16 FOOD AND DRINK
SUMMERHALL has, since 2011,
established itself as one of Edinburgh’s
leading cultural venues. For its
Director, Robert McDowell,
Summerhall is a place where “Festival
addicts” can “shoot up” all year round,
culture coursing through their veins
for twelve-months - not just August.
It is a clear manifestation of the
Festival’s continuing cultural legacy
for Edinburgh. One reason why
Summerhall has embedded itself so
well in the city is that it provides a
variety of reasons to visit; concerts,
exhibitions, gigs, films etc. With the
Royal Dick pub and the café, it also
provides a place to meet, eat and
drink. The café at Summerhall has
always been a popular destination but
has now been substantially revamped.
With this revamp comes a
substantially improved coffee ‘offer’.
The MF Coffee Project has taken
over the café and the coffee they serve
is a major upgrade. In terms of
flavour profile, what I’ve tasted has
been nicely complex but balanced.
The MF Coffee Project also manifests
a key aspect of the specialty coffee
scene in that it focuses not just on the
quality of the product but also on the
conditions of the producers. MF is a
‘small collective comprising farmers,
processors, and roasters, facilitating
connections between specialty coffee
producers in Northern Malawi and
conscious coffee consumers in the
UK.’ In short, the aim is, through
‘forging a direct link to the coffee’s
origin and the farmers behind it’, to
skip some of the ‘middlemen’ of the
coffee industry and ensure that the
growers receive a higher percentage.
As a measure of the popularity of
the new café, it took me three visits
until I could actually secure a seat. It’s
clearly doing something right. The
place is consistently full of people
studying, chilling, and meeting. The
range of seating, from desks to sofas
helps to accommodate these different
reasons for being there. Particularly
prized by students, are the seats at the
window side. These provide a nice
lap-topping or writing space plus a
cracking view out towards the fringes
of the Meadows. On my last visit,
bright sunshine battled with torrential
bursts of rain and sleet. Four seasons
in one hour!
Many cultural types meet here - the
place is abuzz with interesting
conversations on artistic themes.
That’s a real sense of energy about the
place, which is an ideal place for
cultural cross-pollination. On a recent
visit there, I was sitting next to a
group discussing a theatre production
they were collaborating on. On the
next table, a pair were sharing ideas
about illustration for a book cover.
Though it’s constantly busy, the highceiling prevents the place from
becoming claustrophobic or stuffy.
The walls have been painted
particularly attractive dark green and
the wooden tables give the place a
natural warmth.
While specialty coffee culture has
spread across the city, our cultural
institutions have largely failed to
embrace this. Too often, the coffee
served at such places is stuck in the
late 1990s; vaguely drinkable but
hardly something that would
encourage you to visit for the coffee.
On a recent trip to London, I was
very pleasantly surprised by the
fantastic coffee I was served at the
British Library. Origin Coffee runs
the coffee bar there and have now also
made their way to Edinburgh, taking
over Brew Lab’s old venue on South
College Street. Hopefully,
Summerhall’s new seriousness about
coffee is a prelude of things to come.
People are increasingly expecting
something good for their money. It’s
also an example of the way that good
specialty coffee has gone mainstream;
it’s no longer just the preserve of the
cognoscenti.
MF Coffee is another reason to visit
Summerhall, even when there were
no specific events on. It is an
interesting example of the further
penetration of specialty coffee within
the city.Revamped café at Summerhall could be a caffeine hit
44 44 1 44 2 44 3 44 4 44 5 44 447 44 844 44 44 44 44 4444 1044 44 44 44 44 44 4444 12 1344 44 44 44 44 44 44 4415 44 16 1744 44 44 44 44 44 44 4419 44 2044 44 44 44 44 44 4444 2244 44 23 44 44 44 4424 4444 44 44 44 44 44 44 444444444444444444444444691114182144CAFÉ SCENE: THE MF COFFEE PROJECT By Charlie Ellis
A slice of the Big Apple at Six by Nico
CHEF NICO SIMEONE took his
executive chef team to New York
to inspire them in the creation of
the new menu available at Six by
Nico on Hanover St until 19 May.
Dishes include the New Yorker
Slice - Pepperoni Ragù,
Panzanella & Pecorino Foam,
Savoury Cookie & Truffle Royale
(Inspired by: Joe’s Pizza, Carmine
Street, Greenwich Village), B.E.C- Potato Rosti, Smoked Bacon
Belly, Confit Egg Yolk, Rye
Crouton, Trapanese Hot Sauce &
Parmesan Beurre Blanc (Inspired
by: Daily Provisions, E119th
Street, Union Square), Pastrami
Sandwich - Ox Pastrami
Sandwich, Choucroute, Pickled
Kohlrabi, Gherkin & Frenchies
Mustard (Inspired by: Katz Deli,
Lower East Side and Shelsky’s,
Brooklyn).
Nico said: “We met with locals,
wandered the city day and night
and tried so many different food
types It could be one of my
favourite menus we’ve created.”ACROSS
7 ANYONSCREEN (anagram)
(4, 7)
9 Pause, quick rest (8)
10 Slice of bacon (6)
11 Bury (5)
12 Forbearance, open-
mindedness (9)
14 Go under, yield (7)
16 Female deity (7)
18 Streamlined, well-organised
(9)
20 Fire, conflagration (5)
21 Zoo worker (6)
22 Child’s sweet on a stick (8)
24 Hidden, secret (11)7 ACROSS is a famous person who was born in Edinburgh.DOWN
1 Male teacher (6)
2 Satisfactory, adequate (10)
3 Printing fluid (3)
4 Mended (8)
5 Short dash (6)
6 Orator (6, 7)
7 Doubter, disbeliever (7)
8 Road cleaner (6, 7)
13 Coastal illumination (10)
15 Personification of the USA
(5, 3)
17 Instance, case in point (7)
19 Dawn ____, comedienne (6)
20 Northern European sea (6)
23 Strange (3)Malawi marvellousness
CROSSWORD By Aldhelm
SOLUTION7 Sean Connery, 9 Breather, 10 Rasher, 11 Inter, 12 Tolerance, 14 Succumb, 16 Across:Goddess, 18 Efficient, 20 Blaze, 21 Keeper, 22 Lollipop, 24 Clandestine.1 Master, 2 Acceptable, 3 Ink, 4 Repaired, 5 Hyphen, 6 Public speaker, 7 Sceptic, 8 Down:Street sweeper, 13 Lighthouse, 15 Uncle Sam, 17 Example, 19 French, 20 Baltic, 23 Odd.