KATHERINE MacALISTER mixes music and food It’s official. I’ve managed to resist the irresistible. Atila is his name, and my he’s a handsome chap.

But personally I’ve always preferred a drummer (on this occasion Amy Winehouse’s), and my friend quite liked the pianist. I’m talking about Gee’s summer series of ‘favourites from Ronnie Scott’s’ gigs, where we learned that singer Atila Huseyin, left, “has been likened to Frank Sinatra in the days when he was irresistible to women”.

Atila turned out to be a young, sparkly version of Clive Owen with a beard and twinkly eyes who crooned his way through dinner with a voice that could melt butter.

And the accompanying dinner didn’t disappoint either. It was a magical evening and £37.50 for three courses with jazz seems like a very good deal to me. It’s also perfect for anyone who wants to got out, eat, relax, enjoy the music, take in the elegant Gee’s atmosphere and not have to talk much to your other half. Because the acoustics mean you have to shout to be heard or lean over and whisper hard in someone’s ear, so it’s much easier to sit back and, as that other wonderful jazz singer Baloo The Bear sang, “fall apart in my backyard”.

But back to the food. It was a simple, seasonal menu: three choices for starters, mains and dessert. Asparagus with parmesan which is fairly self-explanatory but seemed a bit bare, spring vegetable bruschetta which was a much larger portion than it sounds, the bruschetta baked with pesto, cheese and veg with a light salad on top. Delicious.

The pollack with anchovy, chard and peas was declared one of the best fish dishes my companion has ever eaten (not that she was concentrating much on anyone except the pianist), and came balanced on a bed of seasonal veg. So even though she’d ordered a side of tiny roast potatoes in rosemary and garlic, she didn’t have room for them. The roast aubergine with caponata came with a piquant sauce, perfect for a summer’s evening.

After that, the dessert was a little disappointing; the affogato with biscotti (where you pour an espresso over vanilla ice cream), sounded and looked like fun, but all you end up with is melted coffee ice cream and biscuits that were hard enough to break you teeth, even after a good soaking. The chocolate macaroon with raspberries was fairly undistinguished which was a shame, and too rich. And as Atila crooned on into the night and I tried to remember my dentist’s number, I gently fell into a jazz trance and remembered Baloo’s advice: “If you act like that bee acts... you're working too hard.”

Yup, I could get used to this.

* Gee’s Favourites from Ronnie Scott’s jazz concerts return with Niamh McNally on June 27 and July 18 with Natalie Williams. Gee’s is at 61 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6PE. To book tickets phone Gee’s on 01865 553540