As the waiter at Lemonia arrived at our table with plates of meze, the woman opposite me dropped out of our conversation and started talking directly to him.

She wanted to know how he was; how the rest of his family were; and whether he would be working tomorrow – she had already booked to come back the following evening for dinner. Then she turned to me and said: “He's one of the two waiters who have been here since Lemonia opened and this place is our favourite restaurant. You probably won't approve of this, writing about restaurants as you do, but when we come here tomorrow we will probably order almost exactly what we are about to eat now.”

I countered that not only would nobody readily say no to well-made, generous servings of hummus, taramasalata and tahini, but that nobody today can underestimate the importance of anyone's “favourite restaurant”. Lemonia, a Greek Cypriot restaurant in Primrose Hill, north-west London, has been popular for the past 30 years and continues to attract customers. What is the secret of its success and that of other restaurants that are doing well despite the downturn?