‘THE winter evening settles down with the smells of steaks in passageways...’

T S Eliot wrote in his Preludes of the smoky days of winter, and dashing into Six by Nico on what has to have been the wettest night in Autumn, I thought he was onto something.

As the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder, the brains behind Six by Nico have thought to bring a bit of New York excitement into Glasgow’s glittering Finnieston.

Running until November 10, the New York menu brings together the delights of Little Italy with the indulgence of Eggs Benedict and streamlines it into six beautifully crafted tasting dishes.

And for those who don’t know – Six by Nico is a mysterious and ever-evolving culinary concept founded by Chef Nico Simeone in Glasgow, Scotland.

Each six weeks, Six by Nico takes guests on a journey through time, spaces and places with a unique and affordable six-course tasting experience. However, once this six-week time period is up, each menu will disappear forever – never to be cooked or tasted again.

Previous menus have seen the delights of destinations such as Catalonia, Mexico and The Middle East come to the fore of the Argyle street kitchen.

Entering for the late sitting at 9.15pm – which, I should add, is not the last sitting – the restaurant was already buzzing with birthday revellers, romantic couples and ladies having their weekly catch-ups over wine and being dined.

The first course was a beef-doughnut, which blended sweet and savoury whilst evoking hints of New York street food.

Followed by the Eggs Benedict, this dish was a twist on the traditional brunch staple by using a quails egg paired with a ham hock terrine and brown butter béarnaise to glitz up what could otherwise be seen as a bland breakfast plate.

The third course was arguably the most autumnal dish, with Cacio e Pepe Agnolotti replicating the Little Italy district of New York. Dotted with pumkin seed pesto and pickled pumpkin, the gyoza-style parcels were surprisingly light on what could be regarded as a quite a heavy middle ground.

My least favourite course was the fourth, which was clam and cod chowder: there was a lot of cod and not much clams. The mussels were quite zesty which was interesting but which I didn’t feel paid off in the end. The cod fillet on top did, however, make up for it and roasted corn added a hint of a traditional chowder feel.

We were definitely getting fuller by the minute, although it should be stressed that the portion sizes are enough to make the six courses feel more than substantial but not overbearing.

The penultimate dish, given the namesake ‘flatiron building’ was a real delight. With rare flat iron steaks smoked in glass bowls, the presentation was astounding. The Jerusalem artichoke was slightly lost but the brisket croquette was definitely another highlight of the evening.

The piece de resistance of the New York tasting menu had to be the Big Apple: a glistening red New York Cheesecake filled with apple compote on a bed of roasted hazelnuts was so visually pleasing I would have mistaken it for art. There is so much care and precision in each dish, and in the service, it would be almost cruel to find fault.

CARLA JENKINS