If we're all to be holidaying in the UK this summer, where should we go for the best all-round eating?
Tony Naylor - With the pound weak and Britain counting every penny, this year - it's predicted - will be a boom year for British holiday destinations...

Consequently, the media will soon be scouring Britain for new, foodie-friendly locations to profile, and inevitably dub 'the new Ludlow'. Forget the sunscreen this summer, it's all about the Zantac. The perfect gastro-destination, however, is a complex organism. It's not just a matter of food. For all its Michelin stars and local 'slow food' culture, Ludlow, like the Ribble Valley, wouldn't be half as appealing if it wasn't located in the lushest of lush countryside, with all that offers. Whitstable wouldn't work if it was a suburb of Swindon; and Abergavenny doesn't because while it may have the Walnut Tree and a great food festival its centre is an identikit British high street. It's just like being at home. It's not just a matter of restaurants, either. Cartmel has a newsworthy one, and a good deli, but little else to recommend it, certainly in food terms. Likewise, Bray is home to two of the best restaurants in the world, but, in all other respects, it's a small, dull home counties housing estate; and an eye-wateringly expensive one at that. For a place to thrive as a foodie destination, it also needs good pubs, good hotels and B&Bs, good food shopping and plenty of places to fritter away the time around the one blow-out meal of the weekend...
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