A note at the front of the dinner menu at pioneering two-Michelin-star Oxfordshire restaurant Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons says: 'Children of any age are not only accepted, they are welcomed.'
Foodie parents...
cancel the babysitter, because this is no empty promise, with the welcoming attitude to little ones coming right from the top - Chef Patron Raymond Blanc.
I saw the French superchef's heartwarming love of children first-hand during a recent highly memorable dinner and overnight stay at Le Manoir (known mainly for the cuisine, it's held two Michelin stars since it opened in 1984, but which also offers 32 well-appointed rooms and suites).
Ted Thornhill checked into 'Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, A Belmond Hotel', pictured, with his partner and five-year-old daughter, Emma.

The dinner menu at the Oxfordshire property's revered two-Michelin-star restaurant states: 'Children of any age are not only accepted, they are welcomed' 
Chef Patron of Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons - Raymond Blanc
Monsieur Blanc popped in to say bonjour to me, my partner and our five-year-old daughter, Emma, during a cookery lesson we had with Mark Peregrine, the hugely talented director of the in-house cookery school which, thrillingly, is set within the two-star kitchen itself.
focussed all his attention on Emma, mushroom chocolate bars who was entranced as he stressed to her that children can make themselves right at home in his restaurant, where there's even a kids' menu.
She would soon be making her choices from it, but first there was important work to be done on the sponge front - she thoroughly enjoyed mixing icing sugar, caster sugar, flour and whisked egg whites to make financier cakes topped with almonds and blueberries.
(While, confession, we parents sipped a couple of nicely crafted cocktails courtesy of Le Manoir's dapper mixologist, Tom Hollywood, who also stopped by.)
Once Mark had expertly finished off the cakes, we made our way to the hallowed ground of the main dining room - with Emma in tow.
We were a bit nervous that she might have a meltdown over something random and embarrass us.
Le Manoir is known mainly for the cuisine, but also offers 32 well-appointed rooms and suites
The Raymond Blanc Cookery School is, thrillingly, set within Le Manoir's two-star kitchen
LEFT: Raymond Blanc chatting with Ted's daughter, Emma, in Le Manoir's cookery school.

RIGHT: Mark Peregrine, the director of the cookery school, checks over the financier cakes that Emma helped to make
Le Manoir has held two Michelin stars for 38 years
Past tantrums have erupted over the colour of the milk bottle being 'wrong' (pink), her Halloween witch's dress going in the wash (she'd worn it day and night for four weeks) and being prised away from a statue of the mouse from the Gruffalo book in London's Kew Gardens after she'd hugged it for 20 minutes.
As with any little one, the spark that lights the blue touch paper can come from almost any source.
In the end, all was well.
Yes, the dining room was full of guests dressed to the nines, ready for the meal of a lifetime - but the atmosphere was relaxed and convivial, the tables separated by plenty of space and, praise be, there were children present at a couple of other tables.
And Emma, who can switch from loving an ingredient to hating it in the blink of a My Little Pony's eye, was delighted at the prospect of her main course - roasted free-range chicken breast served with chips and vegetables.
The children's menu is priced at £24, with roasted tomato soup or scrambled eggs and smoked Glenarm salmon for starters - and, endearingly, a selection of fresh organic vegetable purees for babies can be cooked to order on request.
The other main-course options for Emma were goujons of sole with tartare sauce and pan-seared market-fresh fish.
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To the Manoir born: Ted and his family stayed in the 'elegantly luxurious' Lavande' suite, above