Today, we’re off to Cucina, the award-winning Italian restaurant in Edinburgh’s five star G&V Royal Mile Hotel.

The 5pm Dining blog was there to chat to the hotel’s restaurant manager Michal Markowski.

Judging by its popularity, and the number of awards it has won, Cucina has very definitely made its mark on Edinburgh’s dining scene since the hotel launched in 2009.

Neither Cucina nor the hotel have ever rested on their laurels and they continue to evolve to this day.

A little more than two years ago, the hotel began rebranding itself as G&V Royal Mile Hotel having previous been a Missoni hotel.

There have been lots of changes since then and many of them relate to the hotel’s restaurant and bar.

Spectacular cocktails

Epicurean, the hotel’s imminent new bar, looks very exciting for a number of reasons.

Spectacular cocktails with ingredients from Scotland’s first EvoGro hydroponic system being just one of them. However, we will tell you more about that after it launches this Friday.

Upstairs in the restaurant, the signs of the rebranding are much in evidence. Most immediately striking is the restaurant’s colourful new look courtesy of the Glasgow design firm Timorous Beasties.

Central to the decor is a sort of dripping, brightly coloured, floral design that looks simultaneously classic and modern.

Imagine if you held a wild party in a very grand country house. I know. Bear with me on this one…

You wake the next morning to find the damask walls were sprayed by Champagne and that it looked so good you decide to keep it.

It has that sort of Boho decadent feel. I like it. You might not want it in your own kitchen every morning when you get up for breakfast but it certainly brings a sense of occasion to a meal out.

Cucina’s decor is not the only thing that is changing.

The menu already makes good use of Scottish ingredients – especially seafood – but Head Chef Mattia Camorani is looking to expand the variety of Scottish produce on his menus and include, for example, more game.

Honey Tasting Menu

The kitchen has already made steps towards promoting a hyperlocal cuisine. For instance, the hotel uses honey produced by the three beehives on its roof.

Last month, the restaurant’s Tasting menu had the hotel’s honey as its central theme.

This month, white truffles from Italy are at the heart of the tasting menu.

Chef Camorani is enthusiastic about Scottish produce but equally as happy to import top notch Italian ingredients such as the truffles and a beautifully fresh and grassy olive oil from Puglia.

Including the pasta, the kitchen likes to make as much as possible in-house from scratch.

They are currently looking for bakers to work in the kitchen and provide five types of daily bread for diners. Once customers have made their selection, the bread will be carved for them.

Too popular to change

While the a la carte and lunch/pre-theatre menus change four times a year, some dishes are too popular to take off the menu.

For instance, the tagliatelle with pork ragu and the fried courgettes have both been on the menu for more than six years.

We tried the courgettes. Fried in a very delicate tempura batter, they are light, airy and so crispy that they rustle enticingly when you serve them.

Want to encourage people to eat five-a-day? Speak to an Italian chef, the past masters at making veg attractive.

Our lunch started with scallops – three plump, golden scallops on a smooth celeriac purée lapped by a sweet, spicy saffron jus.

The shellfish were sweet and fleshy while the purée was gently earthy and softly sweet.

My main course of slow cooked beef cheeks on a creamy mash with garden peas and spinach was similarly comforting. Eat this on a cold night and you would be well insulated against the frost.

The beef was super soft. The pop of the peas and intense green, ferrous flavour of the spinach added a bright, sharp contrast to the smooth richness of the beef and mash.

Dessert was, to use a technical term, a whopper. Two chunky quenelles of thick chocolate mousse flanking a palate-cleansing mint sorbet.

Shards of meringue, crumbed pistachio  and little flavour bombs of frozen raspberry drupelets added more texture, colour and contrast.

Book via 5pm Dining

If this sounds appealing, you can book into Cucina through 5pm Dining.

Book in today and you can use a 25% discount on the a la carte menu at lunch and dinner (12.30pm-3pm & 6pm-9.30pm.

Alternatively, you could enjoy two courses on the pre-theatre (6pm-6.45pm) for £15.95.

Watch this space for more news on Epicurean, the new bar at G&V Royal Mile Hotel.