most recently used by the Corn Exchange box office and marketing department, and the Tourist Information Centre. The fantastically ornate, large main room where we sat was also once Cambridge's main library, before it moved to the purpose-built building in Lion Yard. Whilst the Tourist Office was somewhat grey and drab, the restaurant really makes a feature of the ceiling, carvings and pillars, adding in their own additions such as mirrors. Other decorations are clearly related to the food, for example the tins of Italian tomato soup, arranged in piles reminiscent of the Warhol Campbell's Soup Cans painting. Large slabs of meat hang up around the kitchen, and olive oil, too - Italian delicatessen style.

We were offered, as the door host said, "One of the best tables", directly in front of the kitchen area and next to the table where bread is freshly sliced, where we had a great view of all the action.

If one word could be used to describe this place, it would be "energy". There are over 80 staff here, all trained to high standards. The staff who welcome you at the door, show you to your seat and wait at your table, who are all local to the area, do it with an energy and panache that we had not seen equalled in Cambridge. The advantage of our seat was that we could also see into the open-plan kitchen area - again, with bustling staff running about, cheerfully busy.

The menu is based on the premise of having unpretentious, rustic, simple dishes, using food that is available locally and in season. Specials are also available each day. For starters, we had bruschetta, with tomatoes, basil and ricotta; and creamed chicken livers, vin santo, rocket, crispy sage and parmesan. These arrived on a wooden spatula and were huge. For mains, there's a range of eight different pasta dishes. We had the truffle tagliatelli, finely shaved with black truffles tossed with buttery parmesan and nutmeg, and the sausage pappardelle, a slow-cooked Italian sausage, tomatoes, red wine and parmesan. All pasta is cooked daily from fresh. We finished with 'our special tiramisu'. Special it definitely is, delicately flavoured with orange zest. They also have a range of meats, including steaks, grilled British pork chop, and salads and side salads including 'funky chips with fresh garlic and parsley' and 'slow-cooked balsamic chickpeas'.

If there's one gripe, it would be that it's not immediately obvious where the toilets are. Although we were told that this was being "dealt with". It is early days, and you can expect the odd teething problem.

Jamie's Italian is no doubt going to be popular, being ideally placed for the pre-theatre crowd. Reservations are currently only being taken for groups of 8 or more and everyone else needs to queue, but with 220 seats this shouldn't be for long. Unsurprisingly customers are encouraged to wait in the bar area with its many cocktails just waiting to pounce upon your wallet. Meanwhile, Cambridge's other restaurants may need to wake up, its latest contender is young, bustling, dynamic, and will charm you into returning!