Blasda are delighted to have the involvement of Carina Contini, who runs Centotre cafe on George Street and the Scottish Cafe & Restaurant at the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh. While the Contini family are famous for bringing amazing Italian food culture to Scotland, she is ever-more committed to understanding and celebrating Scottish food culture and heritage (read all about their plans in this interview with Herald food write Cate Devine).  Both restaurants will be featuring special Blasda menus in September, more details soon.

Carina writes:

8 years ago we opened Centotre with the view to bring fresh simple Italian cooking to Edinburgh city centre.  Italy’s food industry has been very clever at shouting about how good its produce and food heritage is.  The  joy of opening The Scottish Cafe &  Restaurant at The Scottish National Gallery 3 years ago was our opportunity to celebrate Scotland wonderful food and food traditions.  For both restaurants we buy from over 70 artisan producers. Peelham Farm, Cuddybridge Apple Juice, Mull Scallops, Lanark Blue, Loch Arthur, Hoods of Ormiston, Phantassie Fruit and Vegetables, Findlays of Portobello, Burnside Farm, Grahams Dairy, Summer Harvest, Hebridean Salt and loads of artisan beers, cider and whiskey to name but a few.  We only use fresh fish landed at Scottish ports and all our beef, game and poultry is Scottish.  Supporting our local economy and small scale producers is key to our brand and making the best sustainable choice guides our buying policy.  This year we even started our own Kitchen Garden five miles from Edinburgh.  We love cooking traditional family recipes.  Fresh Simple Cooking using the best Scottish Larder.   Blasda in conjunction with Scotland Food & Drink Fortnight is a perfect opportunity to showcase all the hard work and pride that our suppliers and our team have in these very special ingredients.  It’s the perfect time of year to show Scotland at its best.