The lime juice curdles the cream (like cement) and it becomes very difficult to swallow It will pucker you up like a green persimmon. Ooogy wawa! I ordered her a gin and tonic instead.The menu was infused with imagination And vanilla. French chefs have been pairing it with lobster for years, but now they’re adding it to everything from stir-fries to cassoulets. It’s a flavour that must be handled with care – like the orchid itself Vanilla comes from the pod. The flower is only available for pollination on one day a year.

If it’s not fertilized, it will blossom in the morning, wilt in the afternoon, and fall to the ground by nightfall.Rebecca is vegetarian, and gave thanks for her tomato risotto with nut butter It was made with a good quality stock. They say you can substitute wine, water or whatever, but it’s a lie. I can’t believe the excuses people come up with for not making their own stock – if they devoted that energy to making stock, it would be done by now I don’t mean to go on. To the casual observer, Rebecca’s main course (boulang? potatoes with roasted vegetables) looked like a side order. Asparagus, spinach, carrots – “There’s a whole greengrocer’s under there,” she said, “but somehow the sauce makes it into a main course.” It went down well. Unlike the black bra that our waitress was wearing under her white blouse. Rebecca, you see, is a fashion student.My mother was so caught up in the ecstasy of her roasted skate wing that I completely forgot about her.

You see, I, too, was troubled by the black bra, but in a different way So I distracted myself with a braised short rib of beef The flavour was intensely autumnal. And its port and horse mushroom gravy demanded another round of warm walnut bread for mopping up. Anything less would have been disrespectful.The whole menu was seasonal. My favourite autumnal supper used to be two baked mushrooms, their juices spooned over a thick round of sourdough toast – but this rib of beef would run it pretty close. And to accompany my favourite supper there will always be something in a glass, of course, but when isn’t there? As long as it’s not “Cement Mixer”, I’m as happy as Larry.Ditto, when I see parsnip on the menu.

This underrated root vegetable has long been consigned to soup duty, where it has been the wind beneath the wings of its flashier cousin, the carrot But The Vanilla Pod values the parsnip for itself. The candied parsnip truly flew higher than an eagle with the honey bavarois, raspberry salad and rosemary ice cream.The saucing and style at The Vanilla Pod is very French. No surprise – chef Michael Macdonald used to work at La Tante Claire. But I also happen to know he did home economics at school, and made the third best scones in the county. It’s given him the confidence to put olive oil and raisin coulis around his apple terrine And parsnip under his bavarois. God bless home economics.All the desserts were works of art – rather brash art, but art nonetheless. The pi?s de r?stance were the fruit jellies that came with coffee You see, they have a special place in our family.