8.00 A.M. THE IVY

8.00 A.M. The first delivery of the day arrives. Lay’s Fruit and Veg. It’s a family business of three cheeky-chappie Chelsea supporters, Cockney enough to warm the cockles of Dick Van Dyke’s speech coach’s heart. They have been doing The Garden’ for three generations. Bags of potatoes, boxes of squash, carrots, onions, beans. The sous-chef regards an early parsnip dubiously, Cos lettuce for the Caesar Salad and crates of ‘queer gear’. Air-freighted berries, perky ingénue salad leaves dumped in a rush by the larder for the kitchen apprentice to sort.