Restaurant Chez Christophe

The Auld Alliance is alive and well if Chez Christophe is anything to go by, offering a union of French cuisine with the best of Scottish produce. It is tiny, out of all comparison with the clout it packs, just sixteen covers, but this only serves to enhance the illusion that you are dining in somebody's home. A handsome town house built in the local stone, the restaurant looks the part before you even enter. The menu is changed twice-yearly.

After a pre-starter comes a choice of five starters with perhaps panfried Stornoway black pudding and duck confit, topped with caramelised apples, on a puff pastry pillow, dressed with a lemon oil vinaigrette. It is refreshing to see black pudding taking its place as what it has always been, a nutritious delicacy. Soup takes on a new dimension with cream of fresh petit pois and layers of asparagus tips, with poached mozzarella and spinach ravioli.

A fish course follows and Christophe Magie loses no opportunity to exploit the wonderful seafood for which Scotland is rightly celebrated. Look for the roasted fillet of John Dory and chorizo on a bed of buttered leeks dressed with its own shallot and balsamic vinegar jus. The renowned beef of Scotland comes in the form of extra mature Aberdeen Angus topped with confites shallots and supported by a traditional gratin Dauphinois.

After a pre-dessert sweetener the list of puddings is headed in the French style with a selection of French cheeses that will rock the connoisseur before proceeding to, say, a warm dark chocolate coulant gateaux served with a vanilla and mascarpone ice cream.

Service is, as you would rightly expect, impeccable, once again a combination of Scots natural charm and training with French culinary expertise. The wine list is proudly and exclusively French and invites attention from the most demanding enthusiasts of wine.

I trust the inhabitants of Scotland and its visitors realise just how very fortunate they are.