We started with the Basque crab and a leek and cheese crepe, both of which were OK but nothing special Our main courses, however, were very good I had cassoulet which was creamy and very tasty. And her weekly theme menus are sometimes British or Italian.Our choice from the a la carte was fairly conservative. For example, the menu of the day included chicken satay with peanut sauce, halibut with ginger, spring onions and soy sauce, and spiced aubergine and couscous. They go on one of these fact-finding trips to France at least once a year.Along with the dishes of French provenance, Jenny's menus contain the cross-cultural influences that no self-respecting chef ignores. It contained loving descriptions of the meals they had eaten, along with rough sketches of how some of the dishes were presented -'So that we can copy them,' he confessed. When, in order to get copies of the menu, I revealed that I was reviewing the restaurant, Michael produced his holiday notebook.

Les patrons, Michael Boustred and Jenny James, are practising Francophiles.Our visit was on the first day of business after a month-long closure while they were in the Lot, Bordeaux and the Dordogne, buying wines and sampling the local fare. And like its French counterparts, it offers fixed-price menus (from pounds 14.95 including half a litre of house wine for two) which change regularly This is no coincidence. It serves good clean food at very reasonable prices, and interesting wines. It is run by a couple, one of whom cooks while the other looks after the cellar and customers.

Was this a joke too? I laughed nervously.The Stile is the kind of restaurant you find in every small town in France but rarely here. 'I was in women's underwear for 14 years before I got into this.' Oh I see, basque. Strange pictures of dressed crab, dressed as a flamenco dancer, flitted through my mind. Of course, he didn't know me, although I suspect the good doctor may have alerted him to my intentions in advance because this is not the sort of place where a chap has dinner with a woman who is not his wife.Such a warning would also explain his slightly self-conscious performance as he took our order As a starter I chose Hot Basque Crab 'Oh yes, all red satin and black lace,' he said. (He is a doctor and used to be a partner in the town practice.) Mr Boustred seemed to know most of the other people in his restaurant that night.