At the table though there was the first hint that refinement might work in the wrong way; a foamed velout?f cauliflower, served with tobacco shreds of truffle, lacked the depth of flavour this affectation requires. The point, surely, is for an evanescent texture to deliver a completely unexpected punch, and this didn’t. And if there was a problem in our meal there the clue as to its origins seemed to lie somewhere in that phrase on the front of Lishman’s – in old-fashioned airs and graces that slightly miss the mark.First impressions weren’t bad. The Box Tree has been taken in hand by Simon Gueller, formerly of Rascasse in Leeds, and he and his wife have redecorated well, all low lintels, leaded lights and 17th-century extensions. But then Ilkley itself is a Hyacinth Bouquet kind of town and the Box Tree is something of a Hyacinth Bouquet kind of restaurant. You’ll need sharp reactions and fresh tyres though, because The Box Tree, lodged on a dog leg of the A65 is on you before you know it. Hesitate a moment and you’ll be alongside Lishman’s – Ilkley’s excellent local butcher – before you’ve slowed for the U-turn.
Lishman’s shopfront announces that it sells “Refined food for Epicures” – which struck me as having a touch of the Hyacinth Bouquets about it the first time I saw it.

At the beginning of this year The Box Tree at Ilkley – launching pad for Marco Pierre White’s career and one of the first restaurants in Britain to get two Michelin stars back in 1977 – showed signs of recovery from an extended slump by winning back one of its stars. This, according to the Michelin’s autophiliac grading system, signifies a good place to hit the brakes – not yet worth a detour, or a journey in its own right, (two and three stars respectively) but certainly worth pulling over for. The Spaniard showed he is recovering the sort of form that saw him win the French Open in 2003 with a superb display against the secondseeded Argentinian.. Despite defeats for Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong yesterday as Britain lost to Serbia & Montenegro, Thursday’s win over Denmark ensured they avoided being drawn into a relegation play-off.”We are a bit disappointed with our result today,” Brown said, “but we came up with the goods when we needed to Anne and Elena are improving their game on clay We have got to focus on getting out of this group. The business before the Leinster match was really unfortunate. Often, scrum practice is harder and more fiery than the real thing – it’s not refereed, for a start – and with every front-row forward at every club having an ego and a point to prove, the training field can be the angriest place of all.

Preparation work at Leicester is bloody hard anyway, and the scrummaging can get really messy. On that occasion, it was a full-on session, every man for himself, and I was the one who got hurt.”Both times, I completely lost the strength in my left arm. Obviously, the first incident was worse than the second, in that it kept me out for several weeks But in a way, the second was the more annoying. I’d kept myself fit in the gym, I was as fresh as could be and I couldn’t wait for the Leinster game.

To be forced out of that at the last minute was no fun at all. To be sat there in my suit at Lansdowne Road, a pint of Guinness in one hand and a Leicester flag in the other, watching the blokes play out of their skins… it’s no good, is it?”But what about the attitude problem, assuming there is one? “If you’re asking me whether I switch off occasionally, you may be right,” he agreed. “I certainly think I did in the past, and that game against Samoa may have been an example, although I was carrying an injury during the tournament and my preparation hadn’t been the best. There were issues with my move to Bristol, too, and without going back over old ground, I wasn’t always in the best frame of mind during my time there I think I’m different now, though.