Review: Sotto, Edinburgh

Nothing epitomises the upturn in Stockbridge’s fortunes like the arrival of stylish Italian enoteca-trattoria Sotto, says Richard Bath

It’s all change in Stockbridge, within living memory a down-at-heel working-class suburb of Edinburgh but now one of the most up-and-coming and desirable places to live not just in the capital but in the whole of the UK.

The change in its fortunes has seen enormous change, not least through the explosion of artisan bakeries, chichi cafes and a stellar collection of charity shops.

Fortunately, most of its landmark pubs remain, but when it comes to restaurants the area’s most iconic and longstanding eateries have fallen one by one.

The cult classic Spud-u-Like went a few years ago, and was recently followed by the two main remnants of times passed, with the tiny but much loved Bell’s Diner giving way to the Stockbridge Eating House, which has been garnering rave reviews (ours will follow in a couple of weeks) while the Ping-On Chinese restaurant also disappeared.

If Bell’s Diner was an institution at which I worshipped intermittently over the decades, Ping-On was well-known for dispensing very average food and upset tummies in equal measure. All three of my kids once succumbed to the latter on a family outing, so for the past fourteen years we’ve all given the site a wide berth.

That has all changed with Ping-On’s recent demise and its replacement with Sotto, a stylish two-storey wine bar and restaurant created by Edinburgh-born sommelier James Clark.

Formerly the general manager of Divino Enoteca and front of house for The Palmerston, Clark also spent time as a wine-producer in Australia, a CV which has shaped his new venture, and in particular the top floor of Sotto, which is a bright, noisy 25-cover enoteca (wine bar) serving drink and light bites.

Downstairs in the basement at Sotto – which literally means “under” – Clark’s love of Italian food comes to the fore with a 36-cover trattoria and a cellar containing over 200 wines from every corner of Italy (plus a smattering of outstanding Aussies).

The head chef is a Calabrian, Francesco Ascrizzi, who has worked at well-known fine dining destinations Mark Greenaway and The Plumed Horse, but more importantly served his time at three of the capital’s best Italian restaurants, Divino Enoteca, Mono and Tipo, so there’s some pedigree there.

From the restaurant’s name to the décor to the wine list and the menu, this place is authentically Italian. In fact, most of the staff are Italian, and so keen to discuss the merits of their home nation’s cuisine that navigating both the menu and the wine list is something of a doddle.

Not that it was ever going to be hugely problematic – my parents were in love with la dolce vita, and through annual holidays on the Adriatic I quickly absorbed their devotion to Italian cuisine.

The first entry on the menu – taggiasca olives from Liguria mixed with nocellara olives from Sicily (£4) – was a sign that the menu would range across the whole country. Focaccia with ‘nduja butter (£4.50) and gorgonzola with honey and walnuts (£7) completed the opening salvo of what would be a hugely enjoyable meal.

Having eased ourselves into the meal, we proceeded with two antipasti. The gnocco fritto – a street food which should have been invented in Scotland as it’s basically fried dough – is a favourite of mine (£12), and paired with two nicely understated flavours in mortadella and the soft white cheese stracciatella, it worked well (we sidestepped the rocket). The second dish of cured wild bass with sweet red tropea onions, pine nuts and curly endive (£10) was equally assured.

Our primi dishes were a mixed bunch. I usually love mushrooms but found the tagliatelle al funghi porcini (£17) almost oleagenous and disappointingly underflavoured. That setback, however, was more than atoned for by a memorable dish of orecchiette salsicca (£17), a rich, meaty variation on the classic Apulian pasta, which is made with pork sausage, bitter greens and al dente orecchiette

But by far the best dish we had was the guancia di mazo (£25), the Veronese speciality of beef cheeks braised in Amarone wine and served with puréed potatoes. With a deep, rich sauce, achingly tender meat and lusciously silky potatoes, this wonderful dish pushed all the right buttons and is enough to keep me coming back on its own. We also had the fish of the day – a perfectly cooked tuna steak (£17) which was nevertheless put firmly in the shade by the beef cheeks.

Pudding was a rather muted affair. The lemon granita (£5) was a good palate cleanser, but the brioche which accompanied my (very good) pistachio ice cream was a little too heavy for my taste (£7). If I had reservations about pudding (I rarely eat pudding in Italy, unless it’s ice cream), there were no such misgivings about a wine list which gave a surprisingly large selection by the glass and which clearly flagged up organic and biodynamic wines.

In case you couldn’t tell, we enjoyed our evening at Sotto sufficiently that we’ll need to come back and try the rest of the menu. In that regard, as in so many others, Sotto is definitely a substantial upgrade on the Ping-On.

Sotto, 28-32 Deanhaugh Street, Edinburgh, EH4 1LY. 

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