Summer in the city gets tasty at Eusebi’s

“Summer is a lovely tomato, a fresh pasta, clams on the beach,” she smiles.

“It’s not about layers and layers of food, it’s about keeping things simple and honest, and hopefully that is what we have captured in our new summer menu.”

The much-loved west end institution launched its new, seasonal menu recently and the focus is on traditional with a twist.

“Food for me is all about memories and emotions,” explains Giovanna.

“That’s always my starting point when I am creating a new menu. It’s a chance for me to reminisce, and for this collection of dishes, I’ve been thinking a lot about my childhood summers in Italy, picking tomatoes with my grandmother, and then going back to Italy with my own children, experiencing that sense of freedom.”

She laughs: “Anyone who knows me, knows I love tomatoes. What is better than a simple tomato dish?”

Tomatoes feature strongly in the summer selection - a tomato salad, for example, with pickled red onion, cucumber and pangrattato is a refreshing side.

“Traditionally, the bread would be served in bigger chunks but we have opted for the pangrattato, the breadcrumbs, for a lighter version,” says Giovanna.

The fettucine pomodoro, made with Datterino and San Marzano tomatoes is delicious.

“Sourcing the best ingredients is at the heart of what we do, whether it is Italian tomatoes or Scottish clams,” says Giovanna.

The summer menu includes a few Eusebi favourites, such as Yesterday’s Lasagne and the tasty Pizza Romana. New and exciting additions, created with Giovanna’s skilled eye for pairing unusual flavours, include charred octopus, served with pickled cucumber, olives, capers and a beautiful lime aioli; and the fantastic beef carpaccio and Puglian fig starter.

Figs and strawberries take Giovanna back to those magical Italian childhood summers.

“We would travel far to get the best ingredients - mozzarella from Mondragone, for example, and dessert was plates of local fresh figs or wild strawberries found nearby,” she says.

“My grandfather would sit quietly among the chaos of the kids, diligently cutting fresh peaches into jugs of his uva fragola wine - an indigenous local red grape with scents of strawberries.

“All my grandmother’s food was ‘pulito, naturale and genuino’ translating literally to mean, clean, natural and honest - I guess organic in today’s vocabulary.

“They had respect for the Earth, nothing was thrown away, bottles and jars recycled to store her homemade passata, preserved vegetables and dried pulses.”

The Italians capture summer by the sea in one word, “salsedine”, explains Giovanna, which defines the fragrance of the salty air, the ripples of ocean life, beating new life into worn-out city dwellers.

“My grandparents’ little village is a 20-minute bus ride to the Spiaggia Libera, the public beach,” she says.

“My cousins and I, visiting for the holidays, would have breakfast on the beach - custard-filled bombolone - which has become a real hit in our Glasgow restaurant today.”

Eusebi’s summer menu is available now. eusebideli.com