THE founder of Whitchurch’s Wild Shropshire, a restaurant based on ‘foraged food’, says its inclusion in the Good Food Guide confirms the town as ‘a culinary destination’.

James Sherwin opened in Green End just over three years and was recently included in the prestigious book of restaurant reviews for the first time.

He says that it is a boost for himself and the town, justifying his decision to open a restaurant based on what he was able to forage and grow, rather than a set menu.

He said: “With Docket 33 and Etzios, this is another example of Whitchurch being a culinary destination now.

“We had a journalist recently here to talk about food in north Shropshire in general, from a nationwide magazine, so again it’s another little thing for Whitchurch and the area becoming a really interesting place culinary-wise.

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“Not that it wasn’t anyway but we’re getting lots of people [visiting] from out of county and there has to be a reason for that.

“I think this helps with justification of me doing what I wanted to do – I thought about my restaurant differently to how a lot of others do.

“It’s about an idea that I want to create that isn’t necessarily seasonal; we have the farm and I go out and pick what is available, not necessarily in season.

“It’s all connected, and I wanted more than a restaurant but something more holistic for food.”

The inclusion is the second prestigious honour for Wild Shropshire, also appearing in the Michelin Guide, and James added that the news was a bit of a shock for him.

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He said: “It’s another building block in trying to become something really good.

“I have no idea how it came about because it’s all very secretive but they recently held a competition a while ago asking peoples’ views on local restaurants.

“A few people mentioned us saying ‘this place is really good’ so I presume it’s off the back of there.

“I got an email last Friday saying ‘well done, you’re in the Good Food Guide’ and I thought ‘brilliant’ but it is all very hush.

“We changed the menu recently and try not to use the same things but they mentioned oyster leaves three times in the review.

“It’s a plant that, in quite a weird thing, tastes like oysters.

“It’s the only “sea/woods” thing I’ve come across but there are things that taste like pineapples and mangos that wouldn’t expect to taste like pineapple.”

For more about Wild Shropshire, head to www.wildshropshire.net