It has only been three years since four friends founded The Ethicurean restaurant in a former orangery within a charming walled garden in Wrington, just the other side of Bristol Airport.

Since then they have been awarded the coveted Michelin Bib Gourmand as well as winning the Observer’s Best Ethical Restaurant.

The four friends – Jack Adair Bevan, Iain Pennington, Matthew Pennington and Paula Zarate – say that “awards have never been our motivation but we gladly endorse and support any recognition given to British food and sustainable living”.

That ethos of seasonality, ethical sourcing of ingredients and attention to the local environment forms the basis of The Ethicurean Cookbook, which is published today by Ebury Press priced £25.

The Ethicurean is such a magical place that if I could, I would up-sticks and move there permanently, living in the apple-pressing hut at the foot of the garden and surviving on foraged nettle soup with Caerphilly cheese.

To accompany their special restaurant, their first cookbook had to be something special and it most certainly is.

The book is so beautiful that it should be handled with surgical gloves, and it will become pride of place on any bookshelf.

Moving through the seasons, there are 120 recipes accompanied by some stunning photography by Jason Ingram.

Recipes include figs wrapped in pork belly with lavender and buffalo mozzarella, mussels in cider with tarragon, milk stout and chocolate steamed pudding, all explained by self-taught chefs Iain and Matthew.

There are stories of what goes on outside the kitchen, especially from action man Jack, who when not hunting deer is busy preparing unique elixirs such as raw rhubarb smash, double sloe gin and tonic, and rose lemonade.

Then there are mentions of their Bristol friends and suppliers, often one and the same, such as herb expert Jekka McVicar, charcutier Vincent Castellano and baker Mark Newman.

To accompany their new cookbook, The Ethicurean also have a brand new website which launched earlier this week, made by David Abbott of Chesapeake, who first met the team back when they were the Bristol Ethicurean and working mostly market stalls.

Visit www.theethicurean.com, buy this brilliant new cookbook and visit the restaurant soon. Here’s a tip from me when you visit: get 10 per cent off your bill if you arrive by bicycle and 20 per cent off if you arrive by bus.