Here we take a look at some new openings to look forward to in 2021.
Try the Michelin contender that is Unalome
This exciting new restaurant is headed by Scottish chef Graeme Cheevers, who has worked at Etain, Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond and the Isle of Eriska Hotel.
It’ll be launching at 36 Kelvingrove Street in Finnieston (in The Sisters’ old spot) in February.
Their ambition is to bag Glasgow’s first Michelin star since Gordon Ramsay’s now defunct Amaryllis at One Devonshire Gardens held one, 17 years ago. Watch this space.
The five-star countryside resort that is Gleneagles is turning urban, with its first city outpost at the former Bank of Scotland building on St Andrew Square.
It'll have 33 bedrooms, in comparison to the original hotel's 232. Food-wise, the all-day restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, and there will be two bars featuring rooftop terraces. Expected to open in autumn 2021.
The scaffolding around the old House of Fraser, Edinburgh, will be coming down in spring 2021, for the opening of Johnnie Walker Princes Street. (It looks like the corner clock will still be there and, hopefully, working now).
After a quiet year (though they’re still open Saturday and Sunday, 12-6pm under phase three restrictions), this Edinburgh street food venue has launched a Pitt Pal Standard Membership, to help them get through the winter. #
For £20, you get a membership card, which includes a year’s worth of free entry (usually £2), once they reopen after a seasonal break, discounts and a chance to win food and drink tabs. If you’re reading this before December 21, vote for your favourite vendor (we like Wanderers Kneaded) to win the virtual Scottish Street Food Awards.
Edinburgh’s Eco Larder, with its original zero waste shop and Sunshine Yoga studio, at 200 Morrison Street, has just opened a second branch at 19 Howe Street. Take your Tupperware and stock up on food essentials.
It’s also worth checking out The Leith Collective at Ocean Terminal, which sells the work of more than 120 artists and makers and will be going completely plastic free from January 1.
Not everyone is keen on the gilded oopsy design of the St James Quarter, which opens in spring 2021 and replaces the brutalist St James Centre.
We’re perching politely on the fence, but will definitely check out its new shops and restaurants, including & Other Stories, a LEGO store, the W hotel and Japanese, Peruvian and Brazilian eatery Sushisamba, which has branches in London.
Gaby Soutar is a lifestyle editor at The Scotsman. She has been reviewing restaurants for The Scotsman Magazine since 2007 and edits the weekly food pages.
