Dear Monsieur Roux,

In December I was given the enormous pleasure of eating at Le Gavroche.  It was simply the most divine culinary experience of my life. Almost a month on and I am still dreaming of the the Souffle Suissesse.    The Snow Crab was utter perfection and the Pork Cheek has reignited my love of offal.

For pudding I ate Creamed Rice with Praline and Pears & despite my straining waist band I finished the lot.  Creamy, light and delicately spiced it was the perfect finale to my meal.

As a student I worked in as a waitress in a Michelin star restaurant and know how hard the front of house staff work. At Le Gavroche they are like swans gliding elegantly across the floor never breaking a sweat or a dropping anything larger than a grain of salt.

So, a huge thank you for giving me this pleasure and for inspiring me to be even braver with my home cooking.

I do however, have a little niggle that I need to share.  When Le Plateau de Fromages arrived I was utterly devastated.  Nestling in the spot where I was expecting the cheddar to be winking back at me, reminding me of the pleasures of home, was the ultimate imposter – The Lincolnshire Poacher.  This is undoubtedly a great cheese but to substitute a fine hand crafted Somerset cheddar for this cannot go unchallenged.

So Monseiur Roux – this is my invitation to you.  Please come and visit us in Somerset and I’ll show you just how good our local cheese is.  The huge variety of taste from salty with brutal hints of the farmyard to soft and melting with a real delicacy of taste.  This is the result of the hundreds of years of tradition that have made the Cheddar the most famous cheese in the world. At the same time we might also be persuaded to share some of the bounty of our local cider farms!

Yours Sincerely,

Lucy