Victor and Carina Contini opened the restaurant, located in a grand former banking hall, back in 2004, determined to showcase fresh, seasonal cooking rooted in their own family heritage.
The food served in Contini perfectly surmises this Scottish-Italian fusion. Herbs, vegetables and berries are sourced from their one-acre kitchen garden in Midlothian, while a new 14-acre olive grove in Lazio will soon provide organic extra virgin olive oil.
Seasonal ingredients in the dishes are imported directly from markets in Italy, a difference that you really can taste.
The starter set things off strongly: crispy arancini with Gorgonzola and Parmigiano; which oozed cheesy goodness and was utterly moreish. But I had to save room, as we had ordered a second sharing starter of fresh Puglian burrata… can you tell I love cheese? And when cheese is cooked like this, honest and unfussy, it’s arguably at its best.
But I needed to save room for the mains – the portions certainly aren’t small at Contini. We opted for their homemade gnocchi with chanterelle mushrooms and a gorgeously rich butter sauce. It was topped off with Contini Kitchen Garden oregano and 18 months Parmigiano Reggiano, a perfect microcosm of the Scots/Italian spirit of the restaurant.
We also chose the ‘Contadino’, with fresh orecchiette, Contini recipe sausage and Graham’s Dairy double cream. Every bit as indulgent as it sounds, it was the perfect way to finish the savoury section of our meal before we moved on to the even more indulgent desserts.
Opting for Italian classics of Tiramisu and Panna Cotta (made with a local twist of Edinburgh Gin Elderflower liqueur), we felt delightfully, happily full as we stumbled back out on to George Street.
Soulless cooking this certainly isn’t.
www.contini.com/
Dining and Cooking