THE Potting Shed has been looking positively under-utilised of late due to the pressure of work as I have been designing menus for a national chain of pubs.

Blumenthal and his mildly idiotic attempts to make the Little Chef return to form have led me to avoid the pitfalls and to concentrate instead on reintroducing more traditional British foodstuffs to pub tables.

This is partly what led me to an eatery slightly out of the county, although not too far, so you do not have to worry about the continual upwards creep of each litre of petroleum your set of wheels consumes.

Eating out is said to be one of the luxuries that a lot of people are foregoing in these difficult times.

Mind you, nobody told the staff at the busy Red Lion Inn in Stathern, which is a small village located about two miles off the A52, Nottingham to Grantham road. The gastro-pub straddles the shire borders of Leicester, Nottingham and Lincoln.

Located in the fertile Vale of Belvoir, the pub is part of the three- establishment Rutland Inn Company, of which its The Olive Branch restaurant is a single Michelin Star recipient.

The atmosphere was friendly and welcoming, satisfying the needs of both locals and those people who have heard about its culinary treats.

Virtually all of its produce, meats, fish and dairy are supplied fresh, daily, from within a five-mile radius of the premises.

The list is beguiling. The geese are supplied by Botterills of Croxton Kerrial, honey from Colsterworth, delicatessen supplies from Simpole-Clarke of Stamford, pork from Lincolnshire, fish from Grimsby and so on. All of these items are shown on a line-drawn map on the reverse of the menu.

As an old property, you expect little snugs, nooks and crannies and that is what you get. It is exceedingly comfortable, beautifully decorated, with plenty of space between the tables.

The staff is local (mainly from Grantham), highly skilled and extraordinarily out-going, all factors that combine to raise Red Lion Inn's status above the run-of-the-mill village pub.

Mrs FM joined me for the meal and we elected to try the three-course luncheon at a very reasonable £14 per head.

Mrs FM perused the menu, considered the pigeon, smoked duck breast and pan-fried chicken livers before settling on the Red Lion faggots, with swede and carrot mash, accompanied by spinach as a starter course, followed by pan-fried sea bream on a chorizo parmentier, with more spinach.

My first course would be the pub smoked salmon, accompanied by dill pancakes and soured cream, while my main course was the braised blade of beef, rösti potatoes and farmhouse cabbage and carrot.

Wrapped in four rashers of fine smoked bacon, the pork faggots were beautifully spiced with mace, cayenne pepper, sage, rosemary and crushed salt and black pepper and possessed a beguilingly crumbly texture.

The small platform of swede and potato mash absorbed the gorgeous juices, while the steamed spinach added some vital iron and its customary leafy texture.

My smoked salmon was not the expected thin slices accompanied by gravadlax sauce but randomly chunked steak, served in a metal ramekin, topped by the soured cream and delicious dill-flavoured pancakes laid alongside. The flavours combined delightfully to provide a light and engaging starter course.

Mrs FM revelled in the flavour of the faggots and the memory of her childhood, as her mother used to cook faggots at home and she described the Red Lion alternatives as exquisite. My salmon was wonderful, succulent and balanced beautifully with the lemon enhanced soured cream, while the little dill-flavoured pancakes provided a delightful accompaniment.

Moving on to the mains, sea bream can be notoriously tasteless, yet Red Lion's chef clearly soused Diana's fillet in lemon, which did not detract from its freshly caught flavour. Succulent and bright white, the flesh separated beautifully to drop into the parmentier- style cubed potato and chorizo spicy sausage base. The spinach added some greenery to the finished dish.

As to my choice of the blade of beef, I have always believed that the cheaper cuts, such as shoulder, can often provide the best overall taste and the braised blade was simply stunning. Tender. Packed with juicy, meaty goodness and a lovely Marmitey-aftertaste. This is heart-warming, home-cooked food at its very best.

Serving the beef on a crisped patty of pan-fried, Swiss-style rösti potatoes and strips of al dente cabbage and carrot, a sort of hot coleslaw, was a sheer delight.

Our dessert choices of vanilla crème brulee for Mrs FM and the house speciality of rhubarb and egg custard tart for me, accompanied by rhubarb sorbet, were also hugely satisfying.

The warmed tart was awesome, contained within the thinnest, buttery, melt-in-the-mouth pastry was an inch thick layer of egg custard atop a sliver of rhubarb compote to create one of the finest desserts that I have tasted for a long time, while the crème brulee was equally impressive, with its vanilla pod flavouring and perfectly burned sugar crusting. The sorbet provided a palate-cleansing final culinary flourish for both of us, its initial taste being of rose-water, which melted on the tongue, before the explosion of sweetly-tart rhubarb delivered its closing blow.

Red Lion Inn manages to provide fulfilling Michelin Star quality at homemade, pub-grub prices that guarantee to keep its customers returning.