Food&Drink News&Reviews
Seasons come to pass There’s a new larder in town and it’s stocked with the best the season has to offer, as Jo Laidlaw discovers
SIDE DISHES NEWS TO NIBBLE ON
HAVING SUCCESSFULLY built crispbread into a cult addiction, Peter’s Yard in Edinburgh are turning to an Italian obsession: ‘no compromise’ pizzas from Peter’s Yard Pizza on Deanhaugh Street. Also exploring new culinary territory is Pierre Levicky, of steadfastly French bistro fame, with the opening of French/Indian fusion restaurant Passepartout, down Old Fishmarket Close.
TAPAS FANS have welcomed back an old favourite with the opening of the Tapas Tree on the site of E:S:I in Leith. Keeping to the summer vibe, tiki den 52 Canoes is bringing Polynesian colour to the West End, with enough fruity cocktails to make Edinburgh’s rain feel like a tropical storm.
GLASGOW’S CURRY lovers have said farewell to Sauchiehall Street’s Slumdog
Bar & Kitchen and hello to Hot Flame World Buffet, serving up Indian food plus Chinese, Thai, Italian and Mexican. Also, Ashton Lane’s Wee Curry Shop is now the Glasgow Curry Shop with new décor honouring the city’s rich and spicy heritage.
+ Fine setting for
- Some food choices not yet at the same level
tea. While some dishes are perhaps suffering a little from early jitters – a lack of flavour punch in the brown crab salad, a gloopy bubble and squeak – there’s plenty of promise of good things to come.
fine teas
S easonable, sustainable and Scottish are the buzzwords at the new Edinburgh Larder Bistro, sister restaurant to the popular Blackfriars Street café. It feels Scottish in approach rather than delivery – there’s not a hint of haggis in sight, rather an unswerving focus on great local produce and conscientious suppliers, with Peelham Farm, Welch’s fish and Phantassie veg all present and correct. Phoning those suppliers to find out what’s good, fresh and cheap before deciding on the weekly menu may feel like a revolutionary thing to do these days, but really it’s just an extension of what your thrifty wee grannie would do on her regular tootle round the shops.
This embrace of what’s plentiful and good right now means foraged sweet cicely, cheaper meat cuts such as skirt steak and pork belly, and the humble mackerel all appear on a well-judged, bistro-style menu. Sustainability reaches into all corners of the restaurant – the wine list is mostly Old World to cut down on the carbon footprint, there’s a range of local beers and the basement venue has been refreshed rather than refitted. What’s interesting though is there’s no hint of worthiness, rather a lightness of touch that means you may not even notice you’ve reduced your own environmental impact just by coming here for your 24 THE LIST 19 Jul–2 Aug 2012
Crispy lamb is terrific – pull-apart tender and served with a minted broad bean purée, taking these typically fresh summer flavours to a deeper, gutsier place. Coley is perfectly cooked and paired with nicely spiced chorizo, while soft, yielding pork belly comes with a slab of brittle, crunchy crackling. Desserts are outstanding and show the kitchen’s true potential. Sweet cicely soup is a perfect accompaniment to rhubarb panacotta, while a chocolate and salted caramel tart is indecently good, the savoury hit of salt making the sweet, dense chocolate filling sing. Your wee grannie would be proud.
EDINBURGH LARDER BISTRO
1a Alva Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4PH 0131 225 4599, edinburghlarder.co.uk
Food served: Tue–Sat noon–3pm, 5.30–10pm. Closed Sun/Mon. Ave. price two-course meal: £12 (set lunch) / £17 (dinner)
DEUCHARS RECOMMENDS KING’S WARK 36 The Shore Edinburgh, EH6 6QU
The award-winning King’s Wark on The Shore in Leith should not be missed. Their Moules marinières with a pint of Deuchars, sitting outside, is about as good as a gastro pub gets. Fresh Scottish seafood and meat dishes and a few vegetarian options can all be enjoyed in the warm and cosy interior, served with love and care.