Outdoor venue for Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival

ORGANISERS have moved Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival from The Biscuit Factory to The Corn Exchange’s outside venue. The event, which is due to take place on 9 and 10 October, will feature Scottish breweries including Fierce, Vault City, 71 Brewing, and new kid on the block Newbarns. Foreign breweries sending beer to the festival include…

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NHS heroes enjoy weekend hotel stays

MORE than 380 health service workers and their families stayed at Crerar Hotels’ seven venues for free last weekend as part of the “Scottish Hospitality for NHS Heroes” initiative. Paddy Crerar, the company’s founder and chairman, took some guests on boat trips, while others tucked into locally-sourced food and drink. The chain spent more than…

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‘Drive through’ afternoon teas are here to stay

A HOTEL that launched “drive through” afternoon teas during the coronavirus lockdown has decided to keep running them because they proved so popular. The Stair Arms Hotel at Pathhead in Midlothian transformed an old shipping container into a hatch from which to serve its teas. Customers can order their afternoon tea over the phone and…

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Butchers shine with ‘diamond awards’

THREE Scottish butchers’ shops have been presented with the diamond award at the Scottish Craft Butchers’ Awards. Boghall Butchers in West Lothian won the “best beef burger in Scotland” title, while Marzipan’s Meats in Tayport claimed the “best speciality burger” prize for its sweet chilli cheeseburger, and Thomas Burns & Son in Bo’ness took the…

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Senegal chef opens Glasgow debut site

A YOUNG chef who came to Scotland from Senegal just seven years ago is preparing to open his first restaurant. Modou Diagne is transforming the former “111 by Nico” site on Glasgow’s Cleveden Road into “111 by Modou“. The 46-cover restaurant will open next month with a reduce capacity of 28. Diagne began working for…

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‘Dark Kitchen’ takeovers at Glasgow’s The Gate

A SERIES of legendary local chefs will be taking over the kitchen at The Gate pub in Glasgow over the next five weeks. Yu Ca Taco kicks off the line-up this weekend, followed by Baked Pizza. Craig Grozier’s new Fallachan Cart pop-up concept will then run the “Dark Kitchen” on 6-22 August. During its first…

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Local Selects boxes boost Scottish food and drink

A GIFT box project launched during lockdown has unveiled plans to continue promoting Scottish food and drink. Local Selects was set up by The Start-up Drinks Lab, a business in Port Glasgow that helps brands develop and bottle new products. Much of its work focuses on bars, pubs and restaurants and so the company had…

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Turning beer byproducts into chairs

GRAINS left over from beer brewing and gin distilling are being turned into tables and chairs for Dundee Science Centre. Aymeric Renoud named his furniture making business after “draff”, the wet grains left behind when beer is made. Renoud adds a binder to draff from 71 Brewing in Dundee and botanicals used to make gin…

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Scotland is ‘king’ of sustainable prawns

A FARM in Stirlingshire that rears king prawns is selling its crustacean direct to the public for the first time. Balfron-based Great British Prawns, which opened last year, will harvest its warm water Litopenaeus vannamei each week and delivery them via courier to most parts of the UK – but not the Highlands and islands…

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Mimi’s puts the ‘tea’ in Edinburgh Gin’s ‘G&T’

TWO of Edinburgh’s best-known food and drink brands have teamed up to offer a “G&T” with a difference. For four weekends, Mimi’s Bakehouse and Edinburgh Gin are selling an “Afternoon G&Tea” package to customers in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Each set contains six mini traybakes, two mini elderflower cupcakes and two freshly-baked plain scones with Rodda’s…

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