YOU would expect An Evening with Raymond Blanc to be one of good food, Gallic charm and top-flight cookery tips, and I did not go away disappointed.

The celebrated restaurateur was totally transparent in his passion for food, alongside healthy eating, plus having a thoroughly good time.

M. Blanc was hosting the evening at the Bath branch of his Brasserie Blanc chain, which is celebrating six years in business and, at a time when some eateries are closing their doors because of poor trade, is bucking the trend.

Plans are afoot to open a Brasserie Blanc in Marlborough, in a historic building in Kingsbury Street.

Negotiations are still in progress, but once it opens I am sure it will follow the pattern of quickly becoming a local go-to spot: M. Blanc is delighted that in the city 80 per cent of his bookings are from Bath people, not tourists or visitors.

“If it’s local it’s good for everyone: you help your local farmers because we use local food, you employ local people, if a place keeps its pubs, it keeps its Post Office and schools and you help the whole society,” he said.

“And you get environmental benefits, in particular pollution, because you aren’t shipping in food and people aren’t driving out to eat.

“You must welcome everyone. We are successful because we are inclusive.”

The conversation covered topics from cookery tips and skills to memories of how his passion for food was ignited in childhood, and of the satisfactions - and frustrations - he has felt since coming to England and beginning his mission to convert us to fine dining.

We ranged swiftly from the evils of salt in English cookery, complete with a hilarious anecdote about the first diners at his first ever restaurant, which ended: “They took the salt and pepper and murdered my food - and I could have killed them!” to a reflection on how cutting salt from food is easy, but persuading people to use less sugar may be more difficult.

And before he set off to work the tables, a final thought: “A recipe is about chemistry, about teaching, about costs. I love to teach people how to cook my food.”

We settled down to eat our way through a deliciously souped-up version of his new spring menu, which is on sale now, opening with a velvet smooth teacup of courgette and wild garlic soup.

“The garlic is only the leaves, it is not overpowering,” we had been promised - and of course, he was right.

Brasserie Blanc’s set menu rarely offers more than three choices per course and next up was a classic smoked mackerel and apple salad alongside bang on seasonal grilled asparagus - following the smiling confession that when he filmed his latest TV series in Kew Gardens: “We ‘ad to cheat a little with the asparagus, it takes seven years to grow!”

We both opted for the mackerel, grilled skin side up only and infused with slightly Asian flavours. It was lovely, and the apple compote had chunks of fruit in, but the seaweed flavours in the coleslaw escaped me.

Next up was guinea fowl supreme for myself. A first time eating this, and it looks like chicken but with a much richer, gamier tang. My husband went for the spring vegetable risotto, served with tomato essence based on Raymond’s memory of his maman’s fantastic salad.

“Start with two kg of cherry tomatoes” he instructed, revealing a recipe whose secret ingredient turned out to be a jelly bag.

I had pictured armies of sous-chefs dunking tiny fruit in boiling water to skin them.

The dish was a triumph of flavour, light on the tongue and far from the gluey mess occasionally passed off under this name.

Our table agreed a pudding of soft meringue, blackcurrants, marshmallows and Chantilly cream was the highlight of the evening.

I was a fan of Brasserie Blanc before this experience: now I’ve decided that a visit to Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons is a must.