We were served a champagne margarita: a mixture of tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, agave syrup and champagne presented in a salt-rimmed cocktail glass and garnished with a slice of lime. To taste, we dined on vanilla custard with roasted, chili-spiced pears and rustic sourdough rye bread which we ate with salted butter and clover honey.

Following the addition of water, we poured ourselves a wheat beer with that so familiar banana scent, while opening a box of homemade jaffa-type cakes made with marmalade-spiked orange jelly and rich dark chocolate. There was still a chili heat on the palate yet balanced by the sweetness of tropical papaya scones with a vanilla glaze.