Superman has always been my superhero. I was 8, and can still remember the feeling listening to the soundtrack from the original film at the Odeon on South Clerk Street. The image of the recharge when our hero heads up above the clouds is genius.
Well, that’s how all of you make team Contini feel. Like superman recharged in the sun. Thank you! Grazie! You are our sunshine and you have recharged us with all the wonderful comments and encouragement that we so greatly appreciate.
I’ve loved talking to you all and I now feel, more than ever, that these emails are like sending a letter to a dear friend.
Us humans adapt don’t we? And we’re all adapting very well to our new service style. Thank you all for your help in making this work.
Everyone has been so dressed up and looking so glamorous. With less covers the pace has been a little slower and more considered. We are all appreciating the excitement of dining out. The word appreciation has been used so much. I really hope this ripples wide and deep and, despite the hardships we’ve all had to suffer, this new world adjusts and keeps a more healthy balance in the future.
This week has been interesting hearing your feedback and it’s clear that not all restaurants and bars are doing the same things. Some of you have asked why we haven’t been temperature checking on arrival as some venues are doing this. Hotels, as we understand, have to do this but there are conflicting guidelines around temperature checks in restaurants however we feel it may be added at a later stage. We are working with Dr Paul Nelson of Fever Free Streets and we hope to be part of a new Covid-19 management pilot scheme of which we will share details with you over the coming weeks.
The “We’re Good To Go” accreditation system that we are working with has been drafted by Visit Scotland and Visit England and is self assessed at the moment. We are pleased to hear that it will most likely be formally assessed over the coming months. We really welcome this as we believe consistency will support confidence across the hospitality sector and support a better recovery.
Our updated seasonal menu changes will be live tomorrow, Tuesday. The restaurant and Contini at Home will now be running Tuesday to Saturday.
Tagliata on the menu in the restaurant, 8oz Inverurie 32 day aged beef with fresh chanterelle, parsley, a little garlic and fresh chili. Welch’s lobster now with spaghettini with daterini tomatoes is delicious. For dessert we have one of my favourites (I know I say that often but we only ever give you the dishes we love) roasted hazelnut and Italian apricot torta.
For Contini at Home we’re making a lovely vegetarian lasagne this month with roasted Sicilian violet aubergine which are in season and make the best vegetarian lasagne. It’s actually my favourite (there’s another one) variation on a classic.
We hope to have some good news to share about The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant ‘s opening in August and we’re working with The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo to bring you a very special Tattoo at Home package with a beautiful three course Cannonball Restaurant at home dining experience for you to enjoy. We will be able to send this nationwide with some post code restrictions, launching later this week and ready for delivery on the 7th August. We’ll keep you posted.
Keep well and keep safe.
Carina, Victor and all the Contini team
