Food Drink
Tune in, turn on, eat out
Fas food ela ion
When one of Edinburgh’s best Thai restaurants decided to open a new outlet, the last place anyone expected to find it was in a city centre shopping mall. Donald Reid investigates.
ast food. Nice concept. bad reputation. Thanks to the
unlikely combination of Morgan Spurlock (star and
director of the newly released anti—fast food documentary Super Size Me) and Scotland‘s Mr Health. Jack McConnell. it seems to be the season to demonise McDonalds and the junk food giants. But there comes a time when we want food. and we want it fast.
So why can‘t fast food be better for us‘.’ Under the Golden Arches they are trying — by selling salads with (whoops!) calorific croutons and fatty salad dressing. They're also giving away pedometers. Can fast food not sometimes be real food‘.’ Of course. Twice a month Sandy Lyle of Riever Country Farm Foods puts a whole pig into the special oven of his catering trailer and heads to Edinburgh‘s Farmers' Market. There he sells rolls made by his local baker. filled with slices of roast pork straight from the oven for £3 a pop. ‘lt's as simple as it could be.‘ he says. 'l'm always getting good remarks on the quality and flavour.‘
Anyone who has travelled in Asian countries will know about street food — cheap. fresh. nutritious stuff cooked and sold by the roadside. Inspired by this. Steve Atkins and partner chef Dusadee. whose restaurant. Thai Me Up in Edinburgh. has been gathering an impressive reputation since opening in early 2003. decided to introduce to Edinburgh the kind of convenient. clean-tasting market- stall fast food they knew from Bangkok. At The List we‘re more used to reporting on owners of small takeaways or cafes who have upgraded to open a proper restaurant. so Atkins‘ progress in the other direction is a novel turn. Stranger still. Some Thing Thai opened not in some chic
AND
THE CLEAR THEMES ARE HIGH STANDARDS
FRESHNESS
quarter of the city but in the food court of Princes .\lall beside Waverley Station. A high foot-fall. yes. but high
class'.’ Well. not altogether. And staring across the mass of
plastic tables were the multi-national fast food behemoths McDonalds and Kit as well as various other pretenders such as ()‘Briens sandwich bars.
‘The demographics are certainly different to the restaurant] Steve Atkins tells me as l plunge a plastic fork into a Some Thing Thai £3.79 lunch of fried rice. chicken green curry and nice crunchy vegetables. ‘But we reckoned we could offer something that was quick to eat. relatively inexpensive. yet also good quality.. The clear themes are high standards and freshness. l'nlike most of its neighbours. Some Thing Thai always has one or two chefs visible behind the counter working with hot woks. Using fresh ingredients and cooking in small amounts so it‘s not sitting under heat lamps for long.
At the Some Thing Thai counter there's no sign of a photo board displaying the menu. (‘ustomers are encouraged to look at the actual food they are going to eat and be persuaded by that. According to ('hef l)tisadee. Thai food should ‘first feed the eyes. then the stomach‘. What‘s been proving popular‘.’ Spring rolls. spicy chicken wings (‘the guys from the KFC‘ stall seemed a bit miffed‘) and roast pork in a sesame and honey sauce. ‘lt looks like meat should.‘ Atkins says. ‘Customers often come back over to the stall to tell us that they enjoyed the food and to say thanks. That's not meant to happen with fast food.‘
Some Thing Thai is located in the Food Court at Princes Mall, Princes Street, Edinburgh.
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I Grassroots, the leading vegetarian cafe and wholefood shop in Glasgow. has been marking Organic Week (4-11 September) with special menu items and discounts. It will be looking towards the Scottish Food Fortnight next, which begins on 18 September, celebrating the very best that Scotland’s larder has to offer. Check the next issue of The List for more information on events, whether special meals or cookery demonstrations. happening across Scotland during the second annual two-week festival.
I Quiz time. Calistoga is: a) a town with hot springs at the northern end of the Napa Valley in California. b) a new Southside Edinburgh restaurant featuring “California cuisine'. or c) both? You guessed it. Calistoga. the restaurant that is. has opened on 93 St Leonard Street. It features Pacific Rim-ster dishes (how “bout Santa Monica fish soup with saffron and chardonnay or tempura of tuna with tossed sugar snap pea and scallion) — as well as the only list in the country so utterly devoted to wines from the Golden West's many vineyards. For bookings call 0131 668 4207 or log onto www.calistoga.co.uk
I And US influences may also be popping up at List award-winning Rogue restaurant across the capital on Morrison Street. Owner David Ramsden has hired American Sebastian Carpentier as head chef and a few new dishes have been added to the always budget-minded value-for- money menu at Rogue: barbecued ribs with Asian spices and a margarita sorbet dessert. Call 0131 228 2700.
Grassroots
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