March 7, 2015; a date for the diary
I had a fine time last night at a dinner hosted by Ian Rankin and Mark Greenaway, in the latter’s multi-rosetted restaurant at 69 North Castle Street, Edinburgh. The intimate event was the precursor to a much larger project, ‘The Big Dinner’, the brainchild of the wonderful Olivia Giles, CEO of the charity ‘500 Miles’, which supplies artificial limbs and other prosthetics to amputees in Zambia and Malawi.
‘The Big Dinner’ will take place on March 7, when thousands of people will sit down to eat at venues all around the country, with the goal of raising at least £500,000, to get people back on their feet. To be part of this unique and exciting evening, follow this link:
Last night was part of the preparation for the project. Its purpose will become clear as the promotion of ‘The Big Dinner’ is rolled out over the next few months. All I’ll say for now is that there were five writers round the table, the other guests being that formidably talented trio, Lin Anderson, Hardeep Singh Kohli, and Sara Sheridan, all of us being filmed and interviewed as we enjoyed the work of the real star of the evening, Chef Mark.
For example, this is his Chicken and Potato Pressé,
complemented by beetroot meringue, pickled heritage plums, goats cheese parfait and bread tuille.
If you’d like to try it, this is where you’ll find it and the rest of his unique and imaginative Scottish menu:
There was much interesting conversation: (the best of it wasn’t recorded). My only regret is that I was driving, for I know a good wine by its nose.
Note the date again: March 7, 2015.
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