A new restaurant festival for Glasgow has just been launched. The first city-wide Glasgow Restaurant Festival will take place between the 25th March and the 24th April and is the result of a collaboration between Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (GCMB), Scottish Enterprise and the Glasgow Restaurant Association (GRA).
The Glasgow Restaurant Festival will be made up of three distinct strands, bringing together the city’s best chefs and most popular restaurants. The last week in March will see the Glasgow Restaurant Festival kick off with a unique secret dining experience from Glasgow’s favourite guerrilla chefs in a beautiful vintage Spiegeltent on Candleriggs Square in the Merchant City. Seating up to 200 people, the Spiegeltent will also offer a side of entertainment, with live music, DJs and other performances planned. A nine-hole crazy golf course will also be located on Candleriggs Square, alongside a converted horse-box wine bar.
While from the 1st April to the 17th April Pop-Up Dining will be the order of the day, with the Spiegeltent taking diners on a culinary adventure with a different pop-up restaurant every day. Foodie lovers will be able to sample delights from popular Glasgow restaurants including Porter and Rye, TASTY by Tony Singh, Red Onion and 111 by Nico.
To conclude the Glasgow Restaurant Festival, Dining In The City will run between the 18th and 24th April, allowing diners the opportunity to sample specially-priced menus at over 60 of the city’s best restaurants.
Tickets for the Spiegeltent are now on sale. Pictured Tony Singh from TASTY by Tony Singh at Alea Casino, Derek Marshall from Gamba and John Quigley from Red Onion who helped launch the new Festival.
Priced £5 per person, a ticket secures entry to the Spiegeltent, a welcome drink and live entertainment. Diners will then enjoy dishes priced between £6 and £9 during the Secret Dining experience or a special set menu priced at £15 or £25 during the Pop-Up Dining period.
Commenting on the launch, Ryan James, chair of the Glasgow Restaurant Association, said, “Glasgow has one of the most vibrant dining scenes in the country and we’re very lucky to host so many great chefs and restaurants in the one city.
“There’s a real passion for food and culinary experiences and we’re fortunate to have so many innovative chefs and cooks bringing this to life through street food and pop-up events. We wanted to celebrate Glasgow’s culinary diversity and invite some of the city’s best-loved chefs to get involved in a slightly different style of cooking, and what better way to do this than to have them all cooking up a storm from a vintage Spiegeltent.”
Councillor Frank McAveety, Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, commented, “The launch of the first city-wide Glasgow Restaurant Festival http://glasgowrestaurantfestival.co.uk really shines the spotlight on the vibrancy and diversity of our incredible dining scene. We have new eateries opening every week adding to an impressive portfolio of dining options in the city; ranging from traditional Scottish cuisine to Bib Gourmand.
“We were recently named by travel industry bible National Geographic Traveler as one of the world’s must-visit destinations for 2016 and our outstanding restaurants play a pivotal role in that; creating enjoyable experiences for the millions of leisure and business visitors travelling to the city every year. The Glasgow Restaurant Festival is the perfect opportunity for the city’s foodie fans and those travelling from afar to sample a wide range of delicacies from our talented local chefs.”