Sotto, Edinburgh

First impressions can have a big impact. With its terracotta and green paint job and fancy window decals, Sotto – the new Stockbridge spot from sommelier James Clark and chef Francesco Ascrizzi – certainly puts its best foot forward. Pop open the front door and that foot comes down on a bespoke mosaic at the threshold, which we’ll say up top is a level of fanciness we can all aspire to.

Sotto is split over two levels; upstairs is a wine bar with shelves of aesthetically-pleasing tinned tomatoes, bottles of wine, and big windows out onto Stockbridge, while we’re off downstairs to the main restaurant space that’s all green leather banquettes and minimal lighting. There are lovely vintage posters on the walls and cork on the ceiling (could be for acoustics, could just look cool, either way we’re on board). It’s a classic vibe – conspiratorial tables for two, space to fit in big groups, marble tabletops, dark wood.

The menu isn’t short, but it is condensed – we’re in classic aperitivo-antipasti-primi-secondi territory here, with three or four options for each. We begin at the top with the Focaccia (£4.50), which is appropriately chewy and light, served alongside a big ol’ blob of red Trapanese pesto that’s very nicely put together. Salty, savoury, as red as a fire engine and just about as loud – it’s a good start. It’s joined by another big blob, and this time it’s a tasty Gorgonzola (£7). It’s served with a little honey, and some crispbreads that are tasty but do keep snapping in the cheese.

Moving on, the Fritelle di Zucca (£10) are less successful. We mean the following phrase literally and as a run-on to the rest of the paragraph – for starters, they’re just too hefty. There isn’t enough crunchy surface area to balance the slightly heavy pumpkin interior, and while the lemon-laced ricotta alongside is tasty, it doesn’t quite have enough punch to land the contrast. The Gnocco Fritto (£12) is another that just doesn’t quite work – fried dough pockets with stracciatella, mortadella and rocket sounds like it can’t go wrong, but there’s too much meat, not enough of the gnocco, and not nearly enough straciatella.

On to the pasta, which turns out to be the star of the show. The Rigatoni Alla Norma (£14) has a nice bounce to it, the roasted aubergine in the sauce is melt-in-the-mouth good, and the wisps of salted ricotta on the top bring everything to life. It's a good plate of pasta. The Tagliatelle al Ragu (£16), though, is an absolute banger – perfectly cooked and brilliantly bright pasta, with an unctuous venison ragu that manages to be both incredibly meaty and surprisingly light. Also, these are both enormous; high-fives are in order after deciding not to go the whole hog and top this all off with a huge bit of lamb.

Dessert is also predictably great. A warm, buttery and faintly citrusy brioche (£7) loaded up with extremely nutty pistachio gelato – it’s a classic pairing, it tastes great, and because we have separate tummies for sweet and savoury it’s gone in about five minutes.

Sotto is nice. The decor is clean and crisp; the wood is dark, the glass is fluted, you can see the handiwork in the walls and floors. The toilets are genuinely lovely. And the truth is, some of the dishes are also great, but as a whole Sotto doesn’t quite live up to the expectations set by that lovely doorway. They made a good first impression, and we’ll be thinking about that ragu for a while, but this might be a restaurant that needs some time to grow into its two-storey, terracotta shoes.

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28 Deanhaugh St, Edinburgh, EH4 1LY
Wed-Thu 10am-11pm, Fri-Sat 10am-midnight, Sun 10am-9pm
sottoedinburgh.com