There are all sorts of interesting new places opening at the moment but The Table, on Edinburgh’s Dundas Street, is one of the boldest.

It’s billed as ‘ten seats, two chefs, one table – a unique dining experience in the most intimate restaurant in Edinburgh’.

Essentially, it’s a chef’s table for ten customers. Each night that The Table is open, chef Sean Clark and his sous chef cook a seven course tasting menu for the guests.

Interactive dining

The table overlooks the kitchen area and the food is prepped and plated in front of the customers. The idea is that the whole experience is interactive and guests can ask the chef what ingredients he is using and why.

It is not a new concept. For example, Minibar in Washington DC, does something similar. However, I think I am right in saying that doing high end cooking around a communal table for ten is new for Edinburgh.

Years back, there was a short-lived venture on Dundas Street (?) that had a communal dining table. I don’t know if the communal eating aspect contributed to its early demise but the success of contemporary communal dining tables at places like The Gardener’s Cottage would seem to show that Edinburgh is willing to accept the idea now.

The idea of a tasting menu won’t phase many people either. For the last year and a half, Aizle, up on St Leonards, has thrived by giving guests an ingredients-led surprise menu that takes into account allergies and preferences but doesn’t give guests more of a choice.

Modern cooking techniques

At The Table, diners are promised ‘European cooking with some influence from further afield and an obvious Scottish leaning. In addition to introducing some original flavour combinations and textures, we use modern cooking techniques to elevate well known classic dishes’.

Dishes on the sample menu include pea nut tartare – veal tartare and fresh peas with toasted hazelnuts – and lamb in the summer fields: lamb with strawberry, pine nuts, wild garlic, basil and tapenade.

Chef owner Sean Clark certainly has an interesting CV that takes in Edinburgh, Milan, Rome and London with stints working for chefs such as Gordon Ramsay and Martin Wishart.

The 5pm Dining blog wishes The Table all the best.