Photo of
January 16, 2015
The Butterfly and Pig are setting up a new home in Shawlands.
The Butterfly and Pig are setting up a new home in Shawlands.

There are lots of exciting new bars and restaurants in the pipeline.

Looking ripped

In Edinburgh, The Riparian Rooms is a new venture scheduled to open on the 30th of January on East London Street, at the foot of Broughton Street.

Formerly Locanda de Gusti, now on Dalry Road, the new biz promises to be an all day dining and drinking experience over two floors.

Split into three dining areas, the ground floor will be a restaurant serving fresh, seasonal and locally sourced produce. Downstairs will be a cosy, intimate bar.

Apparently, ‘riparian’ refers to the space between a river and its banks. In the context of this new restaurant bar, it refers to the above ground/below ground nature of the venue.

Don’t let it ever be said that the 5pm Dining blog isn’t educational.

Butterfly effect

Earlier this year, we reported on the Butterfly and Pig relocating their West End branch to the former Corona Bar premises on Pollokshaws Road in Shawlands.

Like The Riparian Rooms, the new branch is pencilled in to open on the 30th of January. The original city centre branch and its Tearooms on Bath Street continue to go great guns.

Take it Easy, Ed

Our chums at STV Aberdeen report that Ed’s Easy Diner is to open its first Aberdeen branch in the freshly expanded Bon Accord Centre come April.

Burgers, boozy milkshakes and Americana. Is there a market for that? Sounds like a crazy idea but it just might work…

Ed's Easy Diner: soon to be flipping in Aberdeen.
Ed’s Easy Diner: soon to be flipping in Aberdeen.

Pie in the pipeline

Meanwhile, in Dundee, Project Pie is gearing up for a February opening on Reform Street.

The chain is already well established in the States and the Philippines. Dundee is to be the chain’s first European site.

We’re hoping that the chain will break one of the cardinal rules of branding and rename themselves as Project Peh in honour of their Dundee location.

The idea is that customers design their own pizza and then the staff build it and cook it to order.

On their Facebook page they are running a pizza for a year competition which is proving understandably popular.

Project Pie is getting ready to grab a slice of the pizza market in Dundee.
Project Pie is getting ready to grab a slice of the pizza market in Dundee.