As you will have guessed from my surname, my dad is Italian, although my mother is English, so I have a varied background as far as cooking is concerned, combining the two to some extent.

I look forward to welcoming you to your first stay here at Bel Ombrage.

Since retiring in 2004 after the death of my stage partner, Patrick Fyffe, I have been keen to do something different. I speak fluent French, and living in France has always appealed to me. With my interest in cooking and entertaining, and the background Louie has in catering, our change of direction seemed obvious.

We also want to offer a range of extra options which will hopefully add to the pleasure and comfort of our guests. As we are both keen and competent cooks, we feel that meals will form a key part of our service, and plan to offer a varied menu in the evenings, along with options at breakfast and lunchtime.

We hope you will find that we have achieved our goals when you visit us here.