Side Dlshes
News to nibble on . . .
I Good news for fans of Spoon cafe on Blackfriars Street in Edinburgh. The proprietors, Moira McFarlane and Richard Alexander, will be opening a second café/diner in the new Scottish Storytelling Centre around the corner on the Royal Mile. In a space designed by Malcolm Fraser, the Storytelling Café will feature Alexander’s prepared to order sandwiches, antipasti platters, home-made soups and freshly baked goods, too. While predominantly a daytime operation, the café plans to open on evenings when performances are scheduled. I Look for another Calistoga restaurant to open mid-June at 18 Lady Lawson Street. Edinburgh. Owner Gordon Minnis says a second outlet was always part of the business plan and he feels the original on St Leonard Street has hit upon a “formula that works well.“ The new operation will have more space with room for 60 covers. But the menu — with dishes such as star anise and rum soaked tuna loin or roast pumpkin. olive. sun-dried tomato and piquello pepper salad — will be the same. as will the minimally marked-up wine list with some exclusrvely Californian vintages.
I Ndebele, Edinburgh’s African café and sandwich deli, is being transformed into Ndebele African goods, wines and deli. A month-long refit and refurbishment should be finished on 28 April. The transformation completes a change begun in 2005, when the nearly decade old cafe opened its ‘mini-market’ with 200 different products, from beef biltong to curry powders. Ndebele is at 57 Home Street. Call 0131 221 1141.
I In Glasgow. Chinawhite nightclub has been swept up by Stefan King‘s Gt Group. Open for less than a year, the gaudy London-based operation never really caught on and King ‘3 empire has re-launched the basement space as Kushion. The restaurant and bar space upstairs is being overhauled again and should reopen mid summer.
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Robin McKelvie meets Shirley Spear, winner of the Judge’s Special Award at our Eating and Drinking Awards this year and realises why taking the trip out to her Skye restaurant The Three Chimneys is always worth it.
1 take\ \omeone more than a little bit
special to take an isolated old
crolter'x cottage on the \er'y edge ol the Inner Hebrides and turn it into a top- notclt restaurant that has not only won numerous worldwide accolades. btit lltls also inspired a generation ol‘ Scottixh chel'x and restaurateurs. Shirley Spear is that someone special.
Born in l’eebles. Spear met her husband. liddie Spear. in lingland bel’ore they moved north and liddie took on l'i'ont-ol-house in one ol‘ the most successful ptlt'lltc‘t'sltlpx in Scottish restaurant history. Spear admit\ that it has not always been plain sailing as staying alloat during the early dayx alter opening in IQSS was a struggle: 'l‘d ney'er seen a langoustine in my me let alone et‘er cooked a loaf of bread. liter'y'thing was completely new to its. all we kttew was that we just wanted to cook real food. good rustic l'oodf
lirom their uniquely challengirtg beginnings they delied the harsh realities of not only running a l'c\ltttll'tlltl in remote (‘olbosL but one that ay‘oided cutting corners. This is still the ethos today ax Spear proudly explainx: ‘\\'e still try to get eyet'ything ax locally as possible with salads and greens l'rom (ilendale. langoustines l‘rom jtlxl outside in Loch Duny'egan. crabs from down the road at Bracadale and otrr scallops l'rom Sconxer.‘ \Vhen Spear talkx ol‘ getting food from further afield \he does not mean a nationwide wholexaler. btrt fresh lixh l‘rorn Mallaig and cheese from the West Highland Dairy just across the Skye bridge in :\chmore.
This deyotion and dedication to local ingredients has won Spear many admirers. including Fiona Buchanan. of
(iltlxgoyy‘\ lleart Buchanan deli: ‘Shirley has been a complete inspiration to me personally and countless Sc‘otltxlt cltcl‘x. .\'ot only hay she made people come tip to her. btit she has stuck to her guns on l'r'exh produce men during tricky timex tor restaurants.’
Since the rnid-l‘mllx the Three (‘himney's' reputation ll;l\ \tlill‘L‘tl. del'y'ing it\ doubters. including a sceptical hank manager \y ho is now a lirm tamin l‘riend. winning numeroux tl\\’1lt'tl\. including the accolade of 28th best rextaurant in the world in Reaaurant Maga/ine in 2002. (her the years. Spear has emerged as a media tk‘l'xoltttllly with her own llC\\‘\le[lCl‘ column and ‘The Book‘. part autobiography and part recipe hook. It contains some ol. the mmt lamoux dishes. including ‘Skye on a Plate” and the marmalade pudding with l)rambuie custard. which has become the signature dessert.
The llotlsc (her-By and llx calmly luxurious rooms opened up a new dimension in 199‘). making an epicurean
escape in ('olboxt lrom the ('entral ltelt year a [ttl\\lllllll} year round. ('elcbi‘ating it\ let birthday lll|\ year the Three ('ltintneyx is \llll remarkably winning awardx - in March lhix year they “on lllL' ()lML‘H L'l' l{L‘;ltlL’l"\ l'tltltl .\\\illtl tor the ‘liext location in the [K imprexxiye in an llltllhll'} lttllttl'ltttl\ lor lk‘lllg‘ llL'blt'.
Spear inxixtx that awardx do \llll 'mean a lot to tix’ arid there ix little danger ol her getting too big lor‘ her book a\ \he xtill liyex in the modext llat aboye the restaurant. Spear may \pend a bit lexx time in the kitchen tltexe day \ in her role as chel-pati‘on. bttt \he i\ certainly not ‘retir‘ing’ despite \ome media repoit\ to the contrary. ‘l‘m ax buxy ax ey er and there is a new book lll the pipeline ax ytcll a\ the '.\lal'tttalade (.ltllti. a loyalty club l'or‘ repeat guextx. We tend to get quite a ten or thoxe'. The Three Chimneys, Dunvegan, Isle of Skye, www.three chimneys.co.uk
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21' AV. 1‘ Va, f/i'.‘ THE LIST 103