A lunch good enough to lift Tory spirits 

Things could have been worse. My host was determined to lunch al fresco, and after all it was late June. Yet this is England and as everyone knows, even D-Day had to be postponed for 24 hours. In the event, we were fine. The elements were kindly. The temperature did not fall below 60, the rain held off, we more or less managed to forget about politics and it would have been hard to improve on the setting. Saint Jacques, a restaurant which I have often praised, always deservedly, has a courtyard and is next to Berry Bros: so this is a sophisticatedly bacchanalian quartier.

The sophistication may be recent. Behind St James’s Street and Pall Mall there are nooks, crannies and lanes, including Crown Passage. It is now home to a fine pub, the Red Lion, and an excellent Italian restaurant, Il Vicolo, another favourite of this column.