It is neither pub nor tea-room (and certainly not a chippy). Could fine dining have finally come to Ramsgate?

Age & Sons, Charlotte Court, Ramsgate, Kent, tel: 01843 851 515

(JOEL CHANT)

You might not like Age & Sons as much as I do. You might not go there on such a sunny, mildly summery day. You might not get a table beside an open window in the upstairs restaurant, with seagulls zipping through the blue skies. Heavens to Betsy, you might not order the wild turbot with brown shrimps.

Then again, if the long-range forecasts are right and Britain really is in for a genuine, nostalgic, summer-as-it-used-to-be, you just might like it even more.

Situated in the old Page & Sons wine warehouse (the P fell off) in a secluded courtyard just off the high street, Age & Sons is a breath of fresh air for Ramsgate. It is not a pub, a tea-room or a chippy. Nor does it feel like a transplant from the capital, telling locals how things should be done.

Local tide times are listed on the daily menu – a clue to how the chef sees his place in the scheme of things. The nephew of pioneering British chef Rowley Leigh, Toby Leigh has cooked not only at Kensington Place, but also at pin-up gastropubs The Anchor and Hope and Heston Blumenthal's Hinds Head. So the menu makes sense of the seasons, with its Jerusalem artichoke and ransom soup, and sweetbreads and pea shoots on toast. Heartier dishes include Lancashire hotpot with pickled cabbage and rib of Dexter beef with sarladaise potatoes for four or six.

The ground floor is all kitchen and scrubbed pine café, while the first-floor dining-room has a quiet, confident elegance that comes from smart white-clothed tables, good glassware and vases of blowsy white roses under a soaring warehouse ceiling. There is a refreshing absence of tat, and the plates are kept just as simple. A terrine of chicken and pork (£6) is an accomplished, cabbage-wrapped cross-section of leek, livers, chicken and herbed pork farce with a lively, fresh, up-front flavour and freshness, greatly helped by being served at room temperature and not fridge-cold – while the toast is actually hot. Bless. Breads baked on the premises are slightly too moist for the proffered olive-oil dip, but they toast beautifully.

Obligingly, the kitchen agrees to serve a main course of cauliflower tortellini with English spring vegetables as a starter for £5. It slows things up a bit, but the roasted vegetables alone are worth the wait. Leigh could single-handedly turn salsify into the next It vegetable, and its parsnippy flavour steals the show from the slightly heavy pasta crescents with their pleasantly crumbly cauliflower filling.

With the help of local fishmonger Eddie Gilbert's, Leigh is putting on some of the best fish I have seen in years. A moist, fleshy tranche of wild turbot (£15), gently braised on the bone with brown shrimps, lemon and white wine – like potted shrimps as a sauce – is as thrilling as British fish gets. Almost as good is a crisp-skinned fillet of sea trout (£14) adrift on an undulating sea-bed of samphire and lightly creamy lentils.

Adding to the appeal is the easygoing, obliging service from Leigh's sister, Harriet, who also runs the cosy, padded basement bar. The wine list is solid and well-paced, running from a £13.60 L'Eglise Grenache Merlot to an £80 Mugneret-Gibourg Vosne-Romanee, with a smooth and summery 2007 Borgo dei Vassalli Pinot Grigio for £23.

Puds are less seasonal, and the ubiquitous sticky date pudding comes as a miniature Hovis-like loaf (£5) glazed with sweet butterscotch sauce. Coffee is Monmouth and excellent.

This is a genuine find, a place of integrity, charm and good humour, and Toby Leigh goes on my list of Britain's exciting new order of rising young talent. The restaurant will extend into the courtyard by the time you read this, so hopefully you can all sit outside and enjoy the place as much as I do.

17/20

Scores: 1-9 stay home and cook 10-11 needs help, 12 ok 13 pleasant enough 14 good 15 very good 16 capable of greatness 17 special, can't wait to go back 18 highly honourable 19 unique and memorable 20 as good as it gets

Age & Sons, Charlotte Court, Ramsgate, Kent, tel: 01843 851 515. Lunch, Tues-Sun; dinner, Weds-Sat. Around £80 for two, including wine and service

Second helpings: More seaside specials

West Beach

Pier Approach, Bournemouth, Dorset, tel: 01202 587 785

It's hard to get nearer to the water than at this popular beachside restaurant, which serves up everything from fish-finger sandwiches to grilled Portland lobster

Sutherland House

56 High Street, Southwold, Suffolk, tel: 01502 724 544

This smart, well-run hotel and restaurant is dedicated to sourcing its food only from local farms and fishermen, with all "food miles" listed on the menu

Magpie Café

14 Pier Road, Whitby, North Yorkshire, tel: 01947 602 058

This famous harbourside café acts as a place of pilgrimage for fish-and-chip lovers from all over the country – including Rick Stein