IF THE owner of the Black Boy pub in Winchester pulls this off, he will win Publican of the Year, Restaurateur of the Decade, a Nobel prize and be lined up as the next manager of the Saints.

By force of personality, ex-Guardsman David Nicholson has transformed a back street pub into one of the most popular in the city. It's a place where Winchester College dons and barristers happily rub shoulders with students, market traders, antique dealers and the unemployable.

Now Mr Nicholson is attempting to create a high-class restaurant in the same building as a traditional boozer. This has never been done successfully.

The conventional wisdom is that pubs are either drinking dens: full of cigarette smoke, pints of bitter and pork scratchings or they are 'gastro pubs' where food is king and drinkers are barely tolerated.

But the Black Boy is a unique fusion of the two. The restaurant is in one of the rooms at the far end, a crisp's throw from the bars. So while the 20-odd seat restaurant is separate, it definitely does not have the usual gentle hum. You know you are in a pub that is brimful with atmosphere.

The two seem to happily co-exist and the signs from our first visit were promising.

Mr Nicholson made a smart move snaffling one of the chefs from the Michelin-starred Old Chesil Rectory from just down the road. It means the quality of the food is high if a tad expensive.

The food was enjoyable, light and what would be called 'modern', with lots of interesting flavours and textures.

My wife started with a beetroot and radish salad topped with feta cheese followed by Barbary duck with potatoes and mange tout.

For me it was a starter of chicken liver parfait with apple and date chutney served on walnut and sultana bread. My main was grilled mackerel on saffron rice with pak choi cabbage on top with a delicious curry sauce. Lots of intriguing contrasts there.

The only disappointment were the potatoes: a bit too 'al dente' i.e. hard.

But overall a satisfying meal, with the bill coming to £80 including a bottle of wine at £16 and two glasses of birthday celebrating champagne. Although the prices are on the steep side, the restaurant was full in the middle of the week.

So don't bet against Mr Nicholson being Rupert Lowe's eighth manager.

The Black Boy is in Wharf Hill, Winchester 01962 861754