79 St Leonards Street
Edinburgh
EH8 9QY
Tel.: 0131 668 4207

Web site: www.calistoga.co.uk

Scotland's first Californian Restaurant - here is a review - Calistoga is a place for people who are serious about their tucker. There's a periodic table of wine on the wall and wine books dotted around the small restaurant. A strict no-smoking policy means you can taste your food, which is immaculately and artfully presented by the owner/ chef team. The chef, Seanan has been there since it opened its doors last August, so there is also consistency in the quality of the food. Did I mention that it's entirely Californian? The wine list is Californian, the food is Californian, the no-smoking policy is Californian Law, there's even Californian internet radio played in the background. The attention to detail is almost obsessive. Restauranteur Gordon Minnis has been involved in the wine industry for many years and still manages to find time to work part-time for Henderson Wines. He told us that when he worked at Haldane's restaurant he was besieged by requests for Californian wines. In response he started collecting and learning more about Californian wines. His wine collection ended up so large that he had to open the restaurant to sell his wine and make room in his cellar. An interesting motivation for a restaurant! One of the unique points of Calistoga is that there is only a £5 mark up on the wine. This means that you can enjoy a better quality of wine for the same price than in some other restaurants (which often have rather steep mark ups). Gordon picked out a cracking bottle of De Loach Chardonnay (£22.00) for us. Not too heavy on the oak, it was a lively number which complemented the delicate taste of our dinners. We had a look at the website, www.calistoga.co.uk before we got to the restaurant, so my partner and I already knew what we fancied. For starters, I chose the Saffron and Ginger Melon Salad with pine nut and sweet pepper salsa (£5.00) which was simultaneously hot with ginger and cooling with melon. My partner's Chorizo and Scallion Frittata with roast red pepper paint (£5.00) was light and airy. There was something almost comical about the flamboyant garnish on my mains, which was the Organic Bean stuffed Baby Eggplants with crunchy carrot tumbleweed (£11.50). Although it was a delightful vegetarian option, my partner's Pan seared Duck Breast with sticky orange rice and a citrus sauce (£13.00) was definitely the business. He loudly proclaimed that it was the most skilfully cooked duck he'd ever tried. The dessert menu came with recommendations on dessert wine to complement each dish. My Vanilla and Honeycomb Pancake Cheesecake (£4.50) was complemented by an apricot sticky, whilst my partner's Bitter Sweet Chocolate Torte with raspberry compote (£4.00) matched well with a dark sticky wine. Low on Californian glitz, Calistoga is high on gastronomic attention to detail.