Edinburgh Food Studio

Edinburgh-raised chef and food explorer Ben Reade and partner Sashana Souza Zanella, an anthropologist and chef, are creating the Edinburgh Food Studio as the centre of their journeys into cooking, eating, tasting, discovering and researching Scotland's food. From late October 2015, the studio will be open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings for a fixed-menu dinner around communal tables which they hope will evolve into collaborative ventures with guest chefs, artists and musicians. The space will be used during the rest of the week for master classes, tastings and mini conferences ranging from fermentation or butchery workshops to sessions focussing on research for their proposed online journal. Reade was previously based in Copenhagen as head of Research & Development at the Nordic Food Lab, and was one half of the pop-up Scratch Series restaurant in Edinburgh in early 2015. Both Reade and Zanella are graduates of the Slow Food inspired University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy.

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You’ll need to book ahead at the Edinburgh Food Studio – a restaurant just three nights a week, but the food itself is gloriously spontaneous. The set tasting menu depends on the season, what’s in flower and what’s been foraged from local hedgerows and markets. Then it’s down to the mood of owner-chefs Ben Reade and Sashana Souza Zanella, and whether there’s a Michelin-starred guest chef in the kitchen that week. There could be razor clams in broth with fiery radish sprouts, pink purslane and hedge garlic followed by sunflower seed risotto or the juiciest pork belly in a beautifully reduced sauce with rhubarb. Pudding could be anything from a lovage granita to an old-fashioned Scottish flummery – a milky jelly with oats. Not knowing is all part of the fun as you share the experience with fellow diners across a wide communal table. One constant is the sheer verve and creativity of the cooking, and a quirky, well-conceived wine list that could do with a few more local beers.

• High point: The excitement of not knowing what's coming next
• Low point: Communal dinner party-style dining won't suit everyone
• Notable dish: Ravioli salad with bergamot and rapeseed

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