Trust the chef – would you let a stranger pick what you are paying to eat for dinner?
Nico Simeone will be asking guests to do just that and leave the decision of what they should have to him, discovers Sean Murphy
Widely considered to be one of Scotland’s most innovative chefs, Nico Simeone has introduced Glasgow and Edinburgh to some truly exciting culinary concepts through his popular venture Six By Nico.
Now the Glasgow-based chef is launching a new dining experience at his original eatery, 111 by Nico, with guests dining at the west end restaurant encouraged to sit back and ‘trust the chef ’ to provide them with a range of delicious seasonal favourites – without the option of choosing from a menu.
The TRUST experience begins with an amuse bouche highlighting local ingredients, followed by a fivecourse tasting menu where guests will be able to enjoy individual courses such as pasta, lamb, asparagus or fish, before finishing with a decadent dessert.
Each and every visit will see a different meal served with the options set to be hugely varied and limited only by the seasonal produce available, a list of 12 ingredients chosen by the individual diners, and the chef ’s own creativity.
Described as an “immersive experience” that will run from July 5th, TRUST will see the team of chefs deciding the courses that are served to a customer rather than the customer ordering from a pre-written menu.
Nico Simeone said: “The first and most important element of this new dining experience is the expression of trust. It’s not simply saying, ‘I don’t care what you give me,’ instead, it tells our chefs that the customer trusts their judgment about the current seasonal produce available to them and what the best courses could be at that particular moment.”
The concept is a popular method in Japanese dining, where patrons at sushi restaurants leave the selection to the chef, as opposed to ordering à la carte. The Japanese call this “omakase”, which loosely translates as “trust in the chef ”.
Simeone explained that these chefs will generally present a series of plates, beginning with the lightest fare and proceeding to the heaviest dishes, and that TRUST at 111 by Nico will emulate this idea with seasonally available ingredients.
He said: “Our team of chefs are always finding creative, interesting ways to work with ingredients that will not only excite them but our guests too.
“In recent years the food scene has seen the rise of multiple cuisines and with TRUST we can explore these food trends and present them as part of a tasting menu to our customers.”
TRUST will be priced at £25 per person and the 12 ingredients listed on each menu card will change on the first of every month.
As part of the experience, Simeone and the team say they will choose and design drinks that will enhance and complimentthetrustmenu,sourcing fine wines from around the world, beers from local craft breweries, and spirits from independent whisky and gin distilleries.
Nico added: “Its important for us to offer an affordable dining experience without compromising on taste or portion size. A dining out experience doesn’t have to break the bank and with this five-course tasting menu, we want to create a unique menu set within an unpretentious environment for people of all ages and backgrounds to enjoy.”
Six By Nico creates a new menu every six weeks and has gone through a number of themes since opening their first restaurant site in Glasgow’s Finnieston area last year, ranging from Childhood to New York and Disney, and opening in Edinburgh with The Chippie theme menu in March 2018,
The newest concept, Mexico, will combine elements of contemporary Mexican street food and ancient culinary classics to provide guests with a taste of the central American country’s flavourful history.