The former Whistler’s Mother site on Glasgow’s Byres Road has been turned into The Blind Pig by Brad Stevens, the man behind Bar Soba, Mama San and St Judes Boutique Hotel.
Empty for two and a half years, the premises have been refurbished with a Prohibition theme in mind by design company Paper Igloo. Chandeliers, bold wallpaper and an open kitchen are among the features which give the operation its distinctive feel.
Blind pigs were another name for speakeasies or the illegal bars which operated during the Prohibition era. The Blind Pig follows in their footsteps by serving afternoon tea with a twist. The teapots may look like they contain a few cups of Darjeeling but they are more likley to be filled with Mint Julep or Weeping Tiger cocktails.
The kitchen is bang up to date with an emphasis on locally sourced, seasonal food with as much of it as possible, including the bread, being prepped on the premises. Apparently, the team have been out visiting the farms which will be supplying them and certainly Scottish place names and producers are prominent on the menus.
The Blind Pig runs three menus. The bar grazing menu features dishes such as Loch Fyne kipper pate, hog roast rolls and Troon-landed pollock in a Kelpie Ale batter. The restaurant dinner menu moves up a couple of gears with options such as the pan-fried sea bass with a wood sorrel, samphire and mussel broth or the braised belly of pork with a sage and onion potato gratin. Two courses at dinner should come in at under £20.
Sundays means a brunch menu of eggs Benedict, boiled duck eggs and soldiers, pancake stacks and kedgeree. Alternatively, the roast menu usually features a choice of three roast meats be it roasted Gavinburn farm lamb, Osbourne’s free range chicken roasted with rosemary and lemon of Chritie’s braised belly of pork. Two courses cost £12.50.
