i
'LA CUISINE D'ODILE'
'La Cuisine d'Odile' as this cafe is subtitled offers a rare glimpse of French food as it is served at home.
Cafe de l'Institut, French Institute, 13 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh 031-225 5366. i *
L THEATRE COMPANY
AN EDINBURGH IN TERNA TIONAI. FESTIVAL PRODUCTION BY THE BRUNTON THEATRE COMPANY
'THE BRUCE" Bvr13.sLVER
St. Bride's Centre 9-17 August Tickets: £10.00 (Front Stalls)
£6.50 (Back Stalls) The matinee performance on Saturday 17 August will be AUDlO DESCRIBED
The Brunton Theatre 21-31 August £10.00 (Full). £711) (Concs). $511) (On door prior to performance)
Evenings 7.30pm (Both venues) Matinees 2.30pm (Thurs 8t Sats only. both venues)
Tickets for both venues from Festival Box Office Market Street.
Edinburgh (031) 225 5756w
72 The List 9- 15 August 1991
FOOD
FESTIVAL
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expensive. Booking advisable.
I Pierre Viclolte 10 Victoria Street. 225
1721 : 38—40 Grassmarket. 226 2442 (also 8 Union Street, 557 8451). Lunch noon—4pm. dinner 6pm ‘until there are nc more customers‘. The secret ofthis tremendously successful threesome is really authentic French food at affordable prices in spare, but attractive premises. At lunchtime. in particular. the bill for an excellent three-course meal is enough to make you smile for the rest of the day. During Festival time they are exceptionally busy. and often shambolic. It is a good idea to book. but. be warned. you may still have to wait for a table.
I Regent Castle 110 West Bow. Grassmarket, 225 5028. Open seven days a week from 5pm. A great deal ofwork
JONATHAN l.l'l'l‘l.liJ()l IN
has gone into preparing these premises for business in time for the Festival. and there is still a telling smell of freshly-applied emulsion in the air. You will find familiar favourites on this Chinese menu. but there are more unusual options such as scallops with ginger and spring onions. You‘ll find cheaper. but the cooking is good. Unfortunately there is only a limited choice for for vegetarians.
I Traverse Theatre 112 West Bow. Grassmarkct. 226 2633. It hardly needs pointing out that the Traverse bar will be heaving most ofthe time. but it remains an appealing place to be — you might see someone famous or brilliant - and it is open all day and late in the eveningfor drinks. coffees and tapas-style food.
l !
GOWGATE
5 A hop along from the Grassmarket, in the area that used to be
j Edinburgh‘s underworld and is
j literally way beneath the Royal Mile
and the Bridges south from it, are several other places well worth mentioning:
I Black Bo's 57/61 Blackfriars Street, 557 6136. Just offthe Royal Mile; an unpretentious restaurant with an imaginative menu. lots of choice for
? vegetarians and a very inviting bar next door.
I L’Auberge 58 St Mary‘s Street, 556
5888. Possibly Edinburgh’s most
‘up-market' restaurant. Nouvelle cuisine, intimate atmosphere, pink table cloths, deferential service and expensive.
I City Cats 19 Blair Street. 2200125. 11am—1am. Very popular with certain groupings of Edinburgh trendies. A stark but stylish designer US soda bar complete with candies. serving meals and sandwich-type snacks.
I The Pelican 209 Cowgate, 225 5413. Mon-Sat Noon—2am; Sun until lam. Two enjoyable, stone-built halls in the Old Town. One toweringly high, the other iow-ccilinged and intimate. Very quiet— sccretive evcn - until around 9pm, after which finding breathing space can become something of a problem.
I Bannermans 55 Niddric Street, 556 3254. 11am—3am. Large, low-ceilinged, traditional bar in the beehive ofstone vaults that support George IV Bridge above. Rough furniture, a stock of real ales and great atmosphere. Sunday breakfast with queues for seconds oftoast and bacon is the business.
I Green Tree 182 Cowgate,2251294. Noon—1am. If you look carefully at the cracks in the walls of this apparently weathered bar, you will see that they are painted on. The ploy is effective. because this unlikely looking building is cosy
. inside and popular.
5 _ ' 24-hour drinking
Drinking around the clock or even through the night and into the next day i is rarely something you can plan. Plans, you see, tend to go wrong when alcohol consumption on a grand scale l is concerned. Just when you think a twelve-hour binge is on the cards, you iind yourselt inexplicably in the casualty department oi the Royal lniirmary with the prospect of metres of x rubbertublng and little professional ' sympathy.
It seems that even the noble art oi ! being a drunk is suttering a recession in these health-conscious times. Still, lorthose rampant egotists who need an excuse to unburden themselves of their i entire life history a massive sesh is the
perfect opportunity. Rarely will your exaggerations tail on deal ears and . even it they do, you will be in no state to ; noflce. For all the hype surrounding ' Glasgow, Edinburgh is still the alcohol 3 capital it you are prepared to make the i eitort. Finding venues lor your performance is not simple -there are no flashing neon signs luring you to
‘Non-stop Drinking Available’ -you must be prepared to search them out. By day of course, there are no problems, every other street corner in Edinburgh is a pub so you can take your pick.
Things start getting more problematic during the early hours oi the morning. Thank heavens, then, ior
Millionaires in Niddry Street. The capital may have plenty of clubs, but none is the Mecca to insobrlety that is Millies. Open most nights until Sam the serious drinker iinds him/herself among friends and with the ideal opportunity for a hassle-free blinder. The darkest hour though comes between 5am and 6am - you could head hallway down Leith Walk to the Boundary Bar, but it you’d rather stay in the town centre, this hour-long respite can prove invaluable. Make yourway
“ you have the perlect opportunity to v' re-llne your stomach in preparation for
round two. By Sam, thanks to the alcohol requirements at Edinburgh's shill-workers, the city kicks back into action. Backstreet hostelrles everywhere open lor business and most notably The Penny Black in West Register Street (Karaoke at 10am, would you believe?). it you last until then, you can start the whole joyous event again, blisslully unaware that a Festival is even going on. (James Haliburton)