Beat 6: Amazing dining whilst helping a great cause

Beat 6, the new charitable restaurant from the group behind Six by Nico, is unmissable – it’s as simple as that.

When you’re dining at the restaurant in Dennistoun, Glasgow, you know that 100% of their profits are going to the Beatson Cancer Charity, offering a unique blend of culinary food and social good.

The 34-cover restaurant offers a constantly rotating tasting menu that celebrates some of the most popular dishes they’ve ever created in the Six by Nico kitchens throughout the years. Put bluntly, it’s the edited highlights!

The restaurant itself appears unassuming from the outside, but as soon as you enter, you will savour the sights, sounds andsmells.

I was honoured to be able to atte the opening with my junior diner, who was delighted to see that there was an opening snack offering, with corndogs, from the Circus menu. She had been talking about trying these just the week before, but had been unable to find any in shops, so she was more than happy with it.

The corndog comprises a prawn and sausage ballotine, with a red pepper ketchup, and saffron emulsion, accompanied by sourdough bread and whipped butter. Give that both of our plates were empty within minutes, that says it all – a delightful touch of the American, with the usual twist from Nico. Lip-smackingly tasty.

The amuse came from The Alps menu – Raclette Fondue – with crispy pig’s head and quince. Although my companion wasn’t too sure about eating a pig’s head, her doubts disappeared as quickly as the food – it was deep fried, on a cocktail stick, along with the quince and a little picked, over a lovely raclette fondou. The flavour wasn’t too overpowering from the cheese, and was so light, I was left wanting more.

The Circus menu provided the next course – Candy Butchers – a beef carpaccio, burger sauce, aged Parmesan and pickled pucumber, with a slice of pickled turnip made to look like cheese. This was one which I’d sampled previously at Six by Nico, and was looking forward to it with relish – this was one that didn’t disappoint, with the raw beef full of flavour, and the accompanyiments giving it the flavour of a burger. Although it wasn’t the junior diner’s favourite, she certainly gave it a go.

The New York menu provided the next course, Little Italy, with cacio e pepe agnolotti, crown prince pumpkin and parsley emulsion. These pasta parcels were a real favourite, as the pumpkin flavour was pleasantly sweet, and the parsley emulsion offset it to make for a filling course that, again, left me hankering for just another couple of pieces of pasta.

From the Guilty Pleasures came Fish Supper 2.0, a Scrabster Cod, caramelised cauliflower, curry sauce, with a caper and raisin sauce. Although I’m not a huge fan of curries, this was wonderful – the cod was a lovely little piece of fish, and I woul dnever have thought of putting capers and raisins together to make a sauce. This sweet combination went so well with the cod, with a lovely bit of bite to it, offering a contrast of texture, while the caramelised cauliflower was packed with flavour. Another success.

The savoury courses came to a conclusion with a selection from the Thai Fusion menu, comprising Penang chicken, sweet potato, papaya and peanut salad, with coriander emulsion. This was my favourite of the lot, as I love chicken, and anything with peanuts in it is always going to be a hit with me. Again, there’s a sensory bombardment with wonderful flavours, coupled with a variety of textures, which myself and the junior diner demolished so quickly.

The dessert came from The Chippie menu, which I hadn’t had before, the Deep Fried Mars Bar, but this Scottish favourite was given a suitably different twist by Nico, as the small chocolate ball was accompanied by an Irn Bru sorbet and chocolate soil. This was definitely a favourite with us both, and our plates were clear far too quickly. The sorbet especially was incredible – you could almost feel the fizz! We could both, happily, have gone for the same again!

And the service was top notch. We were looked after by Taylor, who was on her first night in the job, and her knowledge of the menu was top notch, as well as her friendly chat, which made for a tremendous evening. Great food, great service… what more could you want?

Restaurateur Nico Simeone, his wife and their family want to help the Beatson Cancer Charity help others in the same way it helped them. Nico’s wife is one of thousands of Scots who has benefited from Beatson’s world-class treatment.

Nico said: ‘We, like many others, hold a special place in our hearts for the Beatson. We hope that the proceeds from Beat 6 will benefit the charity and the staff to whom we owe so much, as well as provide our team with the opportunity to be a part of such an important cancer journey.

‘An exciting day for our team who have worked hard over the past four months to prepare for the opening. We genuinely hope that this is the first of many Beat 6 restaurants that we will be able to open for them, and we will always be grateful for everything they do to help change the lives of those affected by cancer every day.’

Martin Cawley, CEO of Beatson Cancer Charity, said: ‘Beat 6 is one of the most exciting fundraising initiatives I think we’ve ever been involved in. There are probably around 30,000 people per year diagnosed with cancer in Scotland – Greater Glasgow and Clyde is by far the biggest proportion of that. That means there will be thousands of people that will benefit from Beat 6, and over the course of the years, that will be immeasurable.

‘We’re so grateful to Nico Simeone, his wife Valentina and the rest of their family – their generosity is overwhelming.’

Beat 6 is open weekly Tuesday – Saturday, the six-course menu is available from noon to night. The Beat 6 menu is priced at £32 per person with the option to enjoy an expertly selected wine and specialist drinks pairing for an additional £27. Beat 6 also offers a vegetarian alternative for every course.

Beat 6, 10 Whitehill Street, Denniston, Glasgow, G31 2LH.

0141 486 8666

www.beat-6.co.uk

• Click HERE for more food and drink news from Scottish Field, in association with Cask & Still