Monday morning, the start of a new week and the perfect time for a blog on a new restaurant.
Opened last week, The Newport Restaurant is the first solo venture from MasterChef Pro champion Jamie Scott.
Situated in the picturesque village of Newport on Tay, across the river from Dundee, The Newport Restaurant is serving what it calls ‘clean, flavoursome Scottish food, using the best of local ingredients inspired by the surroundings and Jamie’s knowledge of the area’.
Nerves, joy and relief
Jamie says: ‘The last few months have been a mixture of excitement, nerves, impatience, frustration and now finally joy and relief! We just can’t wait to welcome our first guests through the door.
‘The menu reflects the backdrop of Newport on Tay, we have spent time foraging in the area and getting inspired. It is now time to give something back to the community and hopefully The Newport will provide something new for everyone to enjoy.’
The menu is interesting. The 5pm Dining blog interviewed Jamie last year and he told us that he hoped to offer a sort of indoor barbeque menu featuring local produce cooked over different sorts of charcoal.
It is hard to tell from the concisely written menu if that is what he ended up doing. ‘Lunan Bay salmon, crème fraiche and cucumber’ sounds appealing but doesn’t give too much away other than the provenance of the fish.
However, there is mention of BBQ pork collar while a dish of Jerusalem artichoke is served with confit lemon, chicken skin and the increasingly fashionable ash.
Eat your greens
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the menu is that 50% of the main courses are plant based. There is plenty of Ardgay venison, Newburgh chicken and Oban scallops but these are matched with sections labelled From the Garden and From the Ground.
Eye-catching dishes from these sections include January king cabbage with barley, kimchi and sprouts or the cauliflower with cabbage, burnt butter and Anster cheddar.
Originally from Arbroath, Jamie was inspired by his mother and grandmother in the kitchen. His grandmother was a keen baker while his mother was the first female sous chef in the UK.
After spending six years learning his craft in Arbroath, Jamie moved to St Andrews joining the Rocca restaurant as Head Chef for four years. In 2014, Jamie took part in BBC MasterChef: The Professionals and was crowned the winner.