][1]Glasgow’s Baby Grand Group, which is involved with 5pm members such as the Baby Grand (natch), Cottiers and Ad Lib on Hope Street, has been a hive of activity lately.
Their Ad Lib American restaurant on Ingram Street is scheduled to become a French brasserie in a link up with Alan Tomkinson, the Glasgow restaurateur behind Gamba, the Urban Bar and Brasserie and Dining Room.
The Ad Lib in the West End has become The Long Road Home, a specialist drinks bar with a pub grub menu, while their El Sabor restaurant in the Merchant City is now Bar Espagnol Mercado.
Still keeping up?
As if that wasn’t enough, Baby Grand are also involved with The Drake, a new gastro pub on Lynedoch Street which has been launched by a team previously involved with Black Sparrow and Chinaski’s.
Over on the other side of the country, Edinburgh is in a similar froth. Yes Sushi is a new . . . well you can figure it out what it sells. It is on Hanover Street.
A couple of doors down, the owners of the Tapa restaurant in Leith are opening a second branch of Tapa in the premises formerly occupied by Muang Thai. They hope to have it open by mid-August.
As we reported a couple of weeks back, Iman’s, the Tollcross Punjabi restaurant, has been getting a new branch together on Nicolson Square. It’s now open.
Also, the Urban Angel bistro cafe on Forth Street seems to have sprogged a funky new deli just across the road on the corner of Broughton Street. One of your blogger’s associates has passed her considered judgement on their smoothies. Apparently, ‘They rock’.
That’s it. I’m having a lie down.