The ‘unashamedly Scottish’ The Kitchin wins critic’s praise

Tom Kitchin, chef-proprietor of The Kitchin in Edinburgh, receives fulsome praise from Daily Telegraph food critic Jasper Gerard for scouring the Highlands for the best-quality ingredients. 

The result is an exceptionally well-produced menu that is unashamedly Scottish, hardy rather than twirly, which draws on Kitchin’s experience of working for Pierre Koffmann and Alain Ducasse.

Authentic Sicilian food, learnt at the knee of his granny and cooked by Santino Busciglio, receives the thumbs up from the Independent’s John Walsh. Although he is not too keen on the minimalist décor at Busciglio’s London restaurant, Mennula, he does enjoy eating there and is particularly impressed with the way he combines his granny’s recipes with new flavours.

In The Times, Giles Coren, takes up a new cause – that of the vegetarian diner.  In his search for a restaurant that serves non-meat eaters with something that is inspiring and enticing, he comes up with a corker in Philip Howard’s new restaurant, Kitchen W8 in London.

He can hardly contain his excitement at the quality of the vegetable dishes. “The crushed butternut squash with chestnuts and beurre noisette was worth the trip alone – an orgy of Thanksgiving feast-style sweetness and chunk,” he enthuses.

Jay Rayner, restaurant critic for the Observer, pays a visit to Polpo, a new Venetian-style bacaro in London’s Soho, and likes what he finds.  He is impressed by the authentic bare brick walls and distressed painted wood and – apart from a couple of minor gripes – with the quality and the price of the food, which is served tapas-style.

“As the chef here used to cook at nearby Bocca di Lupo, it was no surprise that the crumbly, coarse Cotechino sausage with braised cabbage and mustard was a banker,” he says. “It was great when he made it at the last place, too.”

For this review in full and more, see What’s on the menu? To book a table, see Caterer Eats Out. Visit Guide Girl for the latest gossip from the fine dining world.

The Kitchin, Edinburgh >>

Menuwatch – Kitchen W8 >>

Mennula, London >>

Menuwatch – Polpo >>


By Janet Harmer

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