benchers, whitebait, basil

Bench sitters in The Pantiles.

"Whitebait," says a customers ordering at the pub on on the green at Groombridge. He is wearing khaki Bermuda shorts and, fashionably unshaven, displays a heavy black growth of stubble. "...and some garlic mayonnaise." "We only have mayonnaise," says the lady who has been at the pub for the last 20 years at least and smiles about once a year. "You have mayonnaise; you must have garlic," says the customers. "Couldn't you put the two together?" "They're very busy in the kitchen," says the hostess. Then: "I'll make some," says the cheerful girl who now  also looks after the bar. "Marvelous," says the customer, "you're lovely!"

The prospect of a frittata made with yellow zucchini and freshly cut basil draws me down to the kitchen.