Roosevelt for wall space, where the chef -- who is also the waiter, raconteur and entertainer -- can be seen at work in the kitchen, and where those phoning for reservations also get free advice on where to buy their booze en route! Dennis's Hideaway is unique among the Island's restaurants -- not least because of its rusticity, and the fact that its owner, Mr. Dennis Lamb, is himself a living legend.

But if there were any doubt, a quick glance at the menu soon tells you that here the extraordinary is ordinary: "Near Bermuda'' pinpoints the location, the culinary difference between "fish dinner'' and "fish plate'' is undefined, and "conk'' is available in several styles. Diners are warned that the "menu can change according to the mood of the evening ... and depending if you wish to sing for your dinner'', and opening hours are from "10 a.m. 'til late''.

These, and other conundra, are what make the little St. David's eatery truly another world -- a place where people are important and time isn't.

Recently re-opened after an extended closure, during which owner Mr. Dennis Lamb and his son Graham, better known as "Sea Egg'', toiled to upgrade the facility, Dennis's Hideaway now sports a smart almond ceramic tile floor, freshly painted walls and ceiling, and brand new, hand made spruce benches.

Modern equipment lines the kitchen, and work is underway on an adjoining variety store. Yet its singular charm has been preserved.

Blue and white checked table cloths compete with St. David's County Cricket Club cushions for the eye's attention, as do framed memorabilia upon the walls and a droll "shotgun'' fashioned from driftwood, screweyes, and pipe! Views from the dining areas include the sea on the one hand and the busy kitchen on the other.

Perhaps in imitation of tide marks on the nearby rocks, a turquoise band separates the pink of the lower walls from the white uppers, while glossy white ceilings further enhance the sense of airiness. Old-style screens, held up by the windows, filter sea breezes, and the hands of a vintage wall clock regularly pass the silhouette of a shark hand-painted on its face.

Proudly presiding over the "new'' Hideway is proprietor Mr. Dennis Lamb, whose colourful ways are an integral part of the dining experience.

Just how this down-home gem got started is a tale in itself.

"I opened this place 26 years ago come the 17th of July,'' Mr. Lamb recounted. "I always wanted to work for myself when I went 50. The building as you see it today was never here. Twenty-two by nine was all that was here.

My family had a farm here -- goats, pigs, pig sties, everything ...'' But Dennis saw the site another way -- as the perfect location for a seafood restaurant. After all, it was a stone's throw from the ocean and he was both an experienced fisherman and an excellent cook.

Others were less convinced.

"When I told my daddy he said, `Now I know you're crazy as hell. Who's going to come to this place as a bleddy restaurant to eat?''' Mr. Lamb recounted.

Fortunately, Dennis pressed on with his dream, undeterred.

"I told my daddy: `Where there's honey flies will swarm'. Then I got Mr.

Patterson, who was the local officer in St. George's for the Health Department, to come over here,'' he remembered. "He took one look and said, `If you can make a bleddy restaurant out of this you're a genius.'' Thus it was that on April 26 Dennis Lamb began work on the site, and by July 15 he was once more on the phone to Mr. Patterson requesting his presence.

"Mr. Patterson, I'm ready,'' the prospective restaurateur announced. "Like hell you're ready,'' the inspector replied.

"But when he came over he just stood and looked. My daddy was there with me,'' Mr. Lamb recounted. "`Well Patterson,' my daddy said, `This goddam bye made up his mind what he was going to do and he done it!' and Mr. Patterson replied: `Yes, and he deserves a lot of credit'.

"Then Mr. Patterson turned to me and said: `Dennis, I gotta hand it to you, it really looks nice. I never thought you'd get it looking like this', and he gave me my licence.'' Cashing in on a nearby county cricket game two days later meant that Mr.

Lamb's dream got off to an enthusiastic start. Into the bargain, what is now the dining room became the proprietor's home.

The menu then was similar to today's.

"I had squid, turtle and scuttle, but you can't get no turtle or good-looking squid today,'' Mr. Lamb noted. "I had sea eggs too. A sea egg is just like an orange inside, you know -- all pegged, and the colour and shape of the eggs too. And does it taste good! I'm tellin' you!'' Still, the present menu contains enough marine favourites to keep seafood lovers coming back for more. Fish, shark, shrimp, scallops, conch and mussel in various styles are always on offer. Even though he has given up fishing for the restaurant himself, others keep him regularly supplied with fresh fish.

Since Mr. Lamb's long and varied career has included more than one job as a cook, it's hardly surprising that he still plays an active part in food preparation at the Hideaway.

Drop by before opening hours and chances are you'll find him preparing vats of his famous conch chowder, rolling fish cakes, or hashing shark ready for the day's trade.

Or he might be preparing desserts: apple pie, bread pudding, or the ever-popular gingerbread -- all made from scratch, of course. "I make pastry just like my mamma taught me,'' he smiled. "And if a person rang up here at 4 o'clock and said `We would love to have gingerbread for dessert', they would have it,'' the St. David's Islander said.

With long experience as a short-order cook, Mr. Lamb is very proud of the fact that he never keeps his guests waiting too long for their food.

"It doesn't take us long to get on the ball,'' he assured. "Ten minutes and we're serving them. Position is the art of gunnery. I was taught to be on the alert and use a system.'' The military "flavour'' of that remark is based on years of experience as a forces' cook.

"I used to feed over 500 people during the war, and that was three times a day. When I was short-order cooking on the Base sometimes I'd feed two or three thousand people a night by myself. I almost knew what people wanted before they got to me,'' he boasted.

Today, Dennis shares the cooking with "Sea Egg,'' to whom he is passing on his skills.

"I have to be very, very careful with my diabetes,'' he explained, "so Graham eases me up.'' Which is just as well, the man who brought fame if not fortune to the Hideaway can also be found waiting on tables, regaling his guests with yarns as only a St. David's Islander can, singing to them, or demonstrating how to blow a conch shell.

In fact, flexibility is a significant part of the Hideaway's success. The Lambs believe in making their guests feel very welcome and distinctly special -- as a browse through comments in one of the restaurant's visitors' books confirms.

It is also why people from all walks of life -- governors, premiers, judges, mayors, US presidential relatives, movie stars, secretaries and salesmen among them -- have consistently beaten a path to the little wooden door in the pink cottage behind the picket fence.

LAID BACK IN ST. DAVID'S -- Proprietor Mr. Dennis Lamb enjoys a rare moment of relaxation in his newly refurbished Dennis's Hideaway, on Cashew City Road, St. David's.