I visited this stylish Edinburgh bakery for a cute and quirky pop-up dinner
Get the tram to Edinburgh Park for this event
I love kids’ films.
The only thing that spoils them is the presence of children.
Usually, I am distracted by doling out snacks, nagging them to sit in their seats and hoping they don’t need to go to the loo as the film reaches its narrative crescendo.
The Pixar classic animation Ratatouille (2007) is a good case in point. I have seen it, but only in interrupted bursts, as I watched it with my nieces when they were wee.
Anyway, considering it is nearly 20 years old, there are lots of young adults who probably have nostalgic feelings for this flick. Some of them joined me at a special Taste Film experience, which takes place at Edinburgh bakery and restaurant Patina out at Edinburgh Park. They’ve held similar screenings in London and Manchester.
As fast as Ratatouille goes, they will be located here throughout May, showing this film, with an in-sync seven-course menu to match.
We whizzed there from Leith on the tram in a very smugly speedy 30 minutes.
Inside, and the modern space, with its Art Deco-esque bar, is perfectly decked out, with French bistro vibes. We bag a table pour deux right at the front.
The one hour and 51 minute film is projected onto a big screen, and virtual grub is made real, like magique.
First up is a liquid course - the When Life Gives You Lemons cocktail, which needs a good muddle and swizzel, but is summery and spritzy, with lemon and lavender. It is topped by halved strawberries and cheddar cheese chunks on a toothpick. This is in reference to an early scene, where Remi tries to extol the virtues of flavour to his chonky friend, Emile, who is more into quantity over quality.
I think I might have drifted off after that bit, as I am slightly blindsided by the next course. However, my other half tells me that Struck By Genius is so-called because Remi the rat was cooking a mushroom at some point. Indeed, there’s a Portobello mushie topped with tomme de savoie cheese and breadcrumbs, with rocket underneath. This is pleasant, though I do find myself looking for some salt. Also, this comes with a little Kilner bottle of lemonade, and a dropper bottle of saffron extract. “Add one or two drops to the drink,” we are told. Why? I don’t know. I think I’ve lost the plot.
“It’s because the mouse was looking for saffron,” said my husband.
“The rat you mean?”.
“Yes”.
The next dish, Compliments to the Chef, is probably my favourite. It’s based on Remi’s delicious soup, which, ironically, impresses a critic, Anton Ego. I really enjoy all the scenes with this reptilian and sickly-looking restaurant reviewer, since he doesn’t have a cameraphone and isn’t taking video. Ah, true nostalgia. Notebooks! I remember those happy days.
Anyway, this option is a pleasant little portion of moss green leek and potato soup in a copper cocotte, with croutons and Parmesan, and tiny tongs on the side, so you can do some fiddly DIY application. It also comes with a minuscule shallow wooden spoon, so it takes forever to eat. Well, that’s what I thought, until my other half flagged up that this was for distributing the cheese, and we had alternative cutlery for soup. Doh.
The next course is in reference to a key scene in the film, when a take on ratatouille - or “rat patootie” as character Django calls it - is served, and blows away all the customers in the restaurant Gusteau’s. They are wowed by the elevation of a peasant dish. In Patina, this is a small and simple plateful of slow cooked lamb, with tomato sauce, the sliced tomatoes and courgette, and a truffled and breadcrumbed “sweetbread”, which is slightly chewy and doesn’t taste of much.
It’s all sugary from now onwards, with an excellently named Critic’s Displeasure, which is a brandy and orange injected red wine cobbler, served in a cute branded bottle. I drink mine, and my husband’s. Then two desserts - a petit and chilled Pantry Pandemonium creme brulee with halved grapes and thyme, then the Gateautouille almond and orange rectangle of sponge, with green apple and plum layers on top, and some cream on the side.
This is nice enough. However, I’m a bit sad that this is my first time at Patina, which is known for its amazing pastries, and I’m not getting to sample their finest goodies. I know they are better than this.
Anyway, we had fun. I enjoyed watching the entirety of the film in child-free peace and it felt like a very wholesome way to spend an evening.
However, if I was to put my Anton Ego hat on, I’d say that the overly plain food was nothing more than okay.
As the surprisingly sage Remy says, “If you are what you eat, then I only want to eat the good stuff”.
Taste Film presents Ratatouille, Patina (3 Airborne Place, New Park Square, Edinburgh, £99.50, www.tastefilm.co.uk
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