Food 8: Drink
ITALIAN EXPANSION ARIGO CENTRO 85 Renfield Street, Glasgow, 0141 353 6616
It's pleasing to see a locally owned. well-admired neighbourhood restaurant expand its horizons and become more accessible to the masses.
Arigo restaurant on Kilmarnock Road in the heart of Shawlands has become a favourite among residents since opening in December 1996. Owners Gordon Craig and Aristide Moccia cracked that nut that others can choke on: its combination of charming, efficient service with solid — occasionally brilliant — cooking made to look simple. Arigo's reputation spread and it is a ‘destination restaurant' for a few in-the-know who are willing to travel to the city's Southside.
Now, we don‘t have to. Arigo Centro is in the heart of the town. occupying the former ladies clothes shop. Rubens. ‘We've been chasing this site for about ten months.‘ Craig says. You wouldn‘t recognise the old place: plaster board has been stripped back to raw stone walls. new structural steel for a mezzanine floor now complements the original timber beams and there is room for a total of 140 diners.
Food — at least to start — appears a tad less elaborate than at the flagship. But Craig assures us that the original Arigo began 'a wee bit shy' when it was launched. too.
The Centro menu has shared bowls of mussels and monkfish (£7.75) amid the starters. pasta dishes (small and large portions) such as crespelle filled with diced chicken and mushroom tarragon cream ($425865) and main courses such as pan-fried veal scallops with a light green—peppercorn sauce and orange segments. (Barry Shelby)
I Arigo Centro features pre-theatre specials — two courses at £7.95/three for £8.50 - seven days a week, 5—7pm.
Centraal
e d. (if? u. i" If ,‘i
'74:“?- "I i.
Read now while stocks last
513-0 - These are the twenty
fish species that the Marine Conservation Society recommends should be avoided on the grounds that they are over-fished or
y because their method of '3» " ' ff? capture results in significant by-catch of other non-target species and/or damages the marine environment: Atlantic cod (from over- fished stocks, eg the
.\
5‘ IV 'A
North Sea) NEW BOOK ATLANTIC SALMON BE marine conservation soricfy Good Fish Guide (Marine Conservation Society ‘ BLUE “"6 £995) »— - — a . 9° ~ CHILEAN SEABASS It wasn’t so long ago that we were all being i (PATAGON'AN TOOTHFISH) lectured on the benefits of fish in our diet, DOGFISH/SPURDOG cutting cholesterol and reducing the chances of ' cardiac arrest. Apparently we took that advice to EUROPEAN BAKE heart (pardon the pun). Now, thanks to the m, mm, mm... M. ., GROUPER increased consumption of fish - whether ""“VmJ’M'm‘ stranger species such as monkfish and huss or """"””'“'°""' HADDOCK
. . , (FROM OVER-FISHED STOCKS)
our fish and chips favourites haddock and cod - «egg the oceans are coming up short. We’ve over- ‘~'7:~.~" MARLIN done it.
In the Good Fish Guide, Bernadette Clark details the over-exploitation of MONKFISH natural fisheries: whether it’s the use of trawling nets (rather than fishing NORTH ATLANT'C with hooks and lines) or the landing of undersized fish before they’ve HALIBUT spawned, which obviously makes it hard for species to carry on.
But what can the consumer do? Well, Clark says her research was spurred ORANGE ROUGHY by people’s concern for the seas. First, we can be more scrupulous about EUROPEAN SEA BASS the fish we buy, and in some cases when. SHARK
The Good Fish Guide identifies twenty species (see box) that should be off limits until the natural stocks can recover. Resist the temptation to buy them SKATES AND RAYS at the supermarket, fishmonger or restaurant - and perhaps politely suggest (RAJ'DAE) that. the proprietors stop stocking them. The word has to work up the supply SNAPPER chain to docks and fishing boats.
We need to diversify our tastes and try alternatives: pollack instead of STURGEON
u haddock, for example; or buy Dover sole, red mullet or squid. ‘The more SWORDFISH 0* ~ ~ people question supermarkets, which sell 80 per cent of the fish we mwmm mm , consume, the more they’ll think again,’ Clark says. ‘It is going to be a long TUNA
ii momma Iii-WWW
1 18 THE LIST 14—72", Mar 2’32
process.’ (Barry Shelby)
I To purchase the Good Fish Guide order online at www. mcsuk. org or telephone
07989 566077.
WARM-WATER OR TROPICAL PRAWNS