After some months of refurbishment, organisation and anticipation, the newest addition to Norwich’s foodie scene has finally opened its doors, just in time for the Christmas rush.

Yalm (a Norfolk word meaning ‘to eat hungrily, apparently) is a new type of food hall situated in the Royal Arcade, in the unit which people of my advanced years will remember as a book shop, but which was more recently Jamie’s Italian.

I was lucky enough to be given a sneak preview, and am happy to report that memories of the terrible food which was served up by the accountant-led kitchen team at Jamie’s have been well and truly wiped clean: Yalm is offering a really interesting selection of great dishes created by six independent kitchens.

It is this collaborative approach which sets Yalm apart. You sit down and use a QR code to download the menu, and order using your table number. Your food does indeed come from six separate kitchens, each run by a separate local outfit.

From ramen and noodles to tacos and pizza; North African and Andalusian delights to chops and steaks, brunch to ice cream, you would have to be a really fussy eater not to find something you will enjoy here. There is a beer bar, a wine bar and a cocktail bar, as well as top-notch coffee and pastries.

There is even a sushi-style conveyor belt delivering 21 different types of cheese, which I can personally testify are the real artisanal deal, including some which I – as something of a cheese glutton – hadn’t come across before.

It is a brave entrepreneur who takes the plunge to open an eating establishment at the best of times. To do so as we enter a savage recession could be termed foolhardy. But Yalm deserves to succeed, and I think it will, because it is swimming against the tide of identikit chain restaurants who are more interested in what is on the balance sheet than what is on your plate.

The people making and serving your food here are passionate about it. They are there because they want to do something different. ‘Do Different’ is, of course, the motto of Norwich’s UEA; but it is equally relevant here.

This kind of initiative is vitally important for our city, even to those who are not into eating out. That the biggest space in Norwich’s iconic Royal Arcade has sat empty and unused for nearly four years has been bad news – seeing it transformed into a vibrant space is as good for the image of the city as it is for the jobs that it creates.

The two biggest employment sectors in Norfolk are tourism, and food and drink. Initiatives such as Yalm feed into both. Positioning Norwich as foodie destination is a central plank in the task of encouraging visitors to come and spend their money in the county, and with the chains either uninterested in being part of that promotional push or else abandoning Norwich altogether, it will be down to the local, independent operators to step up to the plate. Thankfully, Yalm demonstrates that they are both willing and able to do so.

But above all, Yalm offers local people the chance to experience something new. It is affordable and accessible, informal and fun. This will be crucial if it is to have a wide appeal (and operations manager Dan Searle tells me that the new food hall does indeed seem to be attracting diners of all ages and backgrounds).

So it’s a big welcome to this latest addition to Norfolk’s foodie scene. Like every other independent eatery, it will rely on all of us giving it our patronage for it to be a success. But from what I saw on my sneak preview, that won’t be a hardship at all