The New Zealander has had French restaurants in France and started up Emsworth's celebrated 36 On The Quay before Michelin-starred Ray Farthing took over.
Now she runs Cassons with her husband... Cass. Her culinary heart is decidedly in France, although she has the occasional foray elsewhere.
Her gourmet evenings in particular see her venture into Vietnam, India and the Caribbean – but I suspect it's the French who make her heart beat fastest.
On her Dish and a Glass £10 menu you'll find charcuterie, goat's cheese salad and omelettes. The specials including live oysters, pan-fried foie gras, spiced pork belly and a trio of duck.
The Chef's Set Lunch comes up with moules Mariniere; ravioli of smoked salmon with a tarragon beurre blanc sauce; Roquefort and fig salad; boeuf Bourguignon; duck confit; crème brulee; chocolate mousse with candied orange and a platter of cheeses.
The equally well-priced table d'hote dinner menu, which features from Tuesday to Thursday, is a mix of most of these dishes – as is the Sunday lunch menu.
The more expensive a la carte menu features a timbale of smoked salmon with quail's eggs, tempura prawns with an oriental salad, poached oysters, a trilogy of vegetable soup, and Surf 'n' Turf – fillet steak with garlic-fried king prawn tails and mushrooms with a garlic beurre blanc.
Symphony of the Sea, a fishy threesome enveloped in a lemon beurre blanc sauce, is a frequent visitor to these many menus.
Cassons, situated on the A27, was once a Thai diner. Now it is beamed, white-tableclothed and smartly glassed. Cass presides over the spacious bar where he takes orders before whisking you to one of the tables in the handsome dining room. The global wine list is skilfully accomplished by Cass and Barry Phillips, one of the south coast's more stylish wine experts.
A ravioli of smoked salmon, my first dish, was just that: one medium-sized pasta shape with fresh salmon within and topped with smoked fish. A rich, creamy sauce slickly surrounded the whole. I prefer my beurre blanc a tad more piquant than creamy and with more tarragon but it was a fine, attractive start – and excellent granary bread mopped up the sauce.
The moist flesh in my duck confit was cooked to perfection. It was served with a mustard mash (a mite under-seasoned), a rich wine sauce and squeaky green beans.
I ended with a sublime chocolate mousse, encased in a chocolate triangle and finely decorated with a swirl of crème anglaise and orange sugar shards.
Cassons' lively following is partly due to Emsworth devotees of Viv's cooking. They recognise good teamwork and fine cooking when they see it.


Essentials:
Cassons Restaurant and Bar, Arundel Road, Tangmere, Chichester 01243 773294. www.cassonsrestaurant.co.uk Open Tues-Sun for lunch from 12-3 and from Tuesday-Sat for dinner from 7-late.
Food: ****
Service: ****
Atmosphere: ****
Disabled access: Yes, with good space for wheelchairs at tables either in the bar or restaurant.
How to get there: Follow the A27 past Chichester to the Tangmere Roundabout and turn back on yourself towards Chichester. Cassons is on the left past the Esso Garage and the Tangmere turning.Take the slip road on the left to the entrance.


Diners' View:
Marjorie Clements and Sylvia Jefferson, from Havant: 'I had the fish ravioli and could have done with more than half an ounce of smoked salmon on the top,' Marjorie said, 'but it was a lovely tasty dish. My boeuf Bourguignon was really so full of flavour.'
'My trio of soups looked amazing but weren't too different tasting,' Syliva added. 'My duck was the better dish, and the chocolate mousse is an 80's dish nicely revived.'


Menu Mystery:
Duck confit: this dish originated in Southwest France. Goose or duck is given the confit treatment by covering cooked legs or quartered birds in duck or goose fat to preserve them. The meat, already cooked for two to three hours in fat, is stored in earthenware jars for several months. The goose or duck dripping gives a robust flavour to the meat. The meat is then re-heated, and the skin crisped up for added pleasure.