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No 2 Oak Street

You’ll want to book ahead. One of the side-effects of the renowned warm welcome at No 2 is popularity. As crazy as it might seem, when you treat people in a friendly manner while you serve good food and wine, they want to come back. It’s one of those revelations many a city restaurant could profit from. Back in this well-weathered cottage, the veranda is an attraction in summer, the open fire in the cooler months; the care in Ray Urquhart’s kitchen is a constant. Restraint is the trump card in a gratin of asparagus, Gruyère and parmesan, while Green Mountain veal loin paired with a fried potato cake channels vitello tonnato through its smoked tuna mayonnaise. House-made vanilla ice-cream accompanies a sweet finish of caramelised custard and date tart. The short-and-sweet, mostly Antipodean wine list is serviceable. Let’s hear it for the old-fashioned art of hospitality.