The 5pm Dining blog had an interesting meal this weekend when we swung into Seasons, a new restaurant on Edinburgh’s Broughton Street.
Just launched last week, the new place is billed as a fusion of Nordic and European cooking with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients from Scotland and Scandinavia.
There is no menu. Or at least not in conventional terms. Instead diners are presented with an ever changing list of roughly 30 ingredients which the kitchen uses to create a five or seven course dinner for £30 or £45 a head. Lunch is three courses for £15.
Seasonal ingredients
Guests are welcome to cross off ingredients if, for example, they don’t eat fish or meat. The list of ingredients ranges from the familiar, such as monkfish, oatmeal and parsnip, to more exotic substances, such as sea radish and aligot – a sort of cheesy twist on mashed potatoes.
The blog doesn’t really do restaurant reviews but it was an interesting experience. The element of surprise which comes from not knowing what each course will consist of gives it all a frisson of anticipation.
The stand out dish was a beautiful piece of tender duck which came with roasted salsify and pumpkin purée. We had chosen to take the option of having drinks matched to each course and the duck dish was served with a beetroot juice Bloody Mary.
It was a gloriously rich, robust and earthy combo – perfect when the wind and rain are howling at the window.
Liquor Library basement bar
The restaurant is the brain child of exec chef Matthew Urry with head chef Alexander Dusak manning the pans.
Mr Urry was the man behind the Liquor Library pop-up which was on the George IV Bridge in August. The blog understands that there are plans afoot to set up the Liquor Library in the basement space under Seasons.
Regular blog readers may recall that Aizle, up on St Leonard’s Street, also runs on the basis of creating meals from a list of seasonal ingredients.
While the two restaurants have that in common, Seasons offers a distinctly different cooking style.
We expect that there is plenty of room for both and wish Seasons every success.
