Lucy Richardson opts to take a rare night out at Cafe Lilli, one of the region’s top eateries

IF I were a Christmas decoration, I would be a piece of tinsel – kitsch and colourful, but a bit prickly. Show me some sparkle and I have to have it, no matter how impractical. My wardrobe resembles that of a Stepford wife, not a reporter with two young children, it’s all 1950s skirts, embellished cardigans and twinkly heels.

So, with no Christmas parties to go to, but an array of vintage clothes begging to share in the festivities, I suggested that Matthew and I go out for a meal and, on the spur of the moment, we decided on Cafe Lilli, in Stockton, to see its new layout.

Situated on the quaint and leafy Norton High Street, Cafe Lilli has firmly established itself as one of the region’s top eateries. Owned by Roberto Pittalis and Daryl Chadwick, they each take it in turns to run the show for a month ensuring high standards meet the high expectations of its Italian cuisine.

We first visited soon after it opened in June 2004 with honeymoon blues – I remember setting the paper menu alight from a tealight candle and ordering antipasti for the first time in my life and loving it. A decade on, we now have a family and Cafe Lilli has grown, in sorts, by re-arranging its interior.

The bar that used to be in situated in the middle meant diners behind it were sometimes shrouded in darkness, but now, by pushing it against the far wall, it has created one spacious room and no need to envy anyone else’s table.

When we arrived at about 7pm on a Saturday night the words “you might have to wait up to an hour” were music to our ears. For some couples this might be an issue but, for us, the chance to people watch at the bar while quaffing wine without a toddler tantrum or a One Direction quiz was nothing short of bliss. It also gave us time to look at the menu, which has also had a radical and very exciting makeover. Not normally a pudding fan, my eyes lit up at the list of "liquid desserts" – an array of tempting cocktails. I openly admit I was so overcome I did have the thought, "Is it so wrong to have a three-course meal consisting only of sugar?"

Sadly for us, we were ushered to our table after only half-an-hour’s very enjoyable wait and able to properly survey the new surroundings. It’s been given a new lick of white paint and the local artwork has been replaced with magazine prints, but it still has that relaxed, retro feel which, wearing my fake fur coat and twirly skirt, made me feel right at home. The atmosphere was buzzing with diners of all ages and above the hubbub of chatter was the decadent sound of Prosecco corks being popped.

No sooner had we sat down than our starters of ham hock terrine, apple sauce and black pudding granola (£6.95) arrived and were absolutely delicious.

I was going to go for the chestnut and sage gnocchi, squash and sprout with parmesan (£11.95), which I know my vegetarian mother-in-law would like but, at the last minute, plumped for the chargrilled beef burger off the specials board with bacon jam, dijonaise and roasties (£10.95) which can only be described as delish. Matthew ordered venison (£18.95) with red cabbage off the specials board too, which he said was some of the nicest meat he had ever tasted but, both of us noticed that we hadn’t been asked how we wanted our dishes cooked. Maybe it’s the chef’s prerogative, but I wished my burger had been pinker and juicier. We washed it down with a litre carafe of house Merlot, which at £18, was excellent value.

It’s rare I go the whole hog and even look at the dessert menu, but the word "assiette" literally makes me go weak at the knees. Essentially, I am a greedy person so the chance to sample lots of little desserts is heaven on a plate, so I went for the Cafe Gourmande of mini brulee, brownie and lemon almond nibbles (meringue) served with a little expresso (£5.95). It was sublime.

Matthew indulged his guilty pleasure and succumbed to the cheeseboard (£6.95), which was mightily impressive.; As well as the selection of English cheeses, there was a sweet quince jelly, pear, water biscuits and celery. The bill came to £74.70, which we thought was reasonable for such a fun feast.

Keen to inject even more sparkle into a rare night on our own, there was only one thing on my mind when we got home – to send Matthew into the garage to find the Christmas decorations.

Food facts

Cafe Lilli

85 High Street, Norton,Stockton, TS20 1AE

Tel : 01642-554422. Web: lillicafe.co.uk

Opening hours: Closed Mondays, Tuesdays to Saturdays 11am to 11pm, jazz on the first Sunday of every month from1pm to 5pm. Bookings taken Tuesdays to Thursdays from 5.30pm to 9pm and on Fridays and Saturdays until 7pm.

Vegetarians catered for. Disabled access.

Ratings:

Quality: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Ambience: 4/5

Value: 4/5