FIRE AND STONE It was, I’ll be honest, a Eureka moment. I’ve had others, to be sure, but not in recent years (the last was five years ago when, suffering from chicken pox, I realised how the virus helped me fit – once more – into 32” waist trousers).

Since then it’s been a desert, but just before Christmas, I visited the newly-opened Fire and Stone restaurant on George Street, Oxford, and my eye was caught by the Lychee Martini on its cocktail list.

I’ve never been a beer man – even at school I always ordered cocktails, even though these were limited to a combi of cola and ginger beer .

You can imagine my delight then in the Eighties when Pina Coladas and Manhattans became de rigeur.

And despite the caring Nineties and bling-fuelled Noughties, I’ve stayed faithful, umbrellas and all.

But it’s fair to say I had become a tad tired of the range on offer; I knew them all back-to-front, upside-down, shaken and stirred.

So the two words ‘Lychee’ and ‘Martini’ inevitably caught my eye.

It was lunchtime, but I wasn’t driving, so I thought, what the heck, I’ll have one.

And then a second...

And a third...

And a fourth...

Oh, and I ate as well, because I had to get back to work and according to my contract, it’s a sackable offence to be ‘under the influence’ during work hours.

Anyway, so impressed was I with the greatest draught known to man (personal opinion not scientific fact), and the vibe of the place, I decided to go back last week and give it the full works; you know, starter, mains, dessert... cocktails. And reassuringly, it was even better, sober, second time round.

Fire and Stone is essentially a pizza restaurant, but unlike Pizza Express and the ‘Hut’, it tempts your tastebuds with the global pizza experience.

Can’t afford to see the world? Then at least savour it, courtesy of a Cairo £7.45 (fire roasted red and yellow peppers, courgettes, aubergines, balsamic roasted red onions, mozzarella, topped with crumbled goats cheese & pine nuts), a Marrakech £8.95 (cumin spiced ground lamb, mozzarella, mint yoghurt sauce, green olives, raisins and sliced red onion drizzled with chilli oil), a Koh Samui £7.95 (Thai green coconut curry sauce, roast sweet potato, crisp fried thai shallots, mozzarella, red chilli and mange tout, baby sweet corn, thai basil drizzled with toasted sesame seeds) or an Acapulco, a New Foundland, a Sydney, a Canberra.

Get the idea?

Well, it’s not just a gimmick, it works.

I had a Sydney, £9.45, and my other half, an Acapulco, £8.45.

Both were... different, beautifully cooked, tasty and value-for-money (we’d started incidentally with crispy wonton king prawns, soy, mirin, ginger and chilli dipping sauce, £5.95 – superb).

And for dessert, because the pizzas had frankly defeated us, we shared a coconut pannacotta with pineapple, raspberry and mint coulis for £4.95. All of course liberally lubricated with Lychee Martinis (Millers Gin and Lychee Liqueur shaken with fresh lychee juice, lemon juice and a dash of sugar syrup – £6.95).

Fire and Stone is the neighbour of Jamie’s restaurant, and the two go well together.

Jamie’s is what it is, which is great, but if Pizza Express and Pizza Hut have become predictable, which they have, and you value superb service (trust me, the service in F&T is swish and fast), as well as a venue that wouldn’t look out of place in The Hills or Ugly Betty, then Fire and Stone is for you.

  • Fire and Stone, George Street, Oxford.

For booking call 0844 371 2550 or visit website fireandstone.com