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May 2014

Edinburgh/ Italian/ restaurant/ review

Edinburgh restaurant review: Gusto – A stylish take on Italian, just right for summer

Salmon tartare on a plate.
Summery Salmon tartare.

I love new things. I am probably what marketing people would refer to as an “early adopter”; the sort of person who laps up the latest technology, queueing to be first to purchase a “just released” gadget. Well, I would be, were it not for the fact that sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choice that’s available these days. Plus, I actually like to wait a wee while to see how a new arrival beds in, before I will give it a try.

This approach often applies to my choice of restaurants, as much as technology. Which probably explains why I hadn’t got round to dining at Gusto, despite the Edinburgh branch of this chain of Italian restaurants being open for a few years now. However, last week I was invited by a friend of a friend – who happens to be part of Gusto Edinburgh’s management team – to sample their new spring and summer menu. Try something new? Yes please!

Warm aparagus salad with a Caesar sauce.
Tasty asparagus with a Caesar sauce.

Pass through Gusto‘s, somewhat unassuming, George Street frontage and you enter a large, stylish dining space which is simply and tastefully decorated in black and white. Forgoing faux-rustic Italian adornments, the restaurant is decked with banks of arty monochrome photographs, stylish lighting, and furniture that has a timeless, classic-design feel. It’s a look that wouldn’t be out of place in a trendy Milanese eatery.

Seated in a comfy semi-circular booth towards the open kitchen (always a good sign if it’s possible to see one’s food being prepared) JML and I were offered an aperitif whilst we browsed the – very extensive – menu. A kir royale and a basilico (a cocktail mixing gold rum and apricot liqueur with amaretto, lemon and fresh basil) really hit the spot. So too did the tasty, warm focaccia and marinated olives that accompanied our drinks.

Now I’ve already mentioned that Gusto‘s menu is expansive, featuring antipasti, pasta and risotto, pizza, as well as Italian-inspired salads, and mains based around seafood and meat. So being there to try what was new for summer, we called on the help of our – very knowledgeable – server, who promptly directed us to over a dozen dishes.

Roast chicken, summer vegetables and lemon butter.
Chicken perfection with summer veg & lemon butter.

Deliberations complete, we conveyed our food choices, and ordered a bottle of northern Italian Trebbiano/Chardonnay to accompany them. But we were both out of, and in, luck with the wine. A rotation of what was stocked in the cellar meant our first choice wasn’t currently available, yet an alternate, comparable crisp white was immediately suggested. Plainly, the front of house really knows its way round the menu and wine list. In fact, all the front of house staff we encountered – and our server, Emma, in particular – were really knowledgeable and engaging.

Our antipasti arrived promptly, and looked very appetising. It tasted just as good. JML’s asparagus and baby leaf salad with Caesar dressing featured half a dozen perfectly cooked spears adorned by a rich (but not heavy) sauce laden with savoury Parmesan and anchovy flavours, which was a perfect partner to the fresh grassiness of the asparagus. The accompanying chunky hearts of baby little gem lettuce, however, seemed a bit lost amongst the intense flavours provided by the other ingredients – maybe lightly braising them might have been the tweak they needed.

Lobster and prawn spaghetti.
Luxurious lobster and prawn spaghetti.

I rarely order salmon when dining out, but was intrigued by the home cured salmon tatare and quail’s egg with crème fraiche and green gazpacho. It was an excellent choice. Served up was a sumptuous disk of finely chopped salmon, not only bursting with fish flavour, but also citrus and dill from the cure. Add to this the creaminess of the crème fraiche with the soft-centred egg, and the spring-fresh taste of the gazpacho, the overall combination proved to be a delightfully accomplished starter.

Seafood was also at the centre of JML’s main, in the form of a luxurious-sounding lobster and prawn spaghetti in tomato sauce. I wondered if the shellfish might be a bit overwhelmed by the rest of the ingredients, but this wasn’t the case at all. The pasta was fresh and really well cooked, the tomato sauce was light and well flavoured with a touch of chili and garlic, all of which allowed the sweet seafood flavours provided by the lobster and prawns to really shine through.The combination was simply clever and delicious.

A "Gusto Bellini"
“Gusto Bellini” – bravissimo!

My roast chicken breast with summer vegetables and a lemon butter was chosen for two reasons. Firstly, I really liked the sound of the summery flavours; and secondly, chicken breast can be a litmus test for the competence of a kitchen, as it can be very easy to over-cook. Well, Gusto‘s kitchen certainly passed the test with flying colours. The chicken had a lovely crisp skin and beautifully succulent flesh. The batons of vegetables it sat atop were tasty and cooked to slightly al dente, which I really liked. The lemon butter sauce was luxuriant and citrusy, without overwhelming the dish. Perfect summer flavours, especially when combined with the sweet-earthy-saltiness of my side of sautéed fagioli beans with pancetta and balsamic glaze.

I have to say that I wasn’t surprised when JML declared that, in terms of pudding, he was going to choose the chocolate mousse with salted caramel and cappuccino cream. Served in a cup to cleverly mimic a frothy coffee, this was lovely and rich, with deep chocolate being really well accented by the saltiness of the caramel and the creamy java hit. My Gusto Bellini was really a melding of both a sweet and a cocktail, consisting of peach and Prosecco jelly served in a champagne saucer and topped with a Prosecco foam. It was simultaneously light, fruity and fizzy; a really elegantly splendid way to conclude the meal.

Chocolate mousse with salted caramel and cappuccino foam.
Chocolate-caramel mousse disguised as a cappuccino.

So, having now test-driven Gusto‘s summer menu I suppose the question that is going begging is “would I return as a paying customer?” The answer to that is “most definitely.” I was impressed not only with what we sampled, but also the look of the other dishes as they flew from the kitchen to be served to the ladies who lunch, thirty-something couples, and groups of trendy young students that were our fellow diners.

I have eaten at another Italian-inspired restaurant on George Street, one that has “celebrity” associations and is a bit brassy and brash in emphasising its “Italian” credentials. Frankly, I was a somewhat underwhelmed by my whole experience there. By contrast, Gusto certainly hits the spot in terms of its stylishly-relaxed continental vibe, and serves a really well put together Italian menu that is reasonably priced for what is on offer. So, if you are seeking a Mediterranean-influenced meal that is “bravissimo” do consider giving Gusto a go.

Food 8/10
Drink 8/10
Service 8/10
Value 7.5/10

Ambience – Expect a stylish, yet relaxed Italian bistro.

For this review, we dined at the invitation of Gusto.

GUSTO Restaurant & Bar on Urbanspoon

Feature

Belgian beer tasting – Supping heavenly Heverlee and other “devilishly” good brews at the Devil’s Advocate

Bottles of Belgium beer for tasting.
Some brilliant Belgian beers.

Fancy tasting some top Belgian beers? Oh, and the tasting is guided by a highly accomplished Belgian brewer. A brewer who used to work in Scotland. And he’s also the chap behind a new, and truly splendid, interpretation of a Belgian abbey-produced lager. To be honest, accepting such a proposition presents little in the way of cerebral challenge (the expression “it’s a no brainer” is one I hate).

So last week I, together with a clutch of other food writers, assembled at Edinburgh’s The Devil’s Advocate bar to share the pleasure of supping some of the finest beers Belgium has to offer. We were guided in this venture by Joris Brams – a Belgian brewer who is the creative genius behind Heverlee, a fantastic lager available at selected venues across Scotland.

The story of how Heverlee came about is as engaging as the beer itself. Involving an ancient abbey, monastic advice, and brewing forensics, it could almost form the plot of a best seller. In brief, Brams has managed to recreate a “lost” beer that was once brewed during the Middle Ages by the monks who inhabited the Belgian town of Heverlee‘s Abbey of the Order of Premontre. I, for one, am very glad this once Scottish-based brew-meister has gone to so much trouble. But more on Heverlee in a wee while.

It is evident that Brams is a man who is passionate about brewing, and the beer of Belgium in particular. So it was a pleasure to hear him wax lyrical about the qualities of six of his favourite brews that hail from his homeland. Here is what we sampled, and what I learned.

La Chouffe (8%)

A splendid blond beer to kick of the tasting, and one I had always thought had a long history. Yet no, it only came to be in the early 1980’s. This golden-hewed brew undergoes its final fermentation in its gnome-adorned bottle, imparting to it a natural, yeast-derived cloudiness. It smacks of coriander, as well as a subtle, clean, almost grassy, hoppiness. And it has a splendid, long-lasting head.

Martin’s IPA (6.9%)

Now this was a bit of a surprise. An IPA from Belgium? Surely some mistake? But as Joris elucidated, of late there has been much cross pollination between the craft brewing scene in the USA (where IPAs predominate) and a new wave of Belgian beer making. This has resulted in a refreshing light-amber ale that has a definite, yet subtle, hoppy character, achieved through cold hopping (adding hops whilst the beer ferments, rather than when the barley is being warm mashed) as well as peppery and citrus notes. With an alcohol content of 6.9% it’s strong for an IPA, but a bit of a lightweight compared to some of the other beers we sampled!

Troubadour Magma (9.3%)

This is another relative newcomer to the world of Belgian beer, as the Brouwerij Musketeers (Musketeers’ Brewery) that produces it was only established in 2000. Troubadour Magma could best be described as a bit of a hybrid, as it combines the intense hoppiness of an IPA with the malty-fruitiness of a Belgian “Tripel” beer. Deep orange in colour, this is a smashingly good beer that marries well-developed, deep notes of bitter hops with the malty-sweetness of plummy fruit and caramel flavours. At 9.3% alcohol, it is most definitely a beer for sipping, as opposed to glugging.

Duvel (8.5%)

This was the first Belgian beer I ever sampled, during a work trip to Amsterdam in the 1990s, and it remains one of my all-time favourites. Coincidently, it is also a favourite of Joris and I was intrigued to learn from him that it has a Scottish connection. Apparently, in the early days of Duvel there were issues with the yeast that was used to finish it (the beer undergoes final fermentation in the bottle), which was only solved when a highly suitable strain, used in ale production, was sourced from Scotland. The production process for the beer – the name of which translates as “devil” in Brabantian Dutch – is complex, meaning 90 days pass before it is ready to drink. What is produced is a light straw-coloured “blond” brew, with a citrus hint, a dash of spiciness and a pleasantly bitter undertone. And if you like your beer on the yeasty side, you can swirl the last third as you pour, to release the yeast that accumulates at the bottom of the bottle.

Westmalle trapist (7%)

Brewed by the monks of Westmalle Abbey, this is a gorgeously rich brown ale. Ruby-brown in colour, and producing a dense, dark cream-coloured head, it almost resembles a UK porter. Its aroma and taste is not a million miles away from a porter either, exhibiting a fruit-laden nose and tastes that include toasted nuts, caramel and raisin. Containing 7% alcohol, it’s on the lighter side compared to other beers in the tasting, and despite being dark in nature would actually be a quite refreshing quaff on a summer’s day. And according to Joris, it benefits from being drunk at room temperature as opposed to being chilled, as is recommended for many other Belgian beers.

Mort Subite (4.5%)

Now there is a lot of chatter these days in the food and drink press about naturally fermented wines, where grape juice is left in contact with grape skins resulting in fermentation taking place via the natural yeasts that reside on said skins. Yet this form of spontaneous fermentation can also be applied to beers, through something called the Lambic process. This is true for Mort Subite – a cherry-flavoured beer which ferments after being exposed to the wild yeasts and bacteria that are native to the Belgium’s Zenne valley, where it is produced. Think of it as the brewing equivalent of producing a sourdough starter culture, and you are on the right track. Ripened in oak barrels and steeped with fresh cherries, what results is a uniquely fruity, yet sour, cherry-red brew which is both complex in flavour and simultaneously refreshing.

Heverlee (4.8%)

A pint of Herverlee beer.
A glass of heavenly Herverlee.

We concluded our tasting with some excellent food courtesy of The Devil’s Advocate – try the haggis bonbons! – and a pint each of Heverlee: the forgotten Belgian pilsner that Joris has recreated using ingredients and techniques from hundreds of years ago. It’s a beer that comes as close as possible to the light, fresh-tasting lager that the monks of Heverlee (which now forms part of the municipality of Leuven) once produced, but were forced to stop brewing when beer production became commercial.

Chatting with Joris, it became clear how emphatic he is that beers should not pose as being authentically Belgian when they are in fact brewed elsewhere. That is why, even though available on draft in Scotland, his beer will continue to brewed in Leuven, using a malt and maize mash and Saaz – the world’s most expensive variety of hop.

So what is the beer like? Well it attractively very crisp and clean with a subtle sweetness (much subtler than that encountered in some other “reassuringly expensive” lagers hailing from Leuven) which is perfectly in balance with the smooth bitterness from the hops. It’s poured and presented exactly how you would expect a Belgian beer of this quality to be. We are lucky that Brams’ Scottish connections mean that Scotland is one of the first countries to be supplied this little bit of Belgium in a glass. So if you haven’t tried it already, be sure to seek out a heavenly pint of Heverlee.

Many thanks to Joris Brams, Wire Media and The Devil’s Advocate for hosting such a great evening of beer tasting.

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recipe

Recipe: Fresh meets mature – Mutton braised in sherry, garlic and rosemary, with char-grilled asparagus and salsa verde

Mutton in sherry with asparagus and salsa verde
Mutton, asparagus, salsa verde – yum!

Sometimes, it can be good to mix things up a little, especially when it comes to cooking. Pairing a just-in-season ingredient with one that is more mature. Matching fresh and vibrant flavours with those that are more rich and complex. During spring – when new-season crops become ready to harvest, and certain produce from the preceding year matures – it can be a great time to partake in this form of culinary experimentation. As I found out last weekend…

With JML in the USA on business, rather than rattle around Scrumptious Scran Towers by myself I decided I would head for Edinburgh Farmers’ Market to purchase something interesting for Sunday lunch. In terms of vegetable ingredients I already had a specific idea in mind. Early May means that we are smack in the middle of the British asparagus season, and for me this has to be one of our finest, home-grown, seasonal vegetables. I love the fresh grassy flavour to be had from the bright green spears, and it is an ingredient that really doesn’t need much in the way of adornment.

So, with the vegetable component of my Sunday repast taken care of, my attention turned as to what to pair with it. The idea of a nice cut of lamb sprang to mind, but unless you are someone who favours very early spring lamb, it’s a bit too soon in the season for Scottish-reared examples of this meat. Plus, for me, early spring lamb can be a bit underwhelming in terms of flavour. This is why I often go for cuts from more mature incarnations of sheep, in the form of either hogget (over one year old) or mutton (over two years old). These have a much greater depth of flavour, and the meat benefits from longer, slower cooking which all combine to produce some mouth-wateringly good meals.

Schmoozing amongst the stalls at the farmers’ market I was delighted to encounter the pitch occupied by Annanwater blackface and blackface-cross lamb and mutton. Blackfaces are an ancient Scottish breed of sheep, which are both slow-growing and ideally suited to the rough upland grazing found in many areas of Scotland, including the Borders region of Dumfries and Galloway, where the Annanwater farm is based. And nestling on their stall I spied an appetising-looking neck cut of Blackface mutton. Combined with the right ingredients, this richly-flavoured succulent meat would make an ideal pairing for my asparagus. But how to cook it?

Stairwell herb garden
My little plot in the stairwell.

Well, I took inspiration from Spain, deciding to slow braise the mutton with a combination of garlic, rosemary and sherry. The rich, near-gaminess of mutton sits really well with other bold ingredients, and slow cooking ensures not only that the meat is beautifully tender, but also that all the flavours combine splendidly. But I didn’t just want the mutton and asparagus to sit disparately on the plate. I wanted to add something that linked their respective richness and freshness. So thank you to Delicious magazine, and the article in the May 2014 edition by Debbie Major on salt marsh lamb, for giving me the idea to pair garlic, citrus and herb-laden salsa verde with the rest of my dish. Even better, I was able to use herbs from my stairwell herb garden in preparing the sauce.

So if you are looking for a flavour-packed lunch or dinner that balances spring fresh and carefully matured ingredients do give my recipe for mutton braised in sherry, garlic and rosemary, with char-grilled asparagus and salsa verde a go. You taste buds won’t be disappointed.

Serves 2 (ingredients can be multiplied up to feed more).

Ingredients

For the meat:

  • Neck of mutton joints (allow around 250g per person)
  • 1 or 2 fat cloves of garlic, finely chopped (to taste)
  • A couple of large sprigs of rosemary, leaves removed from stems and finely chopped
  • A large-sized glass of dry sherry – a good quality Fino would be ideal
  • 2tbsp of olive oil for frying
  • Salt and pepper to season.

For the asparagus:

  • 1 bunch of British asparagus
  • 1tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to season.

For the salsa verde:

  • 1 fat garlic clove, thinly sliced
  • A bunch of fresh mint leaves (about 20g) roughly chopped
  • Small bunch of flat leaf parsley (about 10g) roughly chopped
  • 2tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
  • 1tsp Dijon mustard
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • A good glug of olive oil – 50-100ml, depending on taste.

Preparation and cooking

Neck of mutton:

  1. Preheat your oven to 140 degrees Celsius.
  2. Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan, over a medium heat. Remove the mutton from any packaging and season with salt and pepper. Brown the meat on all sides in the frying pan, and remove to a plate.
  3. Place a heavy, lidded casserole pan over a medium heat and add the sherry. Whilst it is resting on the plate, cover the mutton with the garlic and rosemary. Transfer the meat and any remaining garlic and herbs to the casserole and bring to a simmer for a minute or two, to boil off the alcohol from the sherry.
  4. Tightly cover the casserole pan with a sheet of aluminium foil (to ensure a good seal) and then put the lid on top. Place in the oven for between 3 and 4 hours – depending on the size of your mutton joints – until “fall apart” tender.

Asparagus:

  1. About 20 minutes before the mutton is ready, heat a griddle pan on a high heat so that is comes up to a temperature to allow char-grilling.
  2. Trim any woody ends from the base of the asparagus spears. Pour the olive oil onto a backing tray and season with salt and pepper. Roll the asparagus in the seasoned oil, until well coated.
  3. When the griddle is blisteringly hot, put on spears and cook for a few minute each side, until the asparagus is tender with charred lines.

Salsa verde:

  1. Place the garlic, herbs and capers on a chopping board and chop these into a course paste.
  2. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the lemon juice, mustard and sufficient olive oil to make the mixture into a thick sauce.

Plate up the asparagus, mutton (add a couple of spoonfuls of the braising sauce to each serving), and add a good dollop of salsa verde.

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