Jaine Blackman gets well fed and has a go making chocolate on a visit to Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a great place to visit... unless you’re on a diet.

“It looks like there will be quite a lot of eating to be done,” I told my friend Sue, who was joining me on a trip organised by Experience Nottinghamshire which promotes the county. Tough life, eh?

We were told it was a great place for foodies and that was no exaggeration.

Arriving at the modern Crowne Plaza Nottingham in the city centre, a couple of hours away from Oxford by car, we toyed with the idea of visiting the Urban Escape spa with its indoor pool... and then abandoned the idea in favour of the Executive Lounge which our booking gave us access to (not all do).

There we nibbled on excellent canapes and enjoyed a quick drink before heading to Hart’s Restaurant for a pre-theatre meal.

The restaurant, next to Hart’s four-star boutique hotel, offers fine modern British cuisine. The food couldn’t be faulted and with pre-theatre set menus of £18 for two courses and £23 for three, as well as a la carte options, offered good value. Particular standout dishes were the beetroot terrine starter with local Colwick cheese and horseradish creme fraiche, which included mini savoury macaroons (£7.95) and the grilled halloumi main with spiced lentils and tempura vegetables (£15.95).

We rounded off, probably quite literally, with a rich walnut tart with clotted cream (£7.50) and passion fruit souffle (from the set menu).

Then it was off to see Posh – an excellent production of the play based on Oxford University’s elite Bullingdon Club – at Nottingham Playhouse. The run is now over but the theatre has a deserved reputation for staging striking drama: currently running is Mermaid, a dark retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale and upcoming productions include Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing, which arrives following a sell-out West End run, from April 21 to May 9.

We’d been told the Malt Cross, a bar in St James’s Street converted from a Victorian Music Hall, was worth a look. It was, and if you’re looking for some lively nightlife, Nottingham seems to have plenty to offer on a Friday night.

We skipped that for an early-ish night, planning to hit that pool first thing.

It didn’t happen. Despite the hotel being central, we slept so well we didn’t wake until 8.15 and had planned to leave at 8.30am.

So it was back to the handy Executive Lounge to grab coffee and a couple of croissants before setting off for the School of Artisan Food (about a 50-minute drive from Nottingham).

There we were taking part in an all-day chocolate making course under the guidance of the surprisingly slim chocolatier Shelly Preston.

The school on the Welbeck Estate, Worksop, offers a wide range of courses.

This one began with a chocolate tasting and an overview of various chocolate making techniques. We learnt the importance of tempering; created rosemary infused chocolate bars, truffles and ganache; dipped our own chocolates, decorated them and put them in boxes to take home.

It also included a hearty lunch, so after the drive to Clumber Park Hotel & Spa where we were spending the night we made use of the onsite pool to work off a few calories and work up an appetite for dinner at Forest Lodge Hotel in the nearby village of Edwinstowe, known as Robin Hood’s village.

Oxford Mail:
Chocolatier Shelly Preston leads the chocolate-making course at the School of Artisan Food on the Welbeck Estate in Nottinghamshire

We were glad we did. Run by the Thomson family, it has picked up no end of well-deserved awards for food, drinks and accommodation. The 18th century coaching inn has a warm, welcoming atmosphere and (more!) excellent food. It seemed as popular with locals as with visitors which is always a good sign.

Standout dish there was venison done two ways, which included a cottage pie, and scallops (both off the specials board; starters range from £4.75 to £7.25 and mains from £6.95 to £17.50. There is also a bar menu). Next morning was breakfast at Clumber Park, a friendly, smartly decorated hotel, with guests ranging from couples and families to a very well behaved hen party.

National Trust property Clumber Park is opposite the hotel, which was an ideal place for a refreshing walk and the Walled Kitchen Garden was an interesting visit before we set off for Gunthorpe, on the way back to Oxfordshire, and lunch at Tom Brown’s Brasserie on the banks of the River Trent.

Guess what? Yep, that’s right, more excellent nosh. I was so excited by my Mediterranean fish soup with rouille and gruyere crouton (£5.95) I forgot to take a picture of it. But the lamb rump and shoulder with pea risotto (£18.95), pictured left, tasted just as good as it looked.

We dithered about having a pud but then thought what the hell and demolished chocolate and orange mousse with blood orange sorbet (£6.95) before heading home full of happy memories... and calories.

ESSENTIALS

See the following websites for details of the hotels, attractions and restaurants featured on the visit to Nottinghamshire:

* experiencenottinghamshire.com gives full tourist information for visiting the county, including details of different types of accommodation, things to do, places to visit and dates of special events
* ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotels/gb/en/nottingham/notws/hoteldetail
* hartsnottingham.co.uk/
* nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/
* schoolofartisanfood.org
* clumberparkhotel.com
* forestlodgehotel.co.uk
* nationaltrust.org.uk/clumber-park
* tombrowns.co.uk