near his home. This is an aspirational cookery book of the highest order. A book that all serious food lovers and professional chefs will want to own and one that is surprisingly easy to cook from. (He produces his award-winning dishes with a brigade of just three - the smallest two-star Michelin brigade in the world!)