It is necessary to make economies when running a restaurant. It is not “all about margins” but there are margins that must be met. I made an excellent economy last week when I bought three kilos of black truffles at €870 per kilo. Compared with the white truffles I had been buying at £2,600, the black were an absolute snip: even buying three kilos instead of one meant a saving of more than £1,000 so I indulged myself accordingly.

It looks like a good year for black truffles. They have started remarkably early and my usual dictum of waiting until January because the pre-Christmas supply can be overpriced and under-flavoured went completely by the board. I was as deeply imbued with a sense of pre-Christmas extravagance as my nine-year-old son as he pored over his Pokémon catalogue. It would be hard to say which product is the more ephemeral: my truffles will be gone in a week but I am sure to want more in a year’s time, while Sidney will have lost all interest in those tedious cards.