 THEY say there's no such thing as a free lunch. So when the boss invites me out for dinner I know it's not to discuss pay rises. Instead he cuts a deal. I get us a table at North Wales' answer to The Ivy, he'll pay and I can write about it. This is easier than it sounds. Getting into The Old Rectory in Glan Conwy is as difficult as getting out of Colditz. I ring to discover they are usually open on set days but the following week it's x, y, z rather than a, b, c. Baffled, I hand over to the boss's PA, a miracle worker who comes back with the news that we have made the reserve list. The boss is a man not familiar with reserve lists and seems visibly offended. Eventually it's confirmed that we have a table: I feel as if we have cracked the Enigma code. Tables are given to residents of this lovely, honey coloured Georgian country house as priority, which is as it should be. When I look in the Michelin Red Guide it says: (booking essential for non-residents) (dinner only) (set menu only). The multi-award winning Old Rectory has rules and you either follow them or eat elsewhere. However, we throw an almighty spanner in the smooth running works when we phone with the news that (the boss eats not fat) (no, not a scrap) (no, not even very lean meat) and (his colleague eats no meat) (but she will eat fish) (but no mushrooms). I fear we will be banned before even setting foot there. But no, the Vaughans, the husband and wife duo who run the place, he front of house, she in the kitchen take it all in good grace and devise a special fat free variation. "Please arrive at 7.30pm prompt for canapes. Dinner is at 8pm," I'm told. I feel like saluting. It was a perfect evening with sun on the shining pools of the Conwy estuary, illuminating the castle at one end, shrouding the mountans in silvery mist at the other. "You couldn't wish for a finer view," the boss murmured and I couldn't disagree. We took our pre-dinner drinks on the terrace before enjoying tiny canapes in the wood panelled lounge. We made short work of the bite-sized melt-in the mouth cheese and tapenade puffs, tiny skewers of anchovies and smoked salmon and croutons topped with smoked duck. | 
