If you’re thinking there’s something familiar about Maclay Inns’ £700k, four-month renovation of Balloch’s Tullie Inn, you’d be on to something. There are more than a few nods to a certain waterfront bar and restaurant that opened in West Kilbride last year. Maclay Inns’ MD Steve Mallon has been quite open about how impressed he [...]

There are some refurbishments that go all out to capture that familiar, comfortable vibe that can take years to hone. The Huxley, the ground floor bar at Edinburgh’s Rutland Hotel, has pulled this off after its £200K overhaul by owner Signature Pubs, revealed late last month. Interior design consultancy Tibbatts.Abel was drafted in to reimagine [...]

The Hanging Bat Beer Cafe on Edinburgh’s Lothian Road opened at the end of last year and its interior is as quirky as its name. The former Mr Modos, now jointly owned by Gavin Ferguson and Chris Mair, also brews its own beer, and this was a major design consideration in the £100k spend. Gavin [...]

Fish and chip shop proprietors Renato and Angela Delvecchio now have bigger fish to fry with their first restaurant business, the £670k Ciao Bella, in Glasgow’s Burnside area. The Stonelaw Road eatery opened recently, just down the road from the chip shop business, Dello’s, that they’ve owned for some 30 years. Renato and Angela had [...]

There’s a burgeoning Italian Corner in Glasgow’s Virginia Court, off Virginia Street, and taking equal pride of place longside Brutti Compadres next door, is Rock Lobster. Co-owner Stephen Bonomi, of Arisaig fame, is responsible, with business partner Gordon Cameron, for a cracking Italian seafood restaurant with many tributary nods to his own family heritage. Stephen [...]

Italian-American Madonna famously wore a t-shirt in the 80s stating ‘Italians Do It Better’ and in the case of Remo Crolla’s second Glasgow restaurant, Panevino, this slogan rings true. It’s a marble-heavy two floor (ground and mezzanine) 60-cover Italian restaurant with an interior design that screams ‘built to last’ – much like Panevino’s older brother, [...]

The newly-opened Paper Mill at Lasswade nearly ended up as mush when the adjacent river burst its banks after one of our summery downpours. Luckily for owners David Johnstone and business partner Karen Calvert, the river levels quickly subsided and disaster was averted thanks to a few sandbags and serendipity. The duo, who met when [...]

The gleaming new look Inn at Torbrex in north Stirling delivers an oasis of vibrant colour that makes the surrounding houses, lovely though they are, look rather plain. Like a splash of colour in a black and white film. It’s located up a wee lane, right in the heart of a residential area, and what [...]

Jamie Oliver’s £2.3m Edinburgh restaurant has just opened. The 196-cover restaurant called Jamie’s Italian is located in the old Assembly Rooms’ ballroom on George Street and has enough of a WOW factor to knock the celebrity chef’s Glasgow eatery into a cocked hat. Although to be fair the Grade-A canvas was already quite beautiful to [...]

Aurora Hotels’ boss Steven McLeod has breathed new life into The Cairn Lodge & Hotel Auchterarder with an extensive £3m refurbishment. It was Steven’s own design vision, and he had very clear ideas on how to do the Victorian property justice in his restoration. He explains, “The Cairn is an icon in Auchterader, although I [...]