IN 15 years of reviewing restaurants for this paper, I have yet to encounter a buzz anything like that created by the launch of Jamie Oliver's new Bristol restaurant.

By the time I had finished yesterday's sneak preview lunch at Jamie's Italian in Park Street, I had several missed calls, texts and emails from friends wanting to know just how it was. Such is the Jamie factor and the huge interest in the celebrity chef's latest restaurant.

The 18th branch of the Jamie's Italian collection of restaurants, the new Bristol site occupies three floors of the former Blackwell's bookshop and the designers have worked wonders on the landmark Georgian building.

It may not officially open until Monday, but the 93 staff, most of them local, have undergone such intensive training that it felt as though the restaurant had been open for years, rather than hours.

Having eaten at the Oxford and Bath sites before, I wasn't unfamiliar with the Jamie's Italian concept of affordable Italian food in a funky setting but nothing prepared me for the genuine 'wow' factor of the new Bristol operation.

Walk through the impressive corner entrance and you will find the bar area where you can enjoy a glass of Prosecco from the all-Italian wine list as you wait for your table.

On the lower ground floor there is a delicatessen area with a row of hams and cured meats hanging from hooks, just as they would in a tiny butcher in the back streets of an Italian town. In another corner, there are chefs making fresh pasta and rustic Italian breads.

Climb the metal staircase and the main dining area is overlooked by the partially open kitchen, which itself is flanked by a fresh fish and shellfish counter, strings of garlic and vines of cherry tomatoes beneath a chipped and faded 'foreign department' sign.

Even though this was the first proper lunch service with a restaurant full of invited guests, friends, family and press, there was a sense that the wheels of the operation are already well-oiled despite it still officially being a training session.

Jamie's mentor, Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo, was flitting between the kitchen and schmoozing guests in the restaurant and the staff were friendly, knowledgeable and showed few, if any, signs of first-day nerves.

We gave the menu a thorough road-test and the food was pretty much faultless, from nibbles of 'the world's best olives on ice' (gobstopper-sized green olives from Puglia served on crushed ice with tapenade and crisp 'music' bread) to dessert of 'our special tiramisu'.

In between these dishes, there was a sensational pasta course of rabbit ragu pappardelle and a sublime wild truffle tagliatelle. This was followed by a brilliant burger Italiano (complete with a layer of melting fontina cheese, crisp salami, dill pickles and chilli in a warm and buttery brioche bun) and a generous plate of 'South Coast' fritto misto (crispy fried fish and seafood with tartare sauce served in a brown paper parcel).

Although we went the whole hog with a Pavarotti-sized four-course lunch with wine, it would also be possible to eat well here for around £15 per person before drinks. And this is why the manager of Jamie's Italian estimates that the restaurant will be serving around 5,000 meals a week in Bristol alone. That's five times more than some of Bristol's busiest restaurants serve in a month.

This is a restaurant that takes the very best ingredients, cooks them simply and then sells them at a realistic and affordable price for a broad audience.

The launch of Jamie's Italian may have generated the biggest buzz the Bristol restaurant scene has seen, but this is one occasion when you really can believe the hype.

■ Jamie's Italian opens at 12noon on Monday. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday 12noon to 11pm, Sunday 12noon to 10.30pm.