The master chef, who is also a director of the Cavendish Hotel at Baslow, has taken the phrase 'local produce' to heart and now spends more time on his allotment than he does in the kitchen.

The resulting bounty is sufficient to supply both his acclaimed Restaurant with One Table and the new informal conservatory at Buckingham's hotel in Newbold.

And it's thanks to another home-grown commodity that Nick is able to indulge his time-consuming new passion – the day-to-day running of the business has been taken over largely by his children.

Daughter Vicci, 28, is in charge front-of-house, her sister Emma, 27, is the housekeeper and brother Will, 25, is following in his dad's footsteps as chef.

Nick and wife Tina are gradually taking more of a back seat, says Vicci, who's running the show on the day of our visit. And keeping it in the family is not the recipe for disaster that some might think, it seems.

"It runs really nicely when there are just the three of us here," she says. "But don't tell dad I said so!"

The junior Buckinghams may be stepping into a successful family business but they have each earned their stripes the hard way.

All worked in the kitchens at the Cavendish from the time they were old enough to wash pots and peel spuds. Will then went on to hone his craft at respected hotels in Hathersage and Blackburn before returning to work alongside his dad.

Vicci originally trained as a nanny but six years ago she and Emma both threw in their lot with the family firm.

By that time Buckingham's was well established, with a solid reputation built on quality food, friendly service, its solitary square table and 'surprise' menu.

Now that concept is being developed further following the completion of Clowns Conservatory – an informal dining space with no opening or closing times and no set formula.

Guests simply book a table for brunch, lunch, tea or dinner, choose the number of courses they want, discuss any dietary dislikes or requirements, then sit back and enjoy the delights of good food and superb cooking in comfortable surroundings.

The new conservatory floats in a former courtyard at the back of the Victorian building. Overlooking the garden, with its timber decking, koi pond and award-winning floral displays, it is a sunny haven with a homely feel. Inside, classic decor in shades of yellow and gold serves as a quirky stage for dozens of model clowns of every shape and size, lining alcoves, pelmets and windowsills.

Borrowing a colleague for the afternoon, we ring the bell and adopt the unaccustomed guise of Ladies Who Lunch.

Vicci shows us into a comfy lounge, where we order glasses of white wine and tuck into bowls of plump olives and spicy wasabi-coated nuts.

The wine is a low point – expensive at £6.50 a glass, especially as we're offered no choice apart from colour.

Meal prices range from £18.50 to £130 per person.

We've chosen a three-course lunch but we could have had just one or two courses or picked the bronze, silver, gold or platinum options: "That includes five courses and drinks. We call it the 'all singing, all dancing' menu because that's what you do when you leave!"

Nick is absent on the day of our visit but we give Will carte blanche with the food – there's nothing we won't eat. First up is doughy home-made bread, followed swiftly by a fishy starter.

Brown shrimp and caviar fishcake is soft and light, complemented by tender asparagus spears. But we both rave about the fish sausage: an inspired combination of salmon and scallop, disguised as a banger and bearing the assured Buckingham touch.

For all our restaurant reviews log on to our Restaurant Guide

Yes it's there, even though the Buckingham in question is the junior version. Nick, meanwhile, continues to develop his mastery: latest triumphs include home-made black pudding, feta-style cheese, and brawn which won him a rosette at Bakewell Show.

Next on our menu is duck, produced at Moor Farm in nearby Calow. There's a leg confit – beautiful, melt-in-the-mouth flesh that just slides off the bone – and a succulent, crisp-skinned breast, blushing pink in the middle, with creamy wild mushroom sauce.

With it is a ring of pommes Maxim (thinly-sliced potatoes, buttered, arranged and baked à la Maxim's in Paris), and a cornucopia of Nick's home-grown designer veg: broccoli spears, baby carrots, sliced runner beans and artfully-cut yellow courgettes. They don't come fresher than this, lightly cooked and bursting with flavour.

After a suitable interval, Vicci returns with dessert, yet another highlight of the meal. White chocolate and rose petal mousse is beautifully light and silky smooth, pannacotta style, topped with crisp, bite-sized maple leaf tuiles.

There's also a crunchy brandy snap cone filled with mint chocolate sticks, finished with strawberries, blackberries and fruit coulis.

We finish our languid lunch with a cafétière of coffee and home-made chocolates. Lunch for two, excluding wine and service, is £72.

Verdict: A treat well worth saving up for and cooking that's truly top-notch. The perfect venue for celebrations, gastronomes and ladies who lunch.

Open: 7am-11pm, seven days a week.

Clowns Conservatory, Buckingham's Hotel, 85-87 Newbold Road, Chesterfield (01246) 201 041.