“There’s no right way or wrong way to do it,” says Ryan Blackburn. It’s a pragmatic answer to a tricky question: do I dip the mini madeleines in the sticky toffee sauce or head to the other bowl first to scoop up a dollop of Chantilly cream, or the other way round or, in a rebel streak of sheer decadence, do both?

The beautiful little sponge shells have washed up on a beach of demerara looking too good, frankly, to eat at all. When I do take the plunge – into the sauce first – they are the lightest of bakes, lovely, sweet morsels that round off lunch nicely.

We are sitting in the part of Ryan’s new Ambleside venture, The Schelly, on a table for seven or eight tucked behind the main eating area and bar. Next to the kitchen, it provides diners with a unique perspective as their lunch or dinner is prepared – miraculously, from such a small space.

I have already enjoyed two dishes from earlier in the menu, a single list based on small plates designed to be shared and topped by the message, “try as little or as much as you want; you won’t be judged!”

Among the choices are some of Ryan’s signature dishes: potted shrimp and curried cauliflower; Yew Tree Farm Herdwick hogget shoulder; Blue Whinnow with fig puree. I home in another that featured in Cumbria Life last month, Longtown tomato and crab toast. The topping is clean, fresh with the toast providing crunch and micro herbs for a peppery hit.

Today is The Schelly’s opening day. A couple are finishing off lunch at a prime table in the window looking onto Lake Road. Service has technically finished but another pairing come in and are welcomed by maitre d’, Ryan’s brother Craig, to choose a table.

The venue is in a prominent location previously occupied by Greggs,  and has been transformed to say the least. Outside is now a sophisticated dark green, the lower windows decorated with artwork of a schelly, a rare species of lake fish, by pointillism specialist Jane Legge, of Dots of Light.

A tan leather banquette runs along one wall with tables set for two while eight stools line up in the window. Four more stools hug the bar which is fronted with fish scale teal tiles and topped with pale green slate from Broughton Moor. It is all set off against exposed stone, original beams and a new chateau weave floor.

A couple of steps lead down to the bigger table, kitchen and toilets and that’s it, bijou but classy and oh so much more convenient for Ryan’s teams.

Due to different street levels, part of The Schelly sits above his Old Stamp House restaurant as well as next door to it in Church Street. Indeed, a significant motivation in taking up an option on the lease for The Schelly premises has been to protect his Michelin star restaurant – a new tenant running a bar or some other source of potential noise could have been disastrous.

There are additional benefits to noise abatement. The kitchens of both restaurants now open into the same rear yard, but that’s not all. Ryan has also taken an additional building in which he has installed a third kitchen, this time in high-end, domestic style. It’s for staff to use but will also allow him to offer private dining with guests seated in a homely area with bookcases, artwork and a table overlooking the peninsular island on which Ryan will cook.

Floor to ceiling, flat fronted units open to reveal shelves of crockery, some of it handmade by Miles-Moore Ceramics, while a row of gadgets line up against a wall. The space opens into a larder and store.

Ryan is clearly excited about the space, particular for the benefits it will bring his team. “It’s my sanctuary,” he says. “It’s somewhere the staff can hang out, they have their own fridge, they can come in here and have their lunch, somewhere for my wife to work.

“I can sit down with Will [Bolsover] and Dan and work out menus. We never had anywhere to sit around the table before.”

Proudly opening one of the smart doors, he adds: “We never even had a place for coats before.”

It is a lot of change that has come all at once as Ryan’s other Ambleside restaurant, Kysty, has closed, its lease having come to an end. The team, led by head chef Dan Hopkins, has moved across to The Schelly to be joined by Craig, who is running front of house after ten years as restaurant manager at The Old Stamp House.

“It was time for a change and starting something new is really exciting,” he says.

Laurentiu Bulprich has taken over as sommelier at Stamp House to gain Michelin star experience.

Although the two teams will work separately some tasks will be done in the prep room for both kitchens, for example sauces and glazes may be made by the Michelin team for The Schelly.

Ryan says: “The decision to close Kysty wasn’t a planned thing, I was still investing in it in December putting in a new extraction system, but there were issues with it and we felt that any future investment would be better spent here.”

He had already abandoned a plan to open a new restaurant at a barn above Stockghyll following objections from residents. He conceded defeat but is nevertheless sorry that he didn’t get a chance to explain his thinking.

“I have an ambition around what I would call a model for sustainable tourism to make it work for the community and the area,” he explains. “We wouldn’t have opened in school holidays outside the summer and bank holidays and would have had a really minimal impact.

“I grew up here and I understand the pressures of overbearing tourism and I didn’t want to be part of the problem. We wanted to find a solution that would work for everybody. I got why people didn’t want a restaurant up there, it’s just a shame we didn’t get a chance to explain what the ambition was and how we would have done it.”

We pause for another dish: Mushrooms found around the woods in Ambleside. It could also be called autumn in a bowl and perfectly reflects Ryan’s ethos. Hen of the woods and girolles get a subtle hint of sharpness from pickle and chewy spelt brings the fungi together, all set in a thick and creamy cep foam finished with truffle. It is an escapee from the Old Stamp House that has lost an egg along the way but remains a hearty and moreish bowlful.

“The Schelly is about fine dining without the fuss,” says Ryan. “They are dishes you will see at Stamp House that challenge you with maybe one or two elements of the dish as opposed to all of them.

“You can be in and out in an hour if you want or other people might want to stay for a long lunch with a bottle of wine. For the time being we’re keeping it walk-ins only.”

Local ingredients are at the heart of the menu – other dishes are Cartmel valley Cumberland sausage, Dallam Estate fallow deer loin, Allerdale goat’s cheese, Fellstone cheese and Westmorland chutney and baguettes from Apple Pie Bakery in the village – but there some outliers in there too. Korean carrot salad and bellota de Iberico for instance.

“I want the food to be closer to the Old Stamp House and to reflect the time of year but also to reflect my travelling. I’m not scared to break the local ethos for the right ingredient if it meets the quality. We can make a fantastic panzanella because of Cochrane’s tomatoes, but bellota is the highest quality ham.”

The local ingredient ethos is also reflected in the fit-out of the restaurant with furniture from Gatebeck, near Kendal; local joiners Andy Bryan and Lee Anderson; Turton & Wood electrical contractors, of Ulverston; Morecambe painter and decorator Anthony Newbold; Kendal-based Billington for bathroom and plumbing, and flooring by James Airey, of Holme.

The black and white images of Herdwick sheep on the walls are by local photographer Black Crag. Ryan and Craig’s dad Phil did a lot of work too, including pointing all the stonework.

“We’re really lucky to have exceptional tradespeople locally and we’ve been happy to let them express themselves,” says Ryan.

“It’s been a rush to get it all done, but I’m very happy with it.”

The Schelly, corner of Lake Road and Church Street, Ambleside. Open Wednesday-Saturday noon-2pm, 5.30pm-9pm.

This is a shortened version of an article that appeared in Cumbria Life in October. For a limited time, you can get six issues of the magazine for just £9.99. Visit our website at cumbrialife.co.uk, select any six issue subscription and enter the voucher code OFFER24 when prompted to redeem your discount.