Hospitality pulses through Tony Crolla’s veins. I first met the restaurateur 21 years ago and remember our early conversations about heritage and carbonara.
The son of Italian immigrants, Tony took the reins of the family business Vittoria on the Walk from his father Alberto in 1993. The flagship Italian restaurant has always served proper Italian food. Now Tony has handed the keys of the Vittoria Group which has added Vittoria’s on the Bridge, Brunswick Book Club, Taste of Italy Cafe, Divino Enoteca, Berties proper Fish & Chips, and soon Landy's restaurant, to the third generation, sons Leandro and Alberto.
But he still has that glint in his eye, indicating a hand remains on the rudder.
Divino Enoteca, the wine bar he opened in 2009 has always been ‘Tony’s bambino’. He described it to me on opening as “the sort of place that me and my wife Angela like to hang out in.”
The elegant enoteca is tucked away underneath George IV Bridge just off the grassmarket. It's an almost secret location but descend the steps from cobbled Merchant Street and you enter a warm wine cellar of soft lighting, polished surfaces, jazzy fabrics, clinking glasses and delicious Italian food. The lily is gilded in late November by festive decorations that are ‘tipico’ of ‘Natale’. Red, gold, green and blue baubles, a wreath-swaddled fireplace, and a Christmas harlequin that overlooks our sumptuous cushioned corner table.
I am fresh from bingeing series four of My Brilliant Friend, the HBO adaptation of the Neapolitan saga by Elena Ferrante and my dining partner is my brilliant friend Eleonora, so I have my Italian vibe well and truly on.
For antipasti, I choose Polenta with Wild Mushrooms and Italian Sausage and it is creamy and comforting, with a fragrant ragu. Our waiter recommends a bottle of Etna composed from the Sicilian grape Nerello Mascalese where the vines grow on the eponymous volcanic slopes. Fruitiness is tempered with vegetal, herbaceous notes and it is soft and light as a pinot noir. Eleanora has a typical Piedmont cheese, Tomino, wrapped in speck and served with brandy and orange glazed chicory. The antipasti are traditional, hearty, peasant dishes made surprisingly light and refined by Sicilian chef Andrea Calistro.
I chose a main course from the primi pasta menu, Pacceri alla Eoliana aka large pasta tubes, tossed with chopped king prawns, sweet and sour red onion, cherry tomato, capers, olives and lobster bisque. Robust Mediterranean flavours with al dente pasta cooked fresh. To my shame when our server Harriet comes to take away Eleanora’s dish and she has left some of her Guancia al Merlot, Beef Cheek slowly braised with Merlot red wine rosemary and nutmeg mashed potatoes, I gently stop her saying “I think I will eat that!”. We both agree that the soft, rich, tender meat is irresistible. It is just that Eleanora is more restrained than greedy me.
Orange and almond cake is a favourite and we have it with two spoons. Eleonora comments that she feels the squiggles of cream on top of the sponge are a concession to British taste buds and I probably agree; the citrus flavours in the cake, mousse and gel are enough and I love the scorched orange segments.
Divino is a treat and the attention to detail is apparent throughout - from the innovative enoteca machine that lets you sample wines without oxidation and waste (there are over 40 wines available in three measures), to the live but unobtrusive jazz and swing music that often complements your meal.
And as I eat I keep hearing the late doyen of hospitality Ken McCulloch’s quote rattling around in my head “Success is the sum of many small things correctly done”.
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