 A NEW venture has brought a breath of fresh air to Flintshire's restaurant scene - a breath of sea air, to be precise. 56 High Street Restaurant, Mold, specialises in seafood. It is situated opposite the increasingly cosmopolitan market town's handsome parish church, having taken over the former Chez Collette bistro premises. It's a compact eaterie, with no more than a dozen tables, and a measure of its immediate popularity - it opened last month - is the difficulty I had in securing a table. You'll have to book well in advance to make sure you get to sample its delights. 56 High Street boasts a friendly and attentive atmosphere and the limited space is saved from pokiness by subtly shaded modern décor, including work by local artists on display and for sale. The cuisine is modern, too, with an interesting fusion of ingredients (tomato salsa served with a Welsh rarebit fondue; goat's cheese hash brown served with apple and vanilla purée; honey and rosemary duck breast with a caramelised apple tatin and juniper and red win jus, to name a few). The aforementioned duck, Jamaican jerk chicken, Welsh beef fillet and braised lamb are among the meatier options on the menu, although vegetarians have a tougher time of it - I counted just one veggie starter and one main on the usual evening menu. But it is with fish and shellfish that 56 High Street excels. On the night I visited with colleague, Alan, the restaurant was hosting a special Lobster Week with each lobster main course priced at a very reasonable £12.99. I had never eaten a whole lobster before and was wary of tackling a big bug with a pair of nutcrackers - my own assumption of how one goes about it - so chose to limit my sampling to a safer-sounding starter, a lobster and parmesan risotto with wild rocket and white truffle essence. This proved delightful and I savoured every mouthful, particularly impressed with how the subtle infusion of truffle added an earthier note to the seafood. | 
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