Ka Pao and Calentano launch birthday charity dinner

On Monday 20 March, Ka Pao – Edinburgh’s southeast Asian-inspired restaurant at St James Quarter – will mark its first birthday with a dinner in collaboration with friends at Celentano’s. In the spirit of giving, all profits from the night will go to the Edinburgh Food Project to help provide emergency food supplies and support to people in crisis in Scotland’s capital.

As a nod to Ka Pao’s Glaswegian heritage, executive chef Sandy Browning has teamed up with Dean Parker, co-founder of Glasgow’s Italian-inspired restaurant Celentano’s, to create a one-off menu uniting the flavours and techniques of Italy and southeast Asia. 

The menu will kick off with a selection of snacks, including smoked cod doughnuts, fiery n'duja pickles with cultured cream and kimchi chicken skins, before moving on to umami-rich crab linguine with gochujang XO sauce. For the main course, guests can enjoy Denver beef with green peppercorn and oyster dressing, served alongside beef fat potato strati with sriracha mayo and BBQ cabbage with kombu ketchup, before rounding off the meal with affogato with vodka, rye chocolate crumb and malted barley.

Ka Pao’s mixologists have created two bespoke cocktails for the evening: an apéritif combining Chase gin, yellow chartreuse, lime and Angostura bitters; and a digestif with Singleton single malt, Cocchi americano, Campari, orange bitters and grapefruit bitters. For non-drinkers, there are two alcohol-free serves using Seedlip Grove 42 – one with pineapple, mandarin, lime and agave, and another with hibiscus, red berry tea and grapefruit. There will also be the option to add a wine pairing on the night.

Tickets are priced at £45 including a four-course meal and two cocktails, and can be purchased at ka-pao.com. 

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