Today's column is brought to you by the letter R. R for restaurants and restaurateurs.

It would have been a good idea to find a Sicilian or Bohemian restaurant, since four of us were on the way to see The Winter's Tale.

Meat mains arrive with boiled potatoes, broccoli, carrot and cauliflower, a charming (if not wholly Latin) tradition to be heartily applauded at a family restaurant.

What I really wanted were the Bluff oysters: fat and juicy, the very soul of seafood.

Looking back, I realise I could have ordered anything - with the possible exception of the goat curd - and been thrilled to bits.