Former Beanscene head honcho Gordon Richardson has plans to launch two new ventures in Paisley and Ayr later this month which he hopes will redefine the pub.
He has teamed up with Scottish and Newcastle Pub Enterprises to open Caffe Luna on Paisley’s High Street and Libertine on Ayr’s River Street.
The two venues will be run under the umbrella of Richardson’s Onebiggroove company with the aim of introducing ‘a genuine alternative to traditional pub culture through music, food and an appealing environment.’
Caffé Luna, an 80 capacity venue, is targeting students from the nearby university campus who, Richardson hopes, will comprise a significant portion of its customer profile. He sees Luna as the realisation of his original vision and aspirations for Beanscene. Apparently, Caffé Luna will introduce a full liquor licence and an ‘enhanced, all day food offering to a laidback, music-driven coffee house environment.’
The first Libertine boutique operation, meanwhile, will be ‘more bohemian and edgy’ than Caffé Luna’s laidback offering. Libertine includes an upstairs performance room which will offer a range of performances, ranging from acoustic music sets to stand-up comic slots and small theatre productions.
Artists already scheduled to perform at Libertine include two time Grammy award-winning American singer/songwriter Jon Vezner (03 November), legendary folk singer/songwriter Dick Gaughan (05 November), Boo Hewerdine (18 November), formerly of The Bible and writer of the number one hit ‘Patience of Angels’, hotly tipped emerging Glaswegian Roddy Hart, who’s opened for the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Teddy Thompson and Ray Lamontagne (22 November) and acclaimed performer and former Daintees main man Martin Stephenson (03 December)
Digital social networking is going to be a big part of the operation.