DARKNESS has descended on Preston’s Winckley Square. I am communing with Sir Robert Peel, the 19th century Prime Minister, who repealed the Corn Laws. On my way back from the Winckley Street Ale House. Ahead of me a tasting menu at the Aven Townhouse, where, after 10 or so dazzling courses, I will lay my head for the night.

Aven Robert Peel — **Good evening, Sir Robert Peel** Confidentials

Bury-born Peel must have been cognisant with that town’s celebrated black pudding, but despite Preston’s notables erecting this statue to him surely he was unaware of its own culinary specialities. The Square, leafy oasis of Georgian facades, still stands out in today’s city; back then it was the parade of choice for mill owners in a grim cotton boom town Dickens dubbed Coketown in Hard Times.

Those delicacies particular to this corner of Lancashire are Butter Pie and the Renoir, a coffee-flavoured choux pastry. At Aven on Camden Place, just off the Square, I encounter them given a new, sophisticated life by head chef Sean Wrest. His CV includes Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck and, in his native Yorkshire, Tommy Banks’ duo The Black Swan at Oldstead and Roots in York, where as head chef he won it a Michelin star.

Aven Butter Pie — **Breaking into this unique butter pie** Aven

Hence the construction of tasting menus is built into Sean’s DNA. Aven’s costs £79 with a choice of drinks pairings. Their take on Butter Pie is an optional add-on for £14. We shared one. I’d recommend doing the same. It’s a rich concoction compared with the entry level buttery onion and potatoes on a barm you might find in a chippie or corner shop.

What you get here is a truffled dauphinois potato, topped with an onion jam, a Lancashire cheese custard, finished with crispy shallots, fresh truffle and chives. This all sits inside a filo pastry case. To lubricate it a sauce from slowly caramelised shallots, loads of Madeira and veal stock. Posh gravy for a signature dish that is honoured in Aven’s online merch store with a £65 ‘butter pie’ hoodie.

Aven Sean — **Sean Wrest – an engaging chef with quite a CV** Confidentials

It’s a nod to the passion of chef director Oli Martin to connect with his Lancashire childhood while creating an approachable fine dining destination in Preston, hardly a culinary hotbed. For some years the great Paul Heathcote did maintain a Brasserie presence in Winckley Square, but his two Michelin stars were attached to his Longridge restaurant.

Step forward Oli, a one-time Masterchef The Professionals finalist. I first encountered his talent at four AA rosette Hipping Hall, outside Kirkby Lonsdale. Aven managing director Alex Blamire worked there alongside him. Together they launched 263 in this spot with Sean coming on board along with his partner Samantha Haigh (another Banks protégé) as restaurant manager. In 2023 Aven evolved out of that 32-cover enterprise, its new name deriving from nearby Avenham Park.

I was invited to witness it morphing into Aven Townhouse, where four on-site bedrooms they have acquired give it the chance to operate as a coveted ‘Restaurant with Rooms’. Post-prandial crash out heaven but also a potential base for a long weekend exploring what under-rated Preston has to offer. (Maybe not Preston North End, currently holding up the Championship, definitely the Harris Museum and its current exhibition exploring the Horrockses dress empire that made pre-War Preston a fashion sensation).

Aven Breakfast — **Room service breakfast is served** Confidentials

We stayed in the largest room, ’Winckley’, an expansive, airy bolthole. Breakfast was room service and there was plenty of space to devour our trayful of treats, including their own home smoked salmon, exceptional pastries and a quiche lijned with a duxelles of hen of the wood mushrooms.

Downstairs Sean and his sous chef were already busy prepping ahead for that day’s set meals and way ahead, for some complex processes are involved in creating such a remarkable offering in what is essentially a micro restaurant. With Oli masterminding the other projects of his Northern Dining Group, Sean is very much hands-on at Aven.

Aven Diners — **The bijou dining room is a buzzing place** Confidentials

There are always questions to ask of cutting edge chefs. So, Sean, what do sea buckthorn and meadowsweet bring to the table? Above all, what is this Oak teamed up with Sea Buckthorn and Chamomile as the middle pudding course? Apparently it all goes back to when Oli acquired some 500-year-old spoons at Hipping and desired to serve something appropriately oak-smoked with them. The result had a heft whiff of Weetabix about it apparently.

Latest incarnation of this is an oak chip infused mousse in what is a leftfield version of an Eton Mess, enhanced by blobs of sea buckthorn cream, a chamomile tea granita and a caramelised white chocolate tuile.

Aven Bread And Cultured Butter — **Spent grain loaf and cultured butter** Confidentials

Their Renoir homage completes the tasting menu. No connection to the great Impressionist, it’s a local treat in these parts that filled a choux bun or ring with crème pâtissière and whipped cream, finished with a coffee icing. Yes, Aven’s variant, designed to accompany a post meal espresso, is quite a departure. That old wartime coffee substitute, chicory root, is made into an ice cream to top the choux and foraged meadowsweet flowers have been dried to infuse a custard with their almond hit.

All this action is happening a couple of hours (and a generous set of drinks pairings) from the time we sat down for dinner in the bijou dining room, given energy by an an array of colourful paintings.

Highlights of what went before? Hard to look beyond the trio of dishes that are the menu centrepiece.

Aven Leek Mrs Kirkham — **The stunning leek and eel dish** Confidentials

Leek Smoked Eel, Mrs Kirkham’s

Port of Lancaster Smokehouse provide the eel, as you’d expect from a restaurant dedicated to local sourcing. After that comes an explosion of invention. Leeks get roasted at 300° until the flesh under the char is mega sweet. Those hen of the woods duxelles and tiny preserved girolles and tarragon join the party, the whole coated in a voluptuous cheese sauce using Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire (Sean and Sam live around the corner from producer Graham Kirkham in Goosnargh).

Aven Sea Bass — **Sea bass line-caught in Morecambe Bay** Confidentials

Seabass, Cauliflower, Carrot

The roasted cauliflower puree and carrot relish are simple accompaniments and the fish itself, line-caught In Morecambe Bay, is pan-roasted. The whizzbang comes from the velouté sauce. Mussels have been cooked marinière style, then roasted until blackened and combined with dried shitake and kombu for stock. Somewhere sea buckthorn makes its presence felt, too. This dish is so good I stop concentrating on the explication.

Aven Lamb — **The lamb several ways is harmony on a plate** Confidentials

Lamb, Courgette, Broccoli

Meat mains don’t come much better than this ‘lamb served several ways’ tour de force. Loin and fillet perfectly pink, the shoulder and other bits minced into a ragout with black garlic, all accompanied by blobs of mint gel and a watercress salsa verde. All so harmonious.

Honourable mentions for a tart whose casing was made from four-day baked celeriac, a heady, tomato essence blitzed with lemon verbena, basil and mint, and a loaf to share of spent grain bread, which uses leftover malt grains from the brewing process.

Aven Farmyard Pils — **Local pils was a surprise element in the pairing** Confidentials

I presume this was supplied by Farmyard Brew Co of Cockerham, whose bottles dominate the beer list. From the drinks pairing a Farmyard Löf pilsener was served with the loaf and a curl of house cultured butter.

There is a prestige pairing at £89 a head; we were happy with the standard offering at £59, which featured two whites from Northern Spain and Portugal, a rare Riesling from Italy’s Piemonte region, a red from Alentejo in Portugal and with pudding a late harvest Riesling from New Zealand’s Tinpot Hut. All of which confirmed what a serious contender Aven is across the board.

Fact file

Aven Townhouse, 10 Camden Place, Preston, Lancashire PR 1 3JL. 0800 246 5555. Holder of 3 AA rosettes. The tasting menu is available to book Wednesday (dinner only) to Saturday, lunch and dinner. At lunch there are smaller set menus available. Neil Sowerby was hosted for meal and stay by Aven.

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