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24-year old Francesca Contini (right), with her mother, Mary
Talk of the Walk
Francesca Contini, manager of Valvona & Crolla’s new VINCAFFE, talks to Donald Reid about the latest generation
of Edinburgh’s renowned Italian caterers.
VALVONA S: CROLLA'S VINCAFFE 11 Multrees Walk, Edinburgh
0131 557 0088, www.valvonacrolla.com
Mon—Wed Sam-11pm; Thu-Sat Sam—midnight; Sun 11am—6pm
Benedetto Valvona began selling Italian food in the Old Towninit‘he 18905.1Theiélrn‘l-Row7 store opened in 1934. Vincaffe boasts a 90-seater restaurant and a private dining room.
hat's the most lamous shop on \lultrces \Valk" limporio Armani'.’ l.ouis \uitton'.’ It you live Ill lidinburgh. you‘ll probably use these as landmarks to help you find your way to \alvona tk ('rolla‘s new Vin(’al‘l"e. lirancesca ('ontini. great granddaughter ol shop lottntlei' All'onso (‘rolla. is manager ol' the new venture. Here. in her own words. she tells Us about the new place. and what it‘s like being part ol'the city ‘s most lamous l'oodie lanuly. 'l‘rom when l was really tiny I Used to help out in the shop. As a teenager I Used to work Saturdays and during the holidays. bttt I always swore point blank that l'd never ever even contemplate going into the shop. I went away to uni and did pharmacy. then worked in l.ontlon tor a year. I got a bit homesick so I catne back home tor a lew months. but I had another job starting back down in l.ontlon. lt was (’ltristmas live and l_iust suddenly thought. I have to come back to l|\ e
here. I have to do it. Within the
space of a levy hours it literally
just clicked. I've never looked
back since. ME,
‘We‘d sort ol~ been talking
about Ithe new venturel on and
oil l‘or a levy years. what to do
next with the bttsiness. open
another place. all the tlil‘lerent
things. Mum and dad |l\lary'
and Philip ('ontinil had been UPS EVERY DAY. BUT IN A GOOD WAY'
looking at sites around lidinburgh. just casually really. and then tntnn was walking along here one day and thought. wouldn't that be a great site. But then it was empty Armani was going to be opening. and that was it. We Used to stand otttside and watch one person go past every hour. That was scary. But then in January we started thinking about it seriously. and in l‘ebruary we started looking for architects.
‘This is just such a good opportunity to start alresli. to take all the best bits about the shop. the best products. the bakery. the food. and obviously the wines. The architects |.\'eil (iillespie and Carol MacBain ol' Reiach (K; llalll have been absolutely labulous — they‘ve taken our ideas and made them contemporary. btit in a sort ol‘ timeless way. Neil kept on bringing us old icons. the classic cale chair. the mirrors. the marble downstairs. the lighting. I suppose it's more like Viennese cale culture. but our heads were delinitely in Milan.
'What the architects did was take all this gibberish that we were spouting otit at each other and turned it into an ama/ing space. Between me. mum and dad there are tisually several big bust-ups every day. But in a good way. We get over them. The architects laughed at us. becatise they said that we were the only clients they had who would have down and out lights in from of them. batting it out across the table. >
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