Valvona & Crolla VinCaffè - City of Edinburgh

Edinburgh's glitzy shopping thoroughfare built around Harvey Nichols makes a suitably fashionable setting for the Contini family's new deli/caffè bar. Like the legendary original on Elm Row, this is a phenomenally successful, engaging enterprise: expect long queues outside the glass-fronted building, especially at lunchtime.

Snacks, drinks and takeaways are available on the ground floor; otherwise go upstairs to the light airy restaurant, which boasts big windows, mirrored walls, mosaic pillars and bags of animated atmosphere. It 'oozes more style than a Milanese catwalk,' noted one reviewer. The kitchen pleases the crowds with a familiar, flexible menu that cruises through antipasti, homemade pasta, outsized pizzas and the like.

Ingredients from artisan Italian producers rub shoulders with top-notch stuff from Scotland's larder, and the result is dishes like rigatoni with spicy fennel Fonteluna sausage or grilled Highland venison with sautéed wild mushrooms, balsamic roasted potatoes and shallots, plus super-fresh salads and sinful desserts such as torta di pistacchio or zuccotto sponge laced with rum and Strega. Vincaffè shares the same dazzling Italian wine list as the original: dip into the short version by the glass or delve into the stunning retail selection of mouth-watering bottles.