It’s a great sign when you meet a chef out in a community garden on a bank holiday spending his free time setting out leeks and cutting the last of the season’s rhubarb. I was with my gardener friend Ying when I met Ludovic and discovered he was a chef at La Table du Belvedere. I told him I’d never been there, but had recently dined nearby at a restaurant he subsequently told me served mostly pre-made products. La Table du Belvedere, by contrast, served authentic, traditional European food, prepared fresh from fresh ingredients. Standing there with dirty hands holding out a tray of leek seedlings, he told me I should come taste the difference at La Table du Belvedere and recommended that I try the very affordable lunch special, where you can get three courses for 30 Euros, or two for 25. Other choices won’t break the bank either, although you can splurge on the fabulous wines and the cheese and pastry trolley!

Who was I to argue? I felt as lucky to meet him and get his recommendation as I was o have come home with an armful of Ying’s rhubarb. So I booked for La Table du Belvedere the very next day. Ludovic knew what he was talking about. La Table du Belvedere is the real deal. They pride themselves on serving traditional food with a modern twist – both your old-fashioned grandmother and your health-conscious teen would approve. Me too.  Take Ludovic’s advice. You’ll taste the difference!