There used to be two McDonalds in Shaftsbury Avenue. Two too many you might think for a street that is the heart of London's Theatreland. Obviously someone else thought so too because the one at the corner of Dean Street and Shaftsbury Avenue recently closed down for good and while it was in its neglected state it caught the eye of passing entrepreneurs with big ambitions and a big idea.

RV2's management team - all 26 years old and friends from schooldays - Tahir Kahn, Zakaria Hussan, Shabaz Lais, Manjot Raytt and Mo Lais - had already created a success of RV1 in Hertfordshire. With this massive venture (a £2million refit is the rumour and a wine cellar with wines running to £900 a bottle) they're making big news in the Indian restaurant world so I went along to chat with their head chef Bhuwan Bhatt.

Arriving at the restaurant mid afternoon it was obvious that last minute work was still going on (but will have finished by the time this newsletter goes out). Boxes of tools littered the stairs down to the lower restaurant and there were some recently vacated sleeping bags dotted about. Mr Bhatt was nowhere to be seen but after some shouting a rather shy looking man popped his head around the door and somewhat reluctantly sat down. As he talked though, his enthusiasm for his work soon overcame his shyness.

'Basically it's a new departure in Indian cooking,' he explains. 'A fusion of Indian and European presentation and ingredients. I've worked as a cook and then chef for twelve years, many of them at top hotels in India . It seems all Indian restaurants serve the same thing, curry, which is basically a gravy or stew often called Masalas, but there is far more to Indian cuisine than that. We are also using more European presentation, instead of a lot of dishes on the table the whole course is served on the same plate'

'Nothing served here is made outside of the restaurant,' he continues. 'That is very important. The sauces, the spice pastes are all made up fresh by the team. The vegetables are as fresh as can be and bought at market everyday as are the whole spices.

Only some base ingredients whose constituent parts simply aren't available in this country are bought ready made, but they are base ingredients not complete sauces.'

What about breads? 'All made here, the nans, the parathas, all baked here in the restaurant,' he assures me. 'All the different doughs are all made to traditional recipes with the odd creative change here and there because we are always trying to serve something different to our customers. Most of the dishes we serve are, in fact, our own recipes. All the staff are invited to contribute ideas.' The menu at RV2 although full of delicious sounding things is relatively short for an Indian restaurant. Mr Bhatt sees no need to apologise. 'This is because we want to serve the best in the best way. A long menu means that we cannot control the quality of the ingredients the way we wish to. A shorter menu means we can cook everything freshly and well.'

'When I came here the bosses said to me "it's your restaurant and your menu, you do everything the way you want and you tell us what you want to do." They told me that whatever I believed to be right they would agree with. This kind of respect and trust is not always a feature of Indian restaurants where the chef must work to the rules.'

So no Chicken Tikka Masala here then? Mr Bhatt laughs. 'You know if someone asks for it I will cook it. I am here to make customers happy and if someone comes here and really wants a certain dish if I have the ingredients I will make it. No problem'

It would be an awfully wasted opportunity, though. RV2 is modern in look and modern in cuisine. If you're in the area for a show, try the fast pre-theatre menu. Or if you're just looking for an Indian with a difference, take in a leisurely dinner and sample the delights of RV2