With its picture-postcard looks – all thatched roofing and Cotswold stone – the Mason Arms gets off to a flying start. Its updating to a plush pub-cum-restaurant-with-rooms by Brighton-based outfit, Artist Residence, has simply accentuated these advantages. All meals are covered in the dining room, where dark blue walls (or William Morris-style wallpaper), curvaceous banquettes and polished wooden flooring create a sophisticated setting for some truly local cooking. Breakfast ranges from porridge to full English, then lunch might incorporate Brixham mussels with Cotswold cider followed by hearty braised brisket with mash. Foraged food also features, witness a dinner-time starter of braised pig cheek with trompette, while a tasting menu (where sardine might be teamed with char-grilled ale bread and beetroot) shows there’s no shortage of ambition in the kitchen. Drinks too have a local flavour – including Hooky bitter (from Hook Norton) and Gibson’s sloe gin, which underpins the Hanbury Summer Cup cocktail.