Côte Brasserie, Edinburgh

  Côte Brasserie 51 Frederick Street, Edinburgh EH2 1LH 0131 202 6256  www.cote.co.uk   The Bill  Prix Fixe (Mon – Thu all day; Fri 12  – 7) 2 courses £14.95 | 3 courses £18.95 A la Carte Starters  £5.95 – £9.25 | Mains £11.95 – £23.50 Puddings £5.25 – £7.25 The Score Cooking 6.5/10 |…

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Recipes From Lupe Pintos

On Wednesday, On The Side introduced you to Dougie Bell of Lupe Pintos. Between them, he and his partner Rhoda Robertson have produced three excellent cook books, coveriing a broad range of cuisine from Mexico through the southern states of the USA and on to the Caribbean. The fourth in the series, The Mexican Wrestlers Cookbook was produced…

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The Food Retailers: Dougie Bell of Lupe Pintos Deli

Meet Dougie Bell for the first time, and you immediately notice two things. The first is the trademark pork pie hat, worn at all times. The second is the permanent twinkle (albeit not in my truly dreadful photos.) You just know at first encounter that this has not been an ordinary life. Two of his…

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Ristorante Settimo Cielo, Vienna

  Ristorante Settimo Cielo (Hotel Royal) Singerstraβe 3, Stock 10, 1010 Vienna +43 1 5123875      www.settimocielo.at The Bill  Dinner A la Carte Starters  €8.00 – €18.00 | Mains €17.50 – €35.50 Puddings €8.50 – €9.00 The Score Cooking 6.5/10 | Service 3/5 | Flavour 3.5/5  Value 3/5 TOTAL 16/25 Muted. In a city…

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A Simple Curry – Chicken, Chickpea & Preserved Lemon

I seldom follow recipes when it comes to Indian food. I had got very cocky and reckoned I’d cracked it. There then followed a trio of dishes which were, as they might say it in my home town in Fife, pish poor. But undeterred, a pack of chicken thighs in hand and not a great…

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Christmas Books – What Happens To Good Boys

In December I highlighted a few food books and cook books which looked promising as presents for people of quality who know and love their food. And, would you believe it? I now find myself the proud owner of most of them. It definitely pays to advertise. TASTE: My Life Through Food Stanley Tucci Fig…

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Blonde Restaurant, Edinburgh – As Told To Tom Johnston

  Blonde Restaurant 75 St Leonards Street, Edinburgh EH8 9QR 0131 668 2917   www.blonderestaurant.co.uk   The Bill  Set Lunch 2 courses £13.90 | 3 courses £16.90 Dinner A la Carte Starters  £4.95 – £6.95 | Mains £14.25 – £22.95 Puddings £5.95 – £6.75 The Score Cooking 6.5/10 | Service 4/5 | Flavour 4/5  Value 5/5…

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Pie With No Pastry

And before you start, no potato either. No shepherds or cottagers are involved in today’s offering. As with many of my odder, off the cuff recipes, this was inspired by an item which was needing used. Without being obsessional about it, I dislike seeing food going to waste. A week or two ago I created…

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Chef Watch Featuring Jamie Scott of The Newport, Newport on Tay

Chef Watch Featuring Masterchef: The Professionals Winner Jamie Scott The Newport Restaurant, Newport-on-Tay, Fife How long have you been a chef? I have been a chef professionally for 15 years Why did you become a chef? I became a chef because I failed to become a professional golfer and I love food Favourite ingredient Onions,…

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Swilcan Loft, Old Course Hotel, St Andrews

  Swilcan Loft, Old Course Hotel Old Station Road, St Andrews, KY16 9SP 01334 474371  www.oldcoursehotel.co.uk     The Bill Starters  £10.00 – £16.50 | Mains £21.50 – £42.00 Desserts £9.20 The Score Cooking 4.5/10 | Service 4.5/5 | Flavour 3/5  Value 3/5 TOTAL 15/25 I’ve been coming to The Old Course Hotel on a…

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Cake Making For Beginners

Lime Drizzle Cake This article started with the intention of describing three or four things lime related; however, when I started writing about the lime cake, it brought back to me the extreme trauma of my early experiences of cake baking. Never made a cake, and think you can just pick up a recipe? Pshaw!…

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A Food Day of Note Next Week

Well, food lovers, is your diary primed? What famous British food day is with us next week? Warning: the answer may not be the obvious one. And while you’re pondering, who can tell me what a collop is? I encountered it years ago in a Scottish hotel where the dinner menu featured a dish entitled…

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Things To Do With Limes

As I wrote on Wednesday, I love limes. Having said that, I don’t go along with those who opine that they are interchangeable with lemons. Sometimes (indeed quite often) you just need that sharp, dish-enhancing zap which you’ll get only from its yellow cousin. But limes can be used at any stage of one’s menu.…

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Frango da Cidade, Olhão, Algarve, Portugal

  Frango da Cidade R. Teófilo Braga 51, 8700-368 Olhão, Portugal +351 911 114 577     The Bill The Menu 15€ per head (yes, really) The Score Cooking 6/10 | Service 5/5 | Flavour 4/5  Value 5/5 TOTAL 20/25 Chicken City. Doesn’t sound like a typical Tom Eats! place, does it? And to be…

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L is for … Lime

I was well into my twenties before I did it for the first time. I’d watched it, obviously. I have a recollection of seeing it done in a plate glass window in Edinburgh’s Princes Street, and being struck by how ruinously expensive the whole process was. While many things came to me early in life,…

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Duck With An Orange And Honey Glaze

Virtually everyone has their favourite Del and Rodney memory. For most it will be the scene where David Jason tries to lean nonchalantly against the bar, only to discover that the counter had been raised. Great stuff, but I’m still tickled by their French trip. Del, thinking ahead to dinner, asks, What’s French for duck…

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The Orchard Bar & Restaurant, Edinburgh

  The Orchard Bar & Restaurant 1 – 2 Howard Place, Edinburgh EH3 5JZ 0131 550 0850  www.theorchardbar.co.uk   The Bill Starters £5.50 – £10.50 | Rustic Sandwiches £7.75 – £9.25 Mains £13.25 –  £31.00 | Desserts – ? The Score Cooking 6/10 | Service 5/5 | Flavour 4.5/5 | Value 4.5/5 TOTAL 20/25 Fascinating…

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The Food Producers: Steven Mitchell’s Buffalo Mozzarella

So Gordon Ramsay’s production team for The F Word phone up your buffalo farm. They want to come up so the great man can see you making your buffalo mozzarella. Sure, you say. There’s only one teeny problem – you don’t produce mozzarella. In fact you’ve never made cheese in your life. It wasn’t quite…

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Craig Wood’s Wild Mushroom Arancini With Smoked Mozzarella

I had some interesting responses to last week’s On The Side column which had some suggested resolutions for 2022. For starters, LinkedIn blocked it, as it apparently contravened some policy or other, but they declined to tell me which it was. I’ve included the link so you can judge for yourself. Secondly, a few people…

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Birnam Brasserie, Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder: Guest Reviewer David Dickson

  Birnam Brasserie Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder, Perthshire PH3 1NF 01764 694270  www.https://gleneagles.com/eat-drink/the-birnam-brasserie     The Bill Starters  £9.00 – £17.00 | Mains £14.00 – £40.00 Desserts (from the reviewer’s memory)  £5.00 – £8.00 The Score Cooking 8/10 | Service 5/5 | Flavour 4/5  Value 4/5 TOTAL 21/25 Gleneagles Hotel sits amidst the lush greenery of…

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Two Pheasants, Four Meals

Despite the efforts of many, including this column, the notion persists that game is just for toffs, exotic and expensive. It is neither, though most amateur cooks will have struggled from time to time to get it right. In the past, I have had particular problems with pheasant. The season closes at the end of…

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Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen, Edinburgh

  Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen 4 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2BD 0131 252 5200  www.gordonramsayrestaurants.com The Bill Starters  £7.50 – £14.50 | Mains £16.50 – £48.00 Desserts £5.00 – £7.00 The Score Cooking 7.5/10 | Service 5/5 | Flavour 4/5  Value – Beef 2/5, The rest 4/5: Average 3/5 TOTAL 19.5/25 It ain’t…

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