Issue Nine · Page 142Autumn and Winter 2024–25 · page 142Eastfield, Dundee.
Beautiful like pasta
WordsEmily Rose MawsonPhotographyClaire Fleck
Photograph · Claire Fleck
"Food on plates and coffee in cups" is new Dundee café Eastfield’s Insta bio statement. It gets across the simplicity offered by owner Harris McNeill – the former head chef at Perthshire’s foodie destination Ballintaggart. But his interpretations of the season’s highest quality ingredients speak for themselves.
“I’m very relaxed so hopefully this comes through?” checks Harris McNeill. It’s a preface to his answers about Eastfield, his new café with a forest-green frontage, “jammed between the university and the top of Perth Road” in Dundee. Chalkboards propose breakfasts, lunches, small starters and mains, but the menu changes daily, weekly and monthly because the former Ballintaggart head chef talks to his “amazing suppliers to see what’s best and what’s delicious”. There will always be some sort of pasta, though: “I love the simplicity of it, but how a few ingredients can be so complex. I love the imperfection of it.” It is, says Harris, “just like Eastfield.”
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Roast Potato and Herb Gnocchi.
This little recipe is a simple and great entry pasta dish for cooking at home. I’ve got two little kids and they love getting involved with the mashing and rolling side of the gnocchi. Pasta is a staple at Eastfield and there will always be some type on the menu. The glutenous hug from pasta can’t be beaten. With this recipe, aim for about one potato per person and this will be ample enough.
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