Like most of us I’ve become very aware of my mental and physical health as we navigate the complex stages of living through this pandemic.
I know I’m not alone when I admit to being battle-scarred by it all and, living alone and being over 60, I count myself one of the lucky ones to have survived reasonably intact.
This is a time when so many of us are judging whether it’s safe out there – safe enough to go to a concert, a football match or even just a supermarket.
A recent trip to a Tesco superstore reminded me I hadn’t set foot in the place for two years, preferring to use local shops, deliveries and… yes I admit it, the smaller Waitrose that sits so beguilingly on the road approaching the flat I’m renting in Edinburgh.
I know I’m lucky to even have that choice.
Despite us all willing normality to return, it’s hard to forget that everything has changed.
I know my eating habits have suffered because I crave Dairy Milk and Twiglets more and I’ve put on weight. I assume the two facts are somehow linked.
A recent study of food and coronavirus from London’s Imperial College showed it’s not just the frequency of eating that’s the problem – it’s what we’ve been eating and how much less we’ve been shopping for food.
During much of the last two years we were advised to minimise the frequency of our food shopping and it looks like this behavioural change affected what we actually bought.
“Foods with longer shelf lives appear to be an adaptive change in food choice in line with this advice (to shop less).
“Tinning and curing often coincides with higher amounts of salt or sugar in final food products, which can impact people’s weight and blood pressure. It remains to be seen if the relative increase in consumption of these foods will have a longer-term effect on the cardiovascular health of the nation,” said Kevin Walsh, of Imperial College.
Eating out
For those of us with any disposable income there’s also been the issue of eating out.
Even as we emerge from the pandemic many restaurants have been forced to close for two or three days of the week. Some have even chosen to do so, citing staff welfare as an additional factor. Whatever their reasoning, just try finding somewhere decent to eat out on a Monday and you certainly won’t be spoiled for choice right now.
When you do find somewhere open, one thing I’ve noticed is that people don’t seem to dress up to eat out so much. It’s all got a lot more casual. The last time I even considered what I’d wear to eat out was a pre-Christmas lunch at the Palmerston in Edinburgh and that’s because one of our celebratory gang was Shirley Manson from Garbage whose sartorial correctness never falters.
One of our other dining companions that day was my friend Claire Mitchell, one of a small number of female QCs in Scotland and a woman who can wear platinum hair, a swirling cape and Doc Martens better than Madonna or Olly Alexander. You might have seen her on Channel 4’s Murder Island recently.
The Newport
Claire was also my guest for this recent meal at The Newport where we met to discuss her brilliant campaign to pardon witches.
The Newport is definitely somewhere you can dress up for, although it isn’t stuffy at all.
In fact, the décor is so relaxed it gives little impression of the style of food you’re about to receive – which is anything but casual.
Jamie Scott at The Newport has done much to attract culinary attention to this part of the country and he’s to be applauded for continuing to do so.
Since opening the restaurant in 2016 he and his wife, Kelly, have gone on to open two bakeries, a seafood shack (Shipwreck), a street food truck (Smoking Barrels), a doughnut/coffee shop (Wrecking Ball/Daily Grind) and another Daily Grind in Arbroath, all while continuing to steer The Newport through the choppy waters of fine dining during the pandemic.
In addition to all the above, Kelly told me their imminent plans include a Daily Grind Coffee truck and a pizza street food venture called Dough Boys. That’s a lot of new businesses!
Funnily enough, my favourite venue of Jamie’s was always the pub which adjoins the Newport restaurant. During the pandemic this became a very good wine shop but before that it served the most brilliant bar food.
A Saturday lunchtime pint, a seat in this lovely little bar and some of the best bar food you could ever hope for was a pretty good way to celebrate the weekend.
When the seafood shack returns to opening weekly in the spring, the bar will once again be used as a more casual dining space, should the weather be too inclement to eat outside. I look forward to that.
The thing about the Newport is it’s a serious restaurant in that it continues to offer either four or seven-course tasting menus – and that requires commitment, both from the chef and the customer.
It’s a commitment well worth making though, financially as well as culinarily, because the Newport brings something to Tayside dining that you just won’t get elsewhere. As such, Claire commented that she would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the food we enjoyed here and a recent meal she had at the Michelin-starred Restaurant Martin Wishart in Edinburgh.
Certainly, this food equalled the wonderful meal I recently enjoyed at Heron, a similar relaxed fine dining restaurant in Edinburgh.
That the food at the Newport is ace is indisputable but there’s so much else to appreciate here – not least the informality of this place and the fact that cooking at this level is available minutes from my house. For we locals this is something to treasure but it’s also great that the Newport draws a knowing, metropolitan crowd to our part of north-east Fife.
Notable suppliers are listed on the menu and I was delighted that Eassie sea kale was part of the seven-course menu, in a dish titled Our Humble Onion (clue: it’s anything but humble). Sea kale grown at Eassie by the inestimable Sandy Pattullo is one of the joys of this time of year and the fact that the season is so short makes it all the more of a thrill.
A dessert featuring forced Yorkshire rhubarb was similarly redolent of the transition from winter to spring.
The thing about the Newport and actually anywhere that does set/tasting menus is that you have to buy into the spirit of the occasion. It’s pointless coming here and wishing you could order a simple bowl of pasta – there are plenty of other places for that.
Choosing to come here requires a belief that what you’re going to be served has been considered and fine-tuned to such a degree that there’s nothing extraneous on your plate.
This isn’t just a chef showing off, even if he has every reason to do so – this is what Jamie Scott has decided is the best he has to offer at any given time of year. As such, coming here always feels like a treat, especially to a palate ground down by the sheer pedestrianism of much of the food on offer in and around Dundee.
The food
We chose the four-course tasting menu which is £45 (£80 with matching wines). A seven-course menu is also available (£115 with wine).
As a gale battered the windows of the restaurant, Claire and I settled down for a good catch-up, fuelled by some of the best food and service you could wish for.
A wood-burning stove warmed the small space which is simply decorated, because it’s really all about that spectacular view of the Tay.
If I say this lunch is good value you have to know that the four courses were supplemented by an array of extras.
We also chose to add an excellent Isle of Mull Cheddar Rarebit to our order and I would advise you to do the same.
Our meal started with delicious bread and crackers from the Newport Bakery served with butter from the Edinburgh butter company. From there it was a procession of delights, with as much artistry and innovation shown on Claire’s vegetarian menu as on mine.
We also chose to add an excellent Isle of Mull Cheddar Rarebit to our order and I would advise you to do the same.
Our meal started with delicious bread and crackers from the Newport Bakery served with butter from the Edinburgh butter company. From there it was a procession of delights, with as much artistry and innovation shown on Claire’s vegetarian menu as on mine.
It’s hard to choose highlights from a meal full of abundant riches but I very much enjoyed the veal and nori seaweed tart and the St Andrews cheddar cookie, while Claire’s fermented parsnip tart and celeriac taco encouraged sharing. A Lanark Blue cheese agnalotti with purple broccoli, Jerusalem artichoke, watercress and walnut was a thing of beauty.
My Peterhead monkfish with seaweed butter, braised leek, celeriac and roasted bone cream was absolutely delicious while Claire’s confit Crapaudine beetroot with braised salsify, kimchi, young cabbage, carrot and coal sauce was the proverbial picture on a plate.
My Peterhead monkfish with seaweed butter, braised leek, celeriac and roasted bone cream was absolutely delicious while Claire’s confit Crapaudine beetroot with braised salsify, kimchi, young cabbage, carrot and coal sauce was the proverbial picture on a plate.
Crapaudine beetroot, by the way, is the oldest beetroot variety still in existence, and tasted suitably earthy and delicious, as did the coal sauce which was made from caramelised vegetables, beetroot, tomato and coal emulsion.
My Clash Farm pork collar with kimchi emulsion, carrot, black cabbage and burnt apple was a joy to look at and an equal delight to eat.
After an excellent cheese course (£12 supplement) and THAT rarebit with espelette pepper and preserved plum (£8), our meal ended with Yorkshire forced rhubarb, blood orange, lemon verbena, woodruff and almond, as much a celebration of the seasons as you can hope for in February.
The verdict
It’s perhaps easy to take the Newport for granted, given that it’s now quite a well-established part of the Tayside dining scene.
We shouldn’t, because here we’re lucky enough to have a restaurant delivering food that can compete with the best in the country.
Information
Address: The Newport, 1 High Street, Newport on Tay, Fife, DD6 8AB
T: 01382 541449
W: thenewportrestaurant.co.uk
Price: Four-course menu £45, seven-course menu £65
Scores:
- Food: 5/5
- Service: 5/5
- Surroundings: 5/5
