What does it take to shift your restaurant from the city centre to a tent in a field a couple of miles away? Stuart Muir, head chef at the Forth Floor Restaurant, has become a bit of a seasoned hand
rand Iivents. the company behind Taste of Iidinburgh. run their
restaurant festivals in a number of
cities around the I’K. as well as overseas in places such as (‘ape Town and Sydney. The concept is clearly popular with the public. but it also involves persuading an array of top local chefs to leave behind their familiar domains and hang their names above the doorway of a relatively spartan marquee at the festival site. It‘s a demanding logistical exercise. but perhaps the key to it is that most chefs love a challenge — not to mention a change of scenery.
Stuart Muir of the Forth Floor Restaurant at Harvey Nichols is a prime example. ‘This is our third year. so it should be a bit easier.‘ he says. ‘but it is hard work.
‘You’ve got a limited amount of equipment to use. and there are a lot of restrictions — power. plumbing and refrigeration all have to be considered. The food you put on the plate in your restaurant isn't going to be exactly what you can do at the event itself.
‘I planned what I was cooking for this year way back in May last year. ’ou don‘t want to have lots of things going on with the dish.
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28 THE LIST 1-1—28 May 2009
Food is served on disposable plates and you‘re given recyclable cutlery to eat with. If it‘s blowing a gale your garnish isn‘t going to stay on top very long.
‘I'm sticking to cooking fish again; this year I'm doing sea bream. The thing about fish is that it comes in fresh on the day and it's cooked to order. It‘s a summer dish. and I enjoy cooking it. I went through l4()() fillets
of seabass last year — that's the best part of
3()()() portions. I have a six-burner stove. each with a pan on it cooking three to four pieces of fish. and I continually rotate them.‘
With a line-up of big-name restaurants on the bill. there's a danger that folk turn up to the festival expecting lavish meals at every turn. Muir regards that as missing the point.
'You can‘t really put fine-dining onto disposable plates. The connection is that the chef is there cooking it. The whole idea of the
event is that it‘s a tapas-style celebration of
restaurants. You buy your ticket. you get your Crowns. and then try as many restaurants as you could possibly want. The portions are small so that you can go round all the restaurants. I look upon it as a huge tapas in the park.'
How do I get to see the headline names? The three taste theatres are free once you're inside the festival and seating is allocated on a first-come. first-served basis. liiiietahles Wlll be finalised in the run~up to the event keep an eye on the website
(tastefestivalscom edinhurghl to see who's on when. or check out running orders posted around the Site.
I have heard you need to pay with special Taste currency. What is it
and how does it work? To buy food from any of the restaurants at Taste you'll need to get hold of some of the festival currency ~ called Crowns — from one of the exchange booths on Site. Each crown is worth 50p. Signature dishes sold by restaurants range from (S Crowns to f() Crowns. You can't buy food from the restaurants usmg normal cash. Crowns are also valid at a number of the exhibitors selling drinks and speCiality foods. though you Wlll be able to use cash at these stalls.
Is it expensive? Compared to a Boots meal deal, yes. Compared to a slap-up meal in town. no.
Can I stay all day? Each of the three days of the festival is split into two sessions: one running from noon—4pm lf f.30am—3.3f)pin on Sun). the other from 5.30—9.30prn (4.30—8.30pm on Sun). A single entry ticket is valid for one of these seSSions only, With wsrtors having to vacate the site between afternoon and evening sessions.
Tickets on the door cost a bit more than those ore-booked.
It's in a new location this year. Why the move? Edinburgh City Councul were concerned at the damage being done to the Meadows by large-scale events. Inverleith Park, also owned by the council, was offered instead and was accepted by Taste of Edinburgh as a scenic and spacious alternative.
I Taste of Edinburgh runs on Fri 29 May, Sat 30 May and Sun 31 at Inverleith Park (entry from East Fettes Avenue or Arboretum Place). Full details and advance tickets available from
w. tastefestiva/s. com/edinburgh