Welcome to The Hills, Oslo's most esteemed restaurant, an institution stewed in tradition and clinging to the faded grandeur of old Europe.

A neurotic waiter tends to the desires of his regular - and irregular - clientele. Aristocrats and artistes, wealthy widows and roguish entrepreneurs, he observes all their dramas with a wit as sharp as a filleting knife.

At table ten sits the impeccable Mr Graham, the most demanding of them all, impatiently awaiting a special guest. When at last she arrives - young, beautiful, mysterious - she will prove a challenging new flavour, throwing into disarray our waiter's nerves, and the delicately balanced ingredients of the room.