… forget the pun. From brain injury to walking again, from recovery to innovation, high heels have always been part of my story, a symbol of freedom and identity.
My high heel journey….
As u had to relearn how to walk entirely from scratch, this project feels especially personal. From those first steps in the wheelchair, to exploring what high heels mean to my identity, to examining current examples of smart or SET shoes — this work embodies everything that truly matters to me.
Today I tried @hauteDolci for some furl. I was in @StJamesQuater in my home town, Edinburgh, and needed something to eat (being a diabetic, needs must).
Staff; fantastic. Beautiful setting with lovely views.
But don’t let the word “haute” mislead you. A somewhat attractive menu: I chose truffle salad to fit the theme. I tasted no truffle. I could do better at home. Poorly seasoned as well.
Nice presentation, and as said, brilliant setting. You can really tell where their investment went. Not the chef chill/menu design. A boring gastronomical disaster.
Appealing deserts, I avoided deserts though, too much sugar.
Overwhelming feeling: could do better.
All the style, no substance.
The diabetic restaurant reviews return!
This is in Edinburgh, in Stockbridge. Address :
The Scran & Scallie
1 Comely Bank Road
Stockbridge
Edinburgh EH4 1DR
Tom Kitchin’s Edinburgh restaurant may not deserve its Michelin star…
To see the menu is in the pictures. The staff were very polite, the venue was lovely, too.
Sadly 2 downsides, though;
1: the dish I chose was a special, so not on the menu, albeit I did get some vegetable crisps to carb compensate What I did choose was probably a poor choice; pickled herring. It came with some rye bread which had a beautiful gingerbread flavour, and the added salad was nice. The main objective of a restaurant, should be good food. I’m not reviewing it to be poorly cooked, but probably poorly researched what the market would like?
2: the menu is stupid. Totally confusing, to fool you into paying more than what you expected, after you ate it.
See if you can initially understand what is going on:
Poor menu design, particularly for the target market. Beautiful presentation though:
Again, NOTHING(like most high end restaurants) about the nutrition.
Edinburgh’s answer to Gordon Ramsay, this restaurant has a nice ambiance & has a great, central location (on St Andrew Square) but every member is über lovely. But not in a patronising way.
Not hugely creative, but a lot more than other restaurants, & offers a mix of classics (like Beef Wellington) & fish &. chips, to more innovative poké & sushi. Much
Asian dishes on the menu. Although it holds the Ramsey name to advertise it, it doesn’t have such a gastronomic theme. Again, nothing on the nutritional information.
For my food, however, I had a duck salad (see menu). It was tasty, has few carbs & an Asian theme with the addition of mooli.
The only addition of a QR code involved advertisement & quicker easier ordering. This method must be a left over of the effect of the pandemic to this industry
I’d really desire to see QR codes used in a more relevant way, to start with. This can then aspire to information transferred using NFDs (near field devices).
Nice, mid market food. Modern ambience. Friendly staff, nothing regarding the nutrition though.
I see a trend here, that needs to be addressed.
Review; yummy, lovely, nice staff, better than average. Nothing very outstanding, & nothing regarding nutrition. I chose the safe, carb light option using assumption. BHL was 9.1 on leavi.
Why I tried this was because I was told they used ample WR codes, which really interests me. My idea is to provide nutritional information using QR codes…. Sadly this doesn’t suit the “classic” style most restaurants have though. Majorly, this industry is focussed on the “art” of cooking, not the data being it.
So for this, it took ages to get there, the food was substandard, the decor was “pub-like” & there was a dog, barking there, owned by a customer. This, for me, ruined the atmosphere.
An odd mix, but basically nothing of what attracted me there (the QRs). This was introduced as a method to adapt to “social distancing”, a great way to reduce the need of physical contact. Many modern restaurants have introduced this as a way to order. Pity that here didn’t carry on, or adapt this. They just kept the old fashioned style.
This is very subjective, I know. But certainly not what I like.
My main USP is reviewing restaurants as a diagnostic. No attractive of the food, rubbish atmosphere & “old-school” (obviously “pub grub”). Below is a picture of the menu, I had the risotto which didn’t fill me, so with side salad which had pomegranate, didn’t mention that on the menu. Ample fructose though, if I knew I would have reached.
The pomegranates may have been the guilty party of why I left with high (& riding) BGL.
It may have been because I stopped off for a tequila shot on the way back, but this made me happy, & very dancy.
Very out-of-trend, to go to a hotel to try the restaurant alone (and not an illicit rendezvous), but this was solely for researching this novel form of gathering customer feedback (what they made up with in this method, they lacked in quality)
To do so, they had a QR code on the menu; shows they’re modern, and modern. With this novel method, they can’t have used this feedback well as they lacked in quality.
The QR offered only calorie amounts, not any other nutrient information. And it didn’t even work in giving me the calories… maybe I was just being stupid but seriously lacking ease of use. It only led to hotter deals;
The staff were lovely, the ambiance was average expected, the food was obviously hotel food.
I had the “hearty teriyaki”. Which, again, was average. It ted on to the biological pleasure centres food gives you; good amount of salt, sweet enough but not too sweet. But was cooked rather poorly: broccoli much overdone, as was the couscous (but I like mine ardent rather than floppy) and salmon overcooked.
A good thing (especially for diabetics) is this the first place (so far) including cauliflower couscous. So no carbs!
In conclusion; novelty or quality?
They capitalised on QR mania, but I suggest use that customer feedback to improve quality.
Novelty or quality….?
Chocolate…. Not so great with your diabetic though.
But the film “Wonka” really makes you smile. I won’t write a synopsis, just trust you’ll take my word. It did really mean me smile. Great storytelling and much entertainment.
Surprise cameos from Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Grant, and lovely backstory about chocolate cartels.
But not too much about nutrition or ingredients/how it’s made. Apart from the fantastic ways Wonka makes his chocolates.
Some facts about chocolate;
it’s very nutritious (with big amounts of cocoa, much fibre and minerals including potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and selenium, and also has good, oil based fats. It contains stimulants like caffeine and theobromine too),
Many antioxidants (dark has higher amounts of cocoa where all the goodie flavanols are. These are antioxidants that prevent problems with heart health).
Improves blood flow and lowers blood pressure (this property is when the ingredient endothelial nitric oxide (NO) which lowers your blood pressure)
Reduces the risk of heart disease (A flavonoids subtype called flavanols which, again, lowers heart disease. Funnily enough, studies found a smaller risk of insulin resistance and high blood pressure [mustn’t account for how dense it is in sugar….)
Relevant to my brain damage it improves brain function (mproves brain function: Flavonols in dark chocolate have a positive impact on brain function, including better reaction time, visual-spatial awareness and stronger memory. Though research is ongoing, one reason for this may be that flavonols increase blood flow to the brain.
Aside from the chocolate theme, very uplifting and interesting.
“Every good thing in this world started with a dream, so you hold onto yours”
As a diabetic, I subconsciously avoid carbs. It should be well balanced to my insulin, I know. But because it’s such an extra effort, I try to get the lowest amount of carbs, saving me doing the calculation.
I’ve been here, the “Huxley” at the Rutland hotel, several times before. So as they must’ve impressed me, as I’m returning. Also, I’ve worked out, already, which dishes will suit me.
Sadly, the menu is heavily hot dog affiliated. So, too many carbs in the bun. Salad for Leuty, I guess.
I have already tried some of the salads, and found some I like, which works nicely with my 3 units of novorapid. These include:
Superfood sales (couscous (carrots), tomatoes (fructose), almonds, radish, watercress, chimichirri dressing) as I keep having it again and again, I enjoy the flavours, pairings and presentation. It is not carb heavy so it doesn’t affect my BGL much, and doesn’t leave me getting too full.
Beetroot, feta and watercress salad (sherry vinegar, reduction) again, good reaction of my BGL as this has no carbs. Beautiful flavour pairings again. Mystery of ingredients in dressing, tastes nice, results nutritionally amenable.
Two dish courses are salads so not very filling, and very carb light. So… PUDDING.
I. J. Melis Scottish cheese selection (homemade oatcakes, porridge crackers, grapes, tomato chutney) safe selection of deserts is cheese selection; no carbs in most cheese and this appears on most menus. The accompanies are the treacherous ones which need the carb counting. The grapes are fairly standard 0.5g per grape, having about 7 to make up for the lack of carbs in previous dishes.
Beautiful food, mid-range price. Nice atmosphere. Well paired flavours. Again, NO nutritional information accessible.
It may (most likely) or may not be blatantly obvious I am currently sans emploi (without job), and hate it. So… I did a masters, completed it. And now want something to focus my energy on. So I’m investing my time into developing a business proposal….
This will take 2 things central to my life:
1) i love eating out (seen in recent blog posts, recently). Very harsh reviews, but aim to inspire how to improve.
2) I’m type 1 diabetic (very common, where 1 in 11 of the population has it). Reviews from a metabolic disabled person which gives insight in the nutrition of the ingredients and how it’ll affect the customer (most chefs are solely interested in the flavour of the dish but few know much about the nutritional values)
This is a skill which diabetics must learn, . Diabetic or not, this should also be made imperative for restaurants to provide this information, and to follow the trend of inclusion.