Broughton Street doesn’t reel in the tourists quite like Princes Street or Edinburgh Castle, but Edinburgh’s bohemian quarter is well worth a visit thanks to a smattering of independent shops, cafés, bars and speciality stores. In the middle of this unconventional humdrum is Fhior – one of Edinburgh’s most exciting new restaurants, led by a rising star of Scottish food in chef Scott Smith.

Fhior’s gleaming white frontage stands in stark contrast to the myriad colours of Broughton Street’s other independent stores, and says something of the style of food you can expect. Scott’s menu is primarily focused on Scottish ingredients – dishes on the menu will feature ingredients when they’re in season, but the kitchen also does a lot of work pickling, fermenting and preserving so these things can be used all year round. It’s what we’re tempted to refer to as ‘new Nordic cuisine’ – except that the concept of preserving food is just as legitimate and traditional in Scotland as it is in Scandinavia. Purity of flavour is valued highly at Fhior, and Scott employs lots of traditional techniques to get the most out of exceptional Scottish ingredients.

The menu spells out dishes via their prime ingredients: mackerel, gooseberry, radish, yoghurt; sea trout, cucumber, seaweed; pigeon, pine, potato. You’re very much left in the hands of Scott and his team, but thankfully, those hands are safe. Fresh, plump oysters come adorned with cubes of green apple, dill and fermented cucumber juice, which does a fine job in waking up all corners of the palate. Duck, redcurrant and nasturtium is a regular on the menu, and for good reason – redcurrant is a classic sweet, sharp accompaniment for duck, and nasturtium adds a peppery note to the mix. A halibut dish emerges as an exercise in minimalism; the halibut and fermented fennel are shrouded by a gorgeous, buttery potato mousseline, whilst the top is dusted with pepper dulse – a peppery seaweed that Scott and his chefs collect from Scotland’s east coast.

The wine menu follows a similar tack to the food – Fhior chooses to work with smaller wine producers and domaines, and features largely biodynamic, natural wines.