][1]In Edinburgh, Rosario Sartore’s Locanda de Gusti restaurant is settling into its new home in Dalry.
Formerly based on East London Street, the re-location takes Rosario back to the Dalry Road location where he first made a splash in La Partenope restaurant.
Staying true to his Neapolitan roots, Rosario’s new Locanda de Gusti specialises in southern Italian food.
Daily tasting menus
His plan is to serve tasting menus which will differ depending on the produce available at each service and each customer’s preferences. Starting at £20 a head, these menus will include dishes such as octopus carpaccio with a cucumber citronette; Scotch lamb with pancetta and fresh mint or hand-made ravioli filled with provolone and Parma ham.
There will also be a set menu running at lunch.
A lively character with strong views on Italian cooking, Rosario moved to Scotland to start working in 1986. Aged just fifteen, he was horrified at what he saw in what were supposed to be Italian restaurants. Scottish chefs throwing spaghetti against walls to check it was cooked were not uncommon. Don’t even ask his views on the garlic bread served elsewhere.
Naturally, there will be none of that malarkey at the new, 30m cover Locanda de Gusti.
Neapolitan roots
‘I’m cooking the sort of food that I would have back in Naples,’ he explains. ‘It’s simple and quick to do. Back home, in the summer, it might be hitting 40 degrees and no-one wants to be spending hours in the kitchen cooking. Instead, you take the best ingredients and treat them simply.’
Locanda de Gusti has become part of a thriving restaurant scene in that area of Dalry.
As well as the long established First Coast, Rosario’s near neighbours include Mia, Edinburgh Riverlife, Vietnam Feast and the new Shebeen South African restaurant, a sister operation to the more established branch on Morrison Street.
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