Restaurant Rave: Ecco Vino Seafood and Wine Bar in Edinburgh

It’s high time for some new content here in Glover Gardens after a bit of a quiet period – how about another Restaurant Rave? Let’s go to Edinburgh, in March of 2022.

This post can almost write itself, because I took so many pictures, and apparently, I edited them immediately and added captions. I was on a business trip and had a Saturday night to myself after working all week at different locations in Scotland and England, traveling by train all week. I would be flying to Oslo for the second week of my journey very early the next morning. A little tired, I slowly walked a couple of blocks from my hotel just off the high street, looking for a restaurant with room for a solo diner who hadn’t made an advance booking. These are hard to come by in Edinburgh on a Saturday night, especially since I was in one of the more picturesque and historic areas (Cockburn Street just off the Royal Mile) – what was I thinking?? Several restaurants turned me down, the front of the house staff barely hiding their disdain at my lack of planning, and I was starting to consider a room-service burger.

But Ecco Vino, an intimate seafood restaurant and wine bar with an Italian flair and a can-do staff, had room for me. Yay for the weary traveler who didn’t plan ahead!!

I was seated at a small bar-height table overlooking the galley kitchen.

My table location was a huge win for me, providing a front-row seat to watch the two chefs move in harmony as they made each dish from scratch. Click the arrow below to see their quick dance.

I went from tired traveler trudging and seeking sustenance to happy restaurant patron knowing I would be cared for, immediately. I mean, wouldn’t you feel welcome here?

The water bottles sparkled at me, so I took a pic of them.

Everyone was so friendly! The staff was happy to tell me the history of the restaurant, the provenance of the food and how they’d made it through the pandemic. They were also interested in my story – where I was from, what I was doing in town, how I liked it, etc. It’s nice to be heard, to be treated as an individual rather than a “cover”.

The specials were all explained in detail.

I was sold on the catch of the day, a fish and shellfish stew they called cippito.

Friends, I tucked into that warm, garlicky broth like I hadn’t eaten for weeks. It was call-your-mama good, with seafood so fresh it must’ve woken up in the sea that day before somehow making it onto my plate. I left no scraps. But it would’ve been impolite to lick the bowl, so I refrained,

I wasn’t the only happy diner. Ecco Vino was full of patrons who were eagerly consuming what the place had to offer – the food, the wine, the conviviality and hospitality. This place has ambience aplenty. And the maitre d / manager was everywhere at once, topping off wine glasses, shuttling plates of food, inquiring about happiness levels. Diners in this restaurant know they are cared for, that their time there is intended to be memorable.

I was so happy with my experience, and the super-busy chefs knew it, since I was sitting so close to them and watching their work. They were really kind to me, telling me about the different dishes they were producing, and happily posed for this picture during a rare break.

I selected this Ecco Vino as the topic for my back-to-blogging post because Scotland is “gently on my mind”. Here’s why: the Grill-Meister and I are celebrating Anniversary #15 this summer, and we’ve chosen an Inverness-Aberdeen-Edinburgh-London trek to celebrate that milestone. So of course I’m trolling through my knowledge, memories and pictures of Scotland and UK adventures to show him my very favorites.

We will definitely be dining at Ecco Vino when we are in Edinburgh.

And that’s a wrap for this latest Glover Gardens restaurant rave.

© 2023, Glover Gardens