A new Edinburgh restaurant will take over the closed L’escargot Blanc on Queensferry Road, offering the best of Scottish seafood.
Dean Banks will be opening prats of his new Edinburgh restaurant and bar Dulse, this month, with a laid back feel, cocktail and wine bar downstairs and the upstairs restaurant serving a range of dishes from Scottish seafood, to classic dishes modernised with eastern fusion.
It will be taking over for the beloved but now closed L’escargot Blanc, after the owners announced that they would not reopen their doors after nearly 20 years in business after a series of issues caused by the lockdowns.
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The bar will open June 28 at 5pm, with the restaurant opening at the end of July, so this week locals can enjoy small plates and cocktails before the main event kicks off in a month.
Instead, Dean Banks will be adding to his growing restaurant portfolio with the new Dulse. Featuring his own drinks brands Mond Vodka and Lunun Gin in starring roles in their cocktail menu as well as fine wines for all tastes.
Alongside his other restaurants including The Pompadour in Edinburgh and Harr in St Andrews, Dulse will give locals the perfect opportunity to enjoy Dean’s cooking in a more informal setting, with a menu that has a wider range of prices.
Dean said: "Dean said: “Dulse is my neighbourhood-friendly restaurant in Edinburgh - I would like to be diverse in the city and have a great offering for people at different price ranges. This is your home away from home, welcome to my house. I'm going to hero Scottish seafood, doing classic takes on dishes, modernising them in my style of Eastern fusion with Mediterranean influences too.
“Dulse obviously is seaweed, it is a lovely, beautiful purple seaweed, foraged all over the Northern hemisphere, we get it in Fife and all over Scotland. Pepper dulse is nicknamed the truffle of the ocean because it’s very hard to find but it is so full of umami - that's what I do with my cooking. If anyone would like to try my food, umami is what I do.
“I just want simple Scottish food served in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere where you can kick back, have a glass of wine or a cocktail with friends and the best seafood in the world. It's not going to be fussy, it's not going to be fine dining, it's not going to be anything that is going to make people feel uncomfortable. You can rock up after work, you can rock up in shorts, you can rock up in a t-shirt, you can rock up in whatever you feel comfortable.
“This is our neighbourhood local spot, people-friendly, star-friendly restaurant and we want to see regular faces weekly, come in and grab a plate of langoustine or oysters or some beautiful North Sea Halibut, plates of veg that we are going to be getting from our farm, plates of sauteed mushrooms, were talking really simple foods, using the best produce we have at hand in our country."
He continued: “We are opening the downstairs wine bar and cocktail bar first with small plate offerings like oysters, the langoustines, same day boat squid from Scotland tempura-style.
“Dulse just fits into our group perfectly next to Haar and The Pompadour. We are definitely offering a more medium pricing level with small bites starting from £3 and a main course will be about £28. You will get oysters at £3 each and we will have some other small snacks. I have a good range of pricing for people to come in and enjoy – downstairs you can just have wine and oysters if you want.
“When we open the restaurant in July it is not classic starter, mains, desserts, we have desserts but it is all small plates, sharing plates. Come and share and enjoy food, have a laugh with your friends, just have a good time and don't have to feel stuffy or anything like that. Get a full belly, have a merry and great time or a memorable time with your loved ones and friends, just have good fun.”
To celebrate the launch of the new menu, there will be 50 per cent off all food at Dulse, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week.
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