Cooked by fire. Finished by ember.

Seven courses from an open hearth in Edinburgh's Old Town. Fourteen seats, one fire, one sitting a night.

Before the pan, before the stove, there was a ring of stones and a question: how close can you hold something to the flame before it becomes something else? We built HEARTH to keep asking. No gas, no electricity in the kitchen. Birch, oak and beech, split each morning, burned down to a live bed of coals by six. Your dinner is timed to the life of that fire, from first roar to last quiet ember.

Ewan Carrick, chef and firekeeper

Charred oak logs glowing deep orange in the hearth

The hearth is lit at 14:00 and raked into three heat zones. Nothing on the menu travels more than four metres from it.

Embergrain

Heritage rye loaf proved overnight, baked in the falling ash of yesterday's fire. Whipped crowdie butter, ash salt, a pour of brown-butter honey.

Ash-baked, six hours

Dark crusted rye loaves dusted with flour on a scorched board

Charred leaves, smoked curd and blistered tomatoes on a dark plate

The Garden, Charred

Young leaves and beets from our walled plot in Musselburgh, kissed on the plancha until the edges blacken. Smoked ewe's curd, tomatoes blistered whole over birch.

Blistered over birch

III

Torched Crudo

North Sea trout cured in kelp, laid over warm fire-toasted rice and passed under a burning ember until the fat just weeps. Fire-pickled ginger, cold soy butter.

Flame-kissed, eight seconds

Torched trout and rice pieces arranged in a black tray with soy

Fire-roasted salmon steak with dill, lemon and leaves on a white plate

Loch & Larch

A cut of Loch Duart salmon roasted on the bone above smouldering larch, never touching flame. Dill oil, charred lemon, the skin served apart like crackling.

Smoulder-roasted at 120°

Sirloin, Inferno

Thirty-five day Highland sirloin dropped straight onto the hottest coals for ninety seconds a side. Asparagus from the ash bed, an ember jus mounted with marrow.

Direct fire at 600°

Seared sirloin with dark jus, asparagus and roast tomato

Clay pots of slow-cooked stew beside hearth flatbreads and fritters

Smoke & Clay

A stew of smoked shallot, red pepper and white beans, sealed in clay and buried in the ember pit while you eat the first five courses. Opened at the counter, still singing.

Clay-buried, two hours

VII

Griddle & Ember Caramel

Griddle cakes cooked on the cooling plancha, layered with ember-toffee and strawberries warmed at the fire's edge. Birch-sap cream, a last pinch of ash salt.

Griddled as the fire dies