Great adventures in dining

　　Beautifully presented seafood at The Three Chimneys
　　When I ask for directions to The Crown at Whitebrook, James Sommerin's Michelin-starred restaurant in the Wye Valley, they fill two pages of my note­book. "You drive along one side of the valley, go over a bridge, turn right and go back along the other side," says Elizabeth Carter, consultant editor of The Good Food Guide. "You go up and up along a single-track road and after several miles think, 'Where is this place?' It's all part of the adventure."
　　So, too, is the journey to Gidleigh Park, deep in darkest Devon. "It's an extraordinary drive," Carter says, "down a squiggly little lane, past a few houses and on and on and on until you get there." Not surprisingly, both places – like all mentioned here – are restaurants with rooms where diners can stay the night. "They go for the food," Carter says, "but also for the fabulous rooms."
　　Leaf through The Good Food Guide 2010 (Which? Books, £16.99) and escape is clearly a trend. "Ambitious chefs have eschewed London and other cities to set up in these fairly remote places and make a name for themselves," Carter confirms. "If you are remote, there has to be a good reason for making the journey and that is often the food."
　　At the Inn at Whitewell, in Lancashire, Jamie Cadman is reeling in customers with his "top-notch North Country" cooking – but what must they endure to get there? On the website, I look for driving directions. Instead of a section called "How to get there", I find one saying "How not to get lost".
　　However, the restaurants themselves are full every night and accommodation has to be booked weeks in advance. While these places may appear remote, it is merely an illusion of remoteness. With just one exception, they are close to motorways or major roads – so the "Am I lost?" part of the journey is a short one.
　　If true remoteness is what you want, head to the north-west tip of Scotland. The most isolated restaurant in Britain is the Ozone Caféat Cape Wrath lighthouse near Durness, Sutherland, reached via a ferry and an 11-mile hike across moorland. This is the place from which Kay Ure, the owner's wife, set off to buy a turkey last Christmas and was stranded by the snow for weeks. As it serves mainly soup and sandwiches, it did not make it on to our list – even though the Ures' story may soon become the subject of a Hollywood film.