Eating Out: The Summer House, 289 Abbeydale Road South, Sheffield S17 3LB

The restaurant opened last August on the site of a former bike shop, just a stone’s throw from Dore & Totley station. It was dogged by teething problems (mainly due to the plumbing) but now it’s up and running and well worth a visit at any time of year.

The most recent ‘tweak’ to the set-up is the arrival of new head chef Paul Crossland, who took over in the new year.

He has joined sous chef Gavin Milligan in the kitchen, reviving a partnership first forged in 2009 when the pair helped to launch Nonnas Chesterfield.

In fact Paul came very close to working here once before: one of his first jobs was for renowned local chef Cary Brown who used to run Carriages next door.

Paul went on to work alongside him at the acclaimed Slammers, then moved to Nonnas where he worked for seven years before heading off to Barnsley, in search of fresh motivation.

It’s now six years since he cooked in his home town, but he was tempted back on learning the Summer House needed a head chef and is relishing the new challenge, working alongside Gavin with Mike Bevan completing the team.

“It’s a whirlwind at the minute,” admits Paul. “It’ll take us a few weeks to settle into it, but we’ve already made some changes.

“We don’t want to compromise quality and the menu was too big so we’ve gone for a smaller regular selection with a few specials.”

Food is modern British, with the accent on good, fresh, seasonal ingredients: “We’re not interested in Michelin stars or fine dining, we just want quality food, cooked consistently,” says Paul.

The driving force behind the Summer House is businessman John Tompkins, a managing partner of the neighbouring hairdresser’s.

When the unit became vacant he decided to open it as a coffee shop in partnership with associate Kate Cavan, a beauty industry professional.

It was just the opportunity Kate had been looking for. For years she had kept a scrapbook and on the first page was a beautiful, candlelit summer house: the inspiration for both the design and the name of their new venture.

“We’re both experienced business people but this is the hardest thing we’ve ever done,” says John.

The Summer House is a collection of spaces, divided by display cases of jars and plants, all lined with fairy lights.

Limed oak flooring and rustic walls hung with window-shaped mirrors add to the outside-inside feel and through big picture windows, diners are welcomed by flickering lanterns and banks of candles, creating a cosy glow on even the dreariest winter night.

The restaurant has teamed up with Chapel Down Vineyard in Kent, which supplied wines both for the royal wedding and the Queen’s Jubilee barge and now also brews beers and cider.

There’s a choice of 18 wines, including an English pinot noir, more than half of them available by the glass. Newly-launched Fizz Friday offers a bottle of prosecco from £15 between 4-7pm.

Menus include breakfast, sandwiches and kids’ specials as well as the main selection, with a Sunday all-day brunch menu coming soon.

The à la carte offers a good choice of dishes and prices, from soup (£4.95) to Summer House classics (moules & frites £10.95) and mains (ginger beer braised pork belly £16.95).

There’s no complimentary bread – a missed opportunity to demonstrate that this is a quality venue – but service is otherwise good and our wine comes with a jug of iced water.

My starter of molasses-cured salmon is not what I’d expected: instead of wafer thin slices, I’m presented with a neat rectangle of fish. But it’s good. The spicing is subtle, texture firm but moist, enhanced by the crunch of fennel, pickled radish slices and a blood orange dressing with a hint of sweetness.

My companion is less impressed with his scotch egg: it’s served hot, the yolk perfectly soft, with a homemade brown sauce infused with cinnamon. But the black pudding casing is disappointingly bland; it needs a bit of oomph!

His main course makes up for it though. The suspended kebab is a hang-over (forgive the pun) from the old menu, but one which diners refuse to let go.

Pieces of garlicky chicken and spicy chorizo, peppers and red onion are speared on a skewer, chargrilled, then presented hanging on a stand over bowls of couscous, salad and dipping sauces.

It certainly has the ‘wow’ factor and the taste is pretty good too. The couscous is well seasoned, with cool tzatziki, chilli jam for a kick of heat and salad for texture.

My choice is risotto of the day: crab and fennel. It’s simple, smooth and creamy, if a little bland.

Apart from ice cream, desserts are all fairly heavy so we share a sticky toffee pudding.

The sponge is light but moist and deliciously sticky, with a salty depth to the caramel sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream: “A good one,” decides the expert.

We finish our meal with flat whites. Dinner for two, excluding drinks, is £42.30.

l The Summer House, 289 Abbeydale Road South, Sheffield S17 3LB 0114 2361679 The Summer House, Sheffield