REVIEW - THE SCOTTISH CAFÉ AND RESTAURANT

Fresh, simple, Scottish …

THIS IS THE MANTRA THAT STEERED VICTOR AND CARINA CONTINI, (THE BRAINS BEHIND CENTOTRE AND ZANZERO), WHEN THEY WON THE CONTRACT TO CATER AT THE SCOTTISH CAFÉ THIS YEAR. THEIR VISION WAS FOR A MENU THAT PRESERVED SCOTTISH CULINARY HERITAGE WHILST USING THE PRODUCE OF THE BEST SCOTTISH SUPPLIERS.

We visited on a rainy Sunday to see for ourselves. To start I chose the venison carpaccio with rocket and shaved Loch Arthur cheddar (£7.95) and Mr Bite chose Cullen skink (4.95). My garnet-coloured venison was juicy and tender, the peppery leaves and salty cheese mixed well and a drizzle of golden rapeseed oil completed this simple, flavoursome dish; much better than the slightly flat presentation promised. Mr Bite fared less well with his soup. Although the haddock flavour was strong we both prefer a heartier, rustic version of this Scottish classic. It was too smooth and refined for our taste.

Our main dishes however, swiftly raised the bar. For me, roast pheasant with pickled red cabbage and a mixed leaf salad (£13.95) and for Mr Bite a show-stopper of steamed organic salmon in a mussel, razor clam and shallot broth (£13.95). The pheasant was earthy, and well-seasoned, the cabbage was fruity and the leaves sprightly which all made for a deliciously, seasonal winter dish. Mr Bite’s salmon was divinely flavoursome and melt-in-the-mouth. The razor clams had a wonderful firm texture permeated with the taste of the sea and the broth was creamy and full of fresh herbs, clams and mussels; the very best of Scottish seafood.

For cheese we had a choice of three boards, the ‘Dunedin’, the ‘Pentland’ or the ‘Thistle’ (small £6.95, large £9.95). We plumped for the Pentland which featured Loch Arthur cheddar, Criffel, Lanark Blue and Carola. They were served with a dish of stewed autumn fruit and mini-oatcakes and were very good. There are plenty of good wines to complement the cheese or (if brave) you can try Humphrey Errington’s Fallachan.

It’s a no-brainer that given its location this restaurant should showcase Scottish produce and celebrate the classics. The presence of the menu of butteries and marmalade bread and butter pudding are just two of the many dishes that secure plenty of return visits from us.

-The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant

-National Gallery of Scotland

The Mound

EH2 2EL

- 0131 226 6524

-http://www.thescottishcafeandrestaurant.com

-reservations@thescottishcafe.com

Well Fed Man: It's Kohlrabi Season

Well Fed Man: It's Kohlrabi Season

Review - Julie and Julia, Directed by Nora Ephron

This film is a heart-warming tale of women, food and love.

Set in Paris and America in the 1950's and New York in 2002 it recounts the lives of Julia Child and Julie Powell respectively. Julia Child was the TV chef and writer who bought French cuisine to the American housewife with her book 'The Art of Mastering French Cooking' in the early 60's. Julie Powell was a clerk who escaped the daily grind by cooking at the end of each day. A frustrated writer also, she started a blog 'The Julie/Julia Project in which she committed to cooking her way through the 524 recipes in Julia Child's book in one year . The popular was turned into a best seller, Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, subtitled, for its paperback edition, "My Year of Cooking Dangerously".

The book taps into Britain's current obsession with food and it doesn't need me to catalogue the proliferation of TV chefs, cookery books, farmers markets, restaurants, etc to prove that this obsession exists. Also, as any restaurant owner will tell you, it is women who fill the restaurants. We socialise with our friends over a good meal and a bottle of wine. A film that centres around two strong and identifiable female characters who also love food is onto a winner but there is much more to this film.

It is refreshing not only to see a film that shows two strong women who are actually 'doing something' they are passionate about but equally refreshing to see two men in roles who are supportive of their wives in every sense. For once we have a realistic portrayal of marriage in the cinema. And it reminds one that liberation for women (as opposed to equality) is not only about liberating women but equally about liberating men. When women are free from their sterotypical shackles men are too.

Neither Julie or Julia are conventionally attractive. Julia, played by Meryl Streep, is 6' 2" and lopes and towers like, as my friend pointed out, Joyce Grenfell. Julie Powers, played by Amy Adams is very 'normal'.

This film challenges accepted gender roles and values, in film and in society.

One scene shows Julie going out to lunch with a number of her 'successful career women' friends and feeling alienated because she is not 'successful'. She is not wheeling and dealing as they are and has not adopted their arguably male values in order to succeed.

So-called 'female values' of caring and nurturing are celebrated in this film. Julia's husband played by the wonderfully, charismatic and attractive, Stanley Tucci is a diplomat in the era of McCarthy and is questioned by the House of Un-American Activities because he spent some years in China. Although highly paid and successful he worries about his job, wonders what purpose it has had in his life and declares poignantly "they (the government,his employers) don't care about me". Similarly the faceless beaurocracy of the government are portrayed as not caring about the insurance claims of the victims of 9/11 in the office where Julie works.

By contrast Julie and Julia do care. They are both obsessed and passionate about food,love and by implication sex. When Julia Child has her first French meal of sole meurniere with oysters it recalls the famous orgasm scene from When Harry Met Sally which Niora Ephron wortoe teh screenplay for. Both the bed and the kitchen feature a lot in this film. Are these the two places where true power and love really exist?

The kitchen is the centre of success and liberation for both Julie and Julia and at the end of the film Julie and her husband symbolically make a 'pilgrimage' to Julia Child's kitchen in the National Museum of American History.

This film is a 'must-see'. It is hugely entertaining and funny whilst also having emotional depth.

£10 Tapas at Tapa

Coffee in Caligari, Sardinia

Review - The Three Chimneys, Skye

Review : Written September 2009

THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE WORLD

OR SO IT FEELS. THE DRIVE TO THIS ROSETTE-STARRED TREAT IS AN HOUR ACROSS SKYE. IT IS HOWEVER, A SPECTACULAR JOURNEY TAKING IN DRAMATIC MOUNTAINS AND RUGGED COASTLINE (MIND THE SHEEP). AT LAST YOU REACH AN OLD CROFTERS COTTAGE AND IF I WERE TO HAVE A LAST MEAL THIS WOULD BE AS GOOD A PLACE AS ANY. THE CANDLELIT DINING ROOM WITH ITS THICK STONE WALLS LOOKING ONTO THE SHORES OF LOCH DUNVEGAN IS ROMANTIC AND ATMOSPHERIC. ADD THE SKYE PRODUCE-FOCUSED MENU AND THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE BECOMES TRULY UNIQUE.

I visited with members of Bite Club so there were plenty of us to compare notes. Home-made bread was passed around which was delicious as were some goat’s cheese canapés. The offer of an aperitif wouldn’t have gone amiss. Next, an amuse-bouche of mackerel with apple julienne was divine. The crispy, oily fish and tart Granny Smith flavours married perfectly.

For starters I chose Loch Dunvegan langoustine with organic mesclun from Fasach and lemon and olive vinaigrette (£6 supplement) and my partner had seared saddle of wild rabbit and hare with tattie scones, Ayrshire bacon, carrots and greens, beetroot and blaeberry game gravy. My shellfish were everything they should be cold,fresh and meaty with a simple, lemony sauce. My partner’s dish was more complex; juicy, ruby red hare flesh and rabbit meat mixed with a riot of earthy, forest flavours whilst the deep, intense game jus bound it all together nicely.

Mains course for me was steamed Mallaig halibut and Sconser scallops with Anna potatoes, Glendale courgettes, locally foraged mushrooms and claret jus whilst my partner had the roast loin of Glenhinnisdale lamb with its kidneys, liver and slow-cooked heart, neeps and hairst brees. My halibut was creamy and quiveringly tender, the scallops were big and meaty, the mushrooms slippery and earthy and the potatoes satisfying. My partner’s meatier dish was described as “luscious lamb with princely offal offerings with the barley stew making a good base”. I thought the heart was particularly nice being a cross between liver and beef in flavour.

A small surprise dish of my all time favourite dessert, Eton mess, kept us happy until desserts proper arrived. I had the warmed, almond vanilla tart with poached peaches, raspberry crush, creamed crowdie and grand Roussillon syrup while my partner had the dark, milk and white chocolate plate with cherries. I particularly liked the Nordic twist of peaches and cheese whilst the almond tart was soft and sumptuous with crispy, buttery pastry and dusting of icing sugar. My partner enjoyed the spectacular chocolate plate which consisted of milk shake, fondant, garnache, pudding and crisps, made of various chocolate and very ‘adult’ alcoholic, black cherries.

Desserts were so good that a couple of us actually shared a second, the famous hot marmalade pudding with Drambuie custard. It had a lovely texture, not too soft, not too firm. The sponge was sweet, gingery and warm and the custard a creamy, vanilla pool of lusciousness.
The Three Chimneys offers an experience which I would heartily recommend to anyone. The food is actually very unpretentious. It focuses on top-notch local Scottish produce and uses it to create exceptional dishes. The setting is unique and the consensus was that everyone had had an exceptional experience.

£55 for three courses
Colbost, Dunvegan,Isle of Skye,
01470 511258,
http://www.threechimneys.co.uk,
eatandstay@threechimneys.co.uk

Review Hotel Du Vin - July 2009

REVIEW OF THE MONTH – HOTEL DU VIN
Effortlessly Urbane.

EVERY NOW AND THEN A DINING EXPERIENCE COMES ALONG THAT SURPASSES EXPECTATION. CERTAIN CRITERIA MUST BE MET BUT OVER AND ABOVE E.G GOOD FOOD, SUBJECTIVIVITY COMES INTO PLAY TO TIP THE BALANCE AND TAKE A RESTAURANT FROM GOOD TO ‘THE BEST’ AND SIMPLY PUT, HDV DOES IT FOR ME.

The location is old town charming with a cobbled courtyard for al fresco dining and a comfortable cigar bothy for smokers. Inside, the bistro is classic French i.e. bustling ambience, good food, good wine.

The sommelier chose our wine, a Muscadet 2006, which perfectly complemented our meal; dry, floral and zesty with hints of juicy tropical fruit and a creamy full body. For starters, my partner was presented with an Everest of a soufflé, Isle of Mull Cheddar, (£5.75) whilst I had soup de poisson (£5.50). Both excellent, my soup had layers of flavour and depth and lots of fishy bits whilst the soufflé was pronounced to have a fine texture and just the right balance of cheese.

For mains, I chose the special, brill with a samphire, tomato and fennel salad (£16.95) and my partner plumped for smoked haddock cassoulet (£13.75). The latter was creamy and comforting with a cheesy crust and choc full of haddock chunks; a dish to return for. My main consisted of two curling fillets of creamy, white fish in a foamy champagne sauce and a very pretty, colourful salad. It was beautifully presented on slate but pleasure was equally found in the tasty perfectly timed fish, crunchy fennel, vibrant green samphire, slithers of tomato and sprinkling of puy lentils. Light and delicious it was summer on a slate.

The dessert menu was really exciting. A proper cheese trolley (£8.50) beckoned but I couldn’t resist iced vanilla parfait sandwich with brown sugar figs whilst my partner had pear tarte tatin with Dunsyre Blue ice-cream (both £6.75). The parfait sat between slices of light, sugary puff pasty and the brown sugar on the figs had been bruleed; heaven. The presence of Irn Bru Turkish delight on the menu along with deep fried Mars bars proves that despite its class HDV does not take itself too seriously.

I am keen to return. The food is classic French bistro, the wine offering excellent and the service professional. Effortlessly urbane.

Hotel Du Vin
-11 Bristo Pl
Edinburgh, EH1 1EZ
-0131 247 4900

OPENING HOURS
Food served every day form early ‘til 10.30pm.