Ten Incredible Gourmet Inns Whose Food Is Worth Driving For

The first wisps of fall in the Northern Hemisphere are here, with chilly mornings, falling leaves, and sudden craving for apple pie. Right away, people ask for cozy restaurants, preferably with fireplaces, that are a comfortable distance from their home cities. Some of the world's most famous chefs have this market cornered: Jean-Georges Vongerichten has the Inn at Pound Ridge, and Michael White has the Bedford Post Inn.

In the U.K., Heston Blumenthal has a collection of appropriately autumnal restaurants (the Crown and the Hinds Head) just near his newly reopened Fat Duck in the village of Bray, outside London. Both sister venues are less formal than the Duck. All provide world class food, a little escape, and a room, should you find you can't navigate the roads home.