Local Food and Wine writer, Bon Vivant  flies from Manston to Scotland and samples some surprising gastronomic delights just 90 minutes  from East Kent.

The 27th May signals the beginning of regular flights from Manston Airport once again.

There are only three destinations to start off with, Kirkwall, Sumburgh and Edinburgh. The flights to the Orkneys or Shetland Islands seem to be a little more pricey than those to Edinburgh, so mindful of the financial considerations of my fellow Kentish gastronomic adventurers, I decided to set off to Edinburgh to see what was is on offer.

Just and hour and a half’s flight and around £90 for the ticket will see you from the heart of Thanet to the Scottish Capital. Edinburgh is a monumental city in the literal sense, dramatic , princely and grave.

The colour of the stone is almost the exact opposite of the soft shades that Canterbury has to offer and the mountainous lie of the land makes a fine contrast to the East Kent countryside as well.

All these steep inclines and cold breezes do bring on the appetite and the first thing to know about Edinburgh is that it is dominated, foodwise, by the Italians.

Sent to Scotland in the second world war, the Italians set up home and never left. There can be nowhere else in the UK where there are so many Italian restaurants. Not all of them are great, in fact some are pretty dreadful, but there is one small operation which is absolutely outstanding.

Slip through the door of the unimposing facade of Valvona and Crolla (on Leith Walk, just down from the Playhouse Theatre) and you are in the shop; a wonderland of fresh ingredients, from Coppa to Pancetta, home made pasta, cheeses large and small, breads of all shapes.

Turn a corner and you are in the wine department lined floor to ceiling with bottles from Tuscany, Piedmont, Sicily, Campania and the Alto Adige. The great names of Italian winemaking are there, notably Antinori and Gaja.

Up a couple of steps and you have reached the Cafe bar. I went with a friend who is an Austrian Jew and he was very confused by the name of the waitress being Levi: “this is a surname and she is not a Jew, I do not understand this”. Anyway, Levi is extremely pleasant and very good at her job and she directed us to a table where we had a plate of fresh pasta that we both agreed was the best we had ever eaten outside Italy.

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In search of something more authentically Scottish, I left the town and drove up the Fife coast for an hour to the little fishing village of Anstruther.

This is where the well heeled from Edinburgh have their holiday cottages. It is picturesque indeed and over the last twenty years or so has become something of a gastronomic hotspot.

Central to this reputation has been The Cellar.

A small , family run restaurant down a narrow back street. The menu centres on the freshest of Fish and we ate dressed crab (stunning) and Turbot.

I have tiny reservations about the place. On one hand it is simple food but on the other they charge £39.95 for three courses. The art of cooking fish is restraint, as the chef pointed out to me. Why then did the Turbot come with a pesto crust that obliterated the taste of the fish? That said, you would pay a hell of a lot more for such great fish in London. The wine list at the Cellar is extensive, exciting and reasonably priced. I would go back.

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From Anstruther you can walk along the coastal path with its glorious views of the island of May and visit the tiny fishing village of Pittenweem where you would be foolish to miss out the excitement of St Fillan’s cave if you like small damp caves.

My experience of Michelin starred restaurants in the last two years has been similar to the feeling of consistently losing at Blackjack. It was with some trepidation therefore that I entered the hallowed portals of Restaurant Martin Wishart in Leith.

I needn’t have worried. Lunch is £27.50 for three courses and a sheer delight from start to finish give or take one item in my starter.

We were presented with an array of small dishes before our starter arrived including haggis balls which taste nicer than they sound, a creamy potato veloute with brown shrimps, sweet and sour vegetable consommé and a curious beetroot meringue stuffed with a horseradish cream which against all the odds was delicious. Wild, very smokey , cold smoked salmon was thickly cut and glorious. Accompanied by raw marinated scallops and some kind of piscatorial inner tubing which was horrid.

The main course was rib of Buccleuch beef. The plate looked simple but the flavours were intense, multi layered and fantastic. Dessert was utterly captivating, very hard to describe as there were so many clever processes going on in the dish, but you never felt that style over-rode substance. All I can say is that the passion fruit was put through its paces to great effect.

The wine list is good and has a clever list of half bottles that means you can ring the changes from course to course. I would confidently suggest that this is the best of the Michelin starred establishments that I have visited on the last ten occasions. The staff are friendly, mostly continental and smart.

A weekend away from Kent is only rarely needed as I am sure you will agree, but Edinburgh does have a lot to offer and as of 27th May, it is on our doorstep.

Oh, and by the way, the coffee at Valvona and Crolla is heavenly.

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Valvona and Crolla . 19 Elm Row, Edinburgh EH7 4AA tel. 0131 556 6066
 

The Cellar . 24 East Green Anstruther, Fife KY10 3AA tel. 01333 310 378
 

Restaurant Martin Wishart. 54 The Shore ,Leith ,Edinburgh EH6 6RA tel. 0131 553 3557

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