The look of love

Above: Oldstone

FEBRUARY – the month of romance.

I well remember, in the first bloom of love, Ian once letting me drive his brand new car. I took it for a spin round the block and parked it on a slope, forgetting one teensy, weensy detail: the handbrake. Surely a mistake anyone could make?

As I got out, I wondered why the ground was moving. It wasn’t. The car swept elegantly past me and straight into a stone wall.

Ian, watching from a window, rushed out, threw his arms around me, and tenderly asked, “Are you all right?”

Twenty years of marriage later, I parked one of our cars in the garden pond. Surely another mistake anyone could make?

I cheerfully phoned Ian to appraise him of the situation, and waited for those loving words: “Are you all right?”

How surprised I was! How times do change…

I mean - I’d dried the car off as best I could; cleared up all the bits from around the pond; even tried vaguely but helpfully to fit some of them back on to the bodywork. What more could a girl do? But there are times when you just can’t do a thing right.

So off we go for a romantic meal at Oldstone in Nailsworth, me looking lovey-dovey, and Ian looking dazed - with that startled, uncomprehending look that’s so reminiscent of rabbits in headlights.

Situated on the corner of Old Market, this restaurant is housed in a Cotswold stone building, parts of which date back 350 years. It’s the kind of Escher-like structure where you go down the steps into the entrance, to find yourself a minute later – without levitation, hesitation or deviation - at floor level on the other side.

“What a lovely, solid old place,” I say to the lady who greets us.

“Unlike a garden pond,” mutters Ian, “which, quite patently, isn’t.”

The tiny bar area, it has to be said, initially makes you feel all arms and legs, like Alice after munching on the ‘Eat me’ cake. But – and this is the important thing about Oldstone – it is so beautifully managed that the impression is a fleeting one. For one thing, the lady (who turns out to be Hilary Foster, owner of Oldstone with husband, Mike, the chef), is the perfect hostess – as chatty as you want her to be, but self-effacing and discreet too.

As we sip sherry, she hands us the menu to study: a set price (£26 for three courses, £22 for two) with a choice of five starters, five mains (plus vegetarian option) and puds. Simple, but again, effective: the veritable theme of the evening.

“Soup, crab, goats’ cheese, salmon, charcuterie… What do you fancy?” I ask Ian.

“How could you,” he asks, in slow puzzlement, “miss the drive – which is huge – and go plum for the pond, which is not?” The rabbit-in-headlight look has flattened into full road kill.

Before I can think of a reply, Hilary is there to whisk us to our table, in the full-windowed dining room – unexpectedly open and light after the confinements of the bar: a really quite lovely space.

In the absence of interesting conversation, and the vague feeling that I’m dining with Hazel from Watership Down, I study the other guests who are beginning to arrive on this mid-week evening. Once again, you have to admire the intelligence with which the Fosters run this restaurant. Each arrival is comfortably spaced to be amply greeted, seated, oiled and, finally, reseated at their table.

I’ve been to far bigger restaurants; I’ve been to restaurants packed with more staff. But the Fosters have Oldstone off to a fine art: never once during the evening do they seem harried or rushed. Never once do I feel ignored.

I begin with the rustic minestrone soup, which, with its fresh and fulsome flavour, feels like an Italian vegetable garden in a bowl. Ian has the crab cake with sweet chilli sauce – also good. I would have had the goats’ cheese, except that it was French. How can you not use Cerney cheese when it’s local and so good? But again, you can’t really complain – it is often included in the cheese board, as is the superb Godsells from Leonard Stanley. In fact, so much of the produce is local, including the beef fillet au poivre that follows (£2.50 supplement) – grazed on the verdant slopes of nearby Woodchester; the lamb is equally good, bought from the renowned butcher just along the street.

Pudding – well, again, only three options, but well thought out: chocolate truffle cake, blueberry and almond tart or baked cinnamon apple sponge pudding with Calvados cream. Absolutely excellent.

And did I mention the attention to detail? The pre-starter soupçons of spinach soup; the sweetmeats with the coffee?

There are so many good restaurants around, it can be difficult to recommend one over another. But this certainly is a good one – and if you want personal service, excellent local food, and an unpretentious, welcoming experience, then it’s for you. Anyone who lives within five to 10 miles of it would be remiss not to get into their cars and visit.

An excellent Valentine’s treat; also suitable for post-pond reconciliations.

Ambience 7/10

Service 8/10

Food 8/10

Value for money 8/10

Oldstone, Old Market, Nailsworth, 01453 832808