Food&Drink News&Reviews
On the Mark Flash Edinburgh bar-venue-club Hawke and Hunter has unveiled a new signature restaurant. Margaret Craik had a peek under the hype
P ut on those designer threads and shiny new shoes, the new restaurant at Hawke and Hunter has landed. It’s polished. It’s relaxed. And the food is absolutely fabulous.
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‘Look, Ma, I’m dancing’ dining The odd touch of Blumenthal too far
of black olive mash and ruby-red beetroot.
the Just a few days after launch, Greenaway is already noting subtle shifts. ‘At first, chicken and beef were top picks. Now everybody wants the skate.’ Fillet of Borders beef with bone marrow beignets and braised beef pithivier is a good dish in anybody’s book, but this and the free-range chook with pied bleu mushrooms is the safe way to go. The fact that within days diners are buying into the risk-taking end of the menu’s spectrum suggests that word is out and people are coming here for serious dining.
And if you’re really up for it, there’s the tasting menu (£65.50). No names, no pack-drill, just eight surprise courses of the chef’s choosing. Break out those Jimmy Choos and come in.
RESTAURANT MARK GREENAWAY
Hawke and Hunter, 12 Picardy Place, Edinburgh,
0131 557 0952, www.hawkeandhunter.co.uk Food served Mon–Sat noon–3pm, 5.30–10pm
(market menu noon–3pm, 5.30–7pm). Closed Sun Ave. price two-course meal: £28 (a la carte) /
£19.95 (three-course market menu)
This elegant townhouse with its chic cocktail and whisky bars has been working the glossier end of the Edinburgh social scene for a while. But the arrival of new chef Mark Greenaway earlier this month is taking the restaurant and private dining rooms to a new level of destination dining.
Born in Biggar, Greenaway’s training and travels have included a stint at Glasgow’s One Devonshire Gardens, then five years absorbing cutting-edge techniques and trends in Australia. But it was while working as head chef at the Dryburgh Abbey Hotel in the Borders that a chance encounter with old schoolfriend and Hawke and Hunter MD Barrie Brown sparked the idea for a signature restaurant in the capital. Technical virtuosity is the hallmark, with the odd circus trick of presentation thrown in to keep things interesting. White onion is distilled to a mellow, light-as-air frothiness and speckled with black mustard-seeds for a deliciously pretty amuse bouche. A whip streak of raspberry dressing and intense orange jelly spike the richness of confit duck, while pearly white skate and squid enchant both the eye and the palate paired with the intense gothic inkiness
24 THE LIST 3–31 Mar 2011
SIDE DISHES NEWS TO NIBBLE ON
NOVUS LEISURE, the UK’s largest private, bar and club operator, have refurbished and renamed their Tiger Tiger venue on Glassford Street in Glasgow. Mansion House is a multi- themed operation incorporating a tiki bar, restaurant, karaoke pods, Jongleurs comedy lounge and a 70s-style disco.
CURRENT HEAD CHEF at One Devonshire Gardens, Paul Tamburrini, will be heading east
to head up Martin Wishart’s new Edinburgh brasserie, planned to open on Castle Street in May. Meanwhile Paul Hart from the Old Course Hotel in St Andrews is also heading to the capital, where he takes over as North Bridge Brasserie’s new chef.
EARTHY FOOD MARKET on Causewayside in Edinburgh is getting into the swing of World
Book Day with an event on Saturday 5 March. They’re inviting customers to bring along their homemade accompaniment to toast – perhaps some jam, marmalade or even home-made bread. The first 50 will get a copy of Nigel Slater’s autobiography, Toast. WITH THE LIST moving to a four-weekly publishing schedule, there’s just one edition after this one to remind you about our annual Eating & Drinking Guide, which will be available with The List from 27 April. We’re also looking out for your favourite takeaway and home delivery options in Glasgow and Edinburgh for a special feature in the magazine out on 25 May. Let us know your top local tips for take-out Indian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, fish and chips, pizza – or anything more exotic (or homely, for that matter). Let us know at eat@list.co.uk or thelistmagazine on both Facebook and Twitter.