THE BIG BURRITO

Birthdays, I love em. Maybe as I get older, I might want to acknowledge it less but it’s TartanSpoons 5th birthday next week, and I’m so proud of this wee blog, where it all started from and the journey its on. But it couldn’t have been possible without all of you. Thank you so very much for coming on this food, drink, travel adventure with me and here’s to another 5 years of amazing food stories, delicious drinks and journeys local and abroad.

A massive thank you to Asda, for sending me one of their New Celebration Cakes to mark the occassion. Asda launch this new range on the 13th July

And the biggest new of all, we can now visit outdoor cafes and beer gardens )like Archerfield Walled Garden as pictured) and restaurants and hotels can start to open from the 15th July

TARTANSPOON WEEKLY WRAP - NEWS FOR YOU TO DIGEST

FOOD

Aizle, Edinburgh - is reopening, not at their old premises on St Leonards Street, but in The Garden at The Kimpton Charlotte Square Edinburgh. In The Garden, they will be able to offer more covers, which means the waiting list will be smaller, so there’s no need to book tables so far in advance. The space between tables will be roomier, the tables larger, and it will include comfortable banquet seating. They will also have a beautiful private dining room that can seat up to 14 people with a lovely view of the gardens at Charlotte Square. The dining concept will remain the same as before, so you can still enjoy their six-course everchanging tasting menu.

Six by Nico - are reopening with The Chippie menu. The menu was the first theme introduced to launch the Glasgow Finnieston restaurant in 2017 and Edinburgh City Centre restaurant in 2018, and has been elevated and refined to offer Six by Nico customers an extraordinary new & nostalgic food and drink adventure.
Items on the menu have been creatively re-imaged, with extra contemporary twists, to give customers old and new, a fun and unexpected dining experience. Dishes on 'The Chippie 2.0' menu include; Chips & Cheese (Parmesan Espuma & Crisp / Curry Oil / Brandade Croquette / Vinegar Powder / Brown Sauce); Scrabster Monkfish (Cheek / Dill Emulsion / Gribiche / Peas / Beurre Blanc); Steak Pie (Speyside Beef Shin / Burnt Onion Ketchup / Mushroom Duxelle / ‘Meaty Salsa’); Fish Supper (Shetland Cod / Pickled Mussels / Confit Fennel / Samphire / Beer Emulsion; Smoked Sausage (Trio of Pork / Apple / Black Pudding / Salt Baked Celeriac / Choucroute) and finally back by very popular demand, Deep Fried Mars Bar for dessert (Chocolate Pave / Blood Orange Sorbet / Cocoa Nib). As always, there will also be a vegetarian option available for each course.

I participated in the live Cook-a-long with Chef Nico himself, and it was great fun. We cooked the Steak Pie and I’m rather proud of my plating!

East Coast, Musselburgh - without a doubt THE BEST Gluten Free fish n chips in/around Edinburgh. You can order via Click n Collect on their website or walk-ins.

Candied Ice Cream Parlour, Grangemouth - their Instagram page is drool worthy from Unicorn and Biscoff gelato to Strawberry and Watermelon. They also do gluten free gelato, hot desserts, brownies, waffles and slushpuppies. Find them, visit them.

Seafood Ristorante, St Andrews - reopens from Thursday 16th July. Offering the finest Scottish seafood mixed with an Italian foundation, The Seafood Ristorante is one of Scotland’s most iconic dining venues and currently holds the title of Catering in Scotland’s ‘Scottish Restaurant of the Year’. Open from Thursday to Sunday only, the new lunchtime menu will be available from 12pm to 2.30pm, whilst the evening menu will be offered from 6pm to 9.30pm for pre-booked groups of up to six people. A new selection of Italian aperitifs, digestifs and Italian tapas, cicchetti, will also be available for guests to enjoy overlooking the sea.

Appetite Events, Edinburgh - are now delivering straight to your door with their fantastic Appetite Delivers boxes. They offer two boxes, Indoors and Outdoors. Outdoors is perfect for picnics and dining outside with beautiful, colourful and tasty salad boxes and sandwiches whilst the Indoors brings a fine dining experience to your home. I tried their Indoor box and it was fabulous. Easy to finish off yourself and easy plating instructions, you’ll soon have a magnificent fine dining feast on your dining table!

PRODUCTS

Pacari Chocolate - this is the best chocolate in the world, they’ve won over 300 awards! As someone who doesn’t particularly love dark chocolate, their dark chocolates are smooth, creamy and without that bitter taste. They are gluten free, dairy free, vegan and organic. I joined their CEO, Santiago Peralta, live from Equador via Zoom for an online chocolate tasting and they have now added two new chocolate tasting dates - 12th and 26th July. You can book direct with them.

Tracy.bakes - makes some of the most beautiful flower bouquets from cupcakes. They have to be seen so go have a look at her Instagram and fall in love. I would definitely prefer these over real flowers anyday (hint hint).

Walkers Shortbread - have come up with a Summer Gift Bag which includes 8 Walkers Shortbread products : Vanilla Shortbread, Mini Oatcakes, White Chocolate and Raspberry Biscuits, Meringue Nests, Saltire Keepsake Tin, 3d Mini Scottie Dog Carton, bag of Mini Chocolate Chip Shortbreads or Fingers and Crispy Toffee and Chocolate Shortbreads.Perfect for picnics.

Lish Dish Pies - with all the delicious things coming out of lockdown, one thing that I haven’t seen has been pies, and yes, I have missed Gregs. But Gregs doesn’t compare to these beauts! Deep filled, short crust tasty pies made right here in Edinburgh. They have a variety of fillings and my particular favourite was The Coop, chicken and tarragon with a cream filling. Freaking delish! They cost £3.95 and they delver to your door on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Slainte Sauces - I love Scottish products and a new sauce to come out of the Highlands and Islands, actually the Isle of Lismore, are these great cocktail inspired drizzle sauces. These sauces are great over beef, duck, venison even cheese, cheesecake and meringues. Check them out online.

Tongue in Peat - I tried out this tomato juice and its so very nice. It’s thick and packs a tomato punch. It’s sweet at the start and then the smokiness from the Islay peat kicks in on the backnote and lingers. I tasted this on its own, and then as Bloody Mary and it was great. No need for that worcestershire sauce or seasonings.

Afternoon Tea Ltd - I was so very excited when Ross contacted me from Afternoon Tea Ltd about delivering a cake for me to try out and I was even more excited when I opened the box to find the most beautiful stunning Berry Pavlova. Ross Sneddon is the Executive Pastry Chef at the Balmoral, currently furloughed. He is now baking stunning cakes for you to buy. He makes 50 a week and when they are gone, they are gone. They are a foodie dream for sure.

The Dram Team - I think this is a great idea. The Dram Team are a whisky~tasting~by~post whisky subscription company and their aim is to get you tasting some interesting and unusual whiskies.
They package these whiskies up in five 25ml drams plus a sixth dram, 10ml of something special ~ in my case its a Girvan 30 year old single grain. Wow. You can buy a one off tasting kit or subscribe.

Frank_Francia Face Masks - as face masks are soon to become compulsory when shopping, you might as well look stylish whilst doing it right? I got these fabulous face masks from Francia based in Edinburgh and they only cost £3.50! Love them.

OTHER NEWS

Neighbourhood - from Wednesday 8 July until the end of August, 'Neighbourhood' will feature the very best of the capital's local independent food and drink businesses atop Waverley Mall, Edinburgh. There will be some great street food and drink on offer from the likes of El Cartel: Inspired Mexican street food; Fire & Dough: Artisan wood-fired pizza; Kebbabar: Gourmet kebabs; Linton & Co: Speciality coffee & brownies and Herringbone in collaboration with Innis & Gunn: Cocktails, mocktails, beer & wine.

The Neighbourgood Market - located in Stockbridge, The Grange will be Edinburgh’s first ever contactless open-air market when it opens on the 15th July. It will invite food operators and restaurants from the area to utilise their stunning open-air ground and provide a safe and dynamic platform for local businesses and traders to sell products. Operators having secured partnership agreements with Izettle and Deliveroo to provide contactless payment and pre-order systems for the market. The market is now fully let, having attracted some popular Edinburgh based brands, including Bross Bagels, Mana Poke Bowls, Mimis Bakery, Brew Lab, Innis and Gunn and Edinburgh Gin. Other vendors on site will include Casa Roble, Lucas Ice Cream, The Peruvian, Screaming Peacock, Rost, Mint, Caravan of Courage, Don't Tell Mama, Lost Orchards, Good Brothers Wine Bar and Prosecco Boys. Tribe Yoga will also be hosting a range of outdoor classes on site as soon as permitted.

Villa Oloroso - for those of you who can self quarantine for an additional 2 weeks after your holiday and love Spain, you might want to consider this gorgeous luxury contemporary boutique holiday rental villa, within walking distance of Benalmadena’s Puerto Marina.I definitely wouldn’t mind spending a week or two here in the sunshine plus it comes with a hot tub!