In the first of our new series, RSC actor Joseph Fiennes accompanies Beverly D'Silva to dinner in Chelsea

Drones in Chelsea is the setting for my dinner date with Joseph Fiennes. Opened last November, it's a peachy-glowy place, with lively service that's a little eccentric. We watch a waiter, flourishing a drinks tray, perform a pirouette. The resting actor type. Meanwhile my dinner companion - very much a working actor - scans the menu.

On the new talent temperature scale, Joseph Fiennes is not just hot, he's scorching. Emerging confidently from the shadow of older brother Ralph, his RSC performances have won over the critics and he's been photographed by Vanity Fair. All this and he's still only 25. Will this rare talent be reflected in his menu choice?

Concentrating on the task in hand, Joseph considers the Seared Smoked Salmon and Mango Salad with Crème Fraiche Salsa. "I like instant food," he says. "They could make that fast." But he opts for the Gridd-led Scallops, Baby Fennel, Tomato and Vodka Linguine.

I waver between that and a starter, the Shellfish Broth, Garlic Toast, Poached Egg and Rouille. "You can't let me eat the main course alone!" he protests. "Have the scallops with me." So I do. And to drink? Since he eschews meat, he opts for a heavier wine, "such as a good white burgundy." He chooses a Semillon Chardonnay. So do I.

The linguine is a picture, served on four large shells. The scallops are generous and, says Joseph, with enthusiasm, "delightful, fresh, meaty. But light. I hate to feel heavy." He can't detect any vodka, though: it's drowned by the fennel.

Where does he usually eat? Sometimes at the oyster bar below Bibendum in Fulham Road. Or his local pub. What is his favourite restaurant? I catch the word "Munchies". Does he mean the chocolates? No, Munchies, a cafe in Clapham. Near the RSC rehearsal rooms. Fun and cheap, just the thing for hard-up actors. He's been every day since last September when he began work on three plays - The Herbal Bed, Troilus and Cressida and As You Like It, which opens in Stratford in June. What does Munchies serve? "Chips, chips and more chips," he says animatedly. "Sometimes I have a fish cake with the chips." He's fought against Munchies' instant appeal, but is always drawn back, he says, gazing forlornly at the plate of Antipasto, the filo pastry and prosciutto drying up before us.

After having his picture taken, he only picks at the linguine, although he fast demolishes the scallops. He's quite shy, unused to being photographed in public, unlike brother Ralph. Speaking of whom, was he a big influence? Was Joseph intimidated by Ralph's fame? Joseph doesn't quite sigh (he's too considerate for that), but really, it's so predictable. He decided to act while he was in primary school, long before Ralph's role in Schindler's List. Joseph won't race towards Hollywood, though. He had a small part in Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty, and found movie-making "awesome" compared to the intimacy of the stage. "My heart is in the theatre," says one of the RSC's youngest and most valued assets.

For an actor, he is very unactorly. Quite gentle and unspoilt. Don't you believe it, he laughs. "But what about you?", he says. "What do you want to do?" Joseph asks more questions than I do, which is flattering. Until you remember how clever he is. How convincing as a villain in the stage play Les Enfants du Paradis, how sexually tantalising to Helen Mirren in A View From the Bridge... and yet apparently so innocent.

He finishes his espresso and says he'll come back to Drones again, on a quieter night, and try the Char-grilled Squid with Turmeric Tomatoes.

These Fiennes boys are like prize rugby players; they dodge the journalist easily, slipping questions, to touchdown. Graceful. Good-mannered. Interview-proof.

Drones, 1 Pont Street, SW1, tel (0171) 259 6166. Dinner, with wine, costs around 30 pounds per head.