John Dory with Sauerkraut and Juniper Sabayon

The idea for this dish is pinched from Le Crocodil restaurant in Strasbourg. Anja and I ate there with my brother and his wife, who live not far away in Basel. I had booked the table using Relais and Châteaux headed notepaper (at the time I worked at Gidleigh Park which was a member), so we received personal attention from the chef-patron. We were seated at chairs used the previous week to accommodate Mrs Thatcher’s bottom and the patron politely asked my brother what brought him to the are