Concept menus are having a bit of a moment on the fine-dining scale and the clue is in the name with this one. Nope, not the periodic table, rather the classical starting points of air and earth, fire and water. Gary Townsend is at the helm, with his first solo venture after 20-plus years in the industry, including spells with Martin Wishart and One Devonshire Gardens. The crockery is insanely fancy, the wine list hefty and there’s a little stool to put your bag on. It isn’t stuffy, but it’s top-tier stuff. 

The amuse-bouche immediately knocks you off-guard, with macarons that scream ‘sweet’ yet sandwich a little layer of the most savoury pâté. A monkfish cheeks starter is pearlescent and scallop-esque: surrounded by hazelnuts and puffed wheat, it shreds apart. So too does pork belly, with the interplay of fatty/meaty enhanced by a glistening, deeply robust jus and mustard-seed heat (at the best places, it’s the sauces you notice). 

The ‘elements’ notion goes further with the lunchtime paired cocktails which are daft, fun and great value. In Earth, basil pins down a gin sour while yuzu widens its citrus breadth; Fire brings guava, hibiscus and habanero: the spicy Marg all grown up; Water is the finale, a complex riff on a Penicillin, bristling against a mango crémeux dessert, with buttercream and tropical fruit clambering over each other as the kitchen shows off one last time. There’s layers to this and you can lean into them or not. Elements will make you happy either way. 

19 New Kirk Road, Bearsden, Glasgow; visit the official Elements site; fixed-price evening menu for three courses £75.