preview
blue
'Flexible eating’ is how Andrew Radford describes the dining
; experience at blue, the latest ' addition to Glasgow’s food scene. And really, he should know. As the proprietor of the Edinburgh sister
restaurant blue, as well as The Atrium, he’s now expanded his culinary empire to the west.
The unique setting of the
restaurant in The Lighthouse was
a real motivation for opening in Glasgow for Radford: ’Being interested in architecture and design meant when the space at
I The Lighthouse came up it was too good to miss.
'It was surprising the number of people who enjoyed it in Edinburgh and it was they who convinced me there was room enough for one in Glasgow,’ he reveals, undeterred by the stiff competition among Glasgow’s restaurants.
The philosophy behind Radford's restaurants has remained the same for the new project; ’Quality,
affordable food in a civilised atmosphere is how I view it. Less
of a special occasion place and
. more something for everyone, we
Four: Air Organic @ CCA
Just because the CCA is between homes doesn’t mean it has to compromise its
standing as the hippest arts venue in town, or the equally high standards of
its cool-but-cosy cafe bar. The task of feeding hungry art-lovers in the CCA’s temporary home at the McLellan Galleries has now fallen to the people behind Air Organic.
Besides being a contender for
Glasgow's most beautifully designed space, Air Organic is also one of Glasgow’s most welcoming bars and 3 boasts one of its most consistently : imaginative menus. Great things are
therefore to be expected from the CCA
offshoot; but as General Manager Kevin
a Cargill notes, it hasn't been an easy
transition. ’We're determined not to compromise quality, but because it's a temporary space, it looked for a while as if we were going to be limited. We don't want to use microwaves, and we weren't prepared to have big bain- maries full of chilli and beans!’ Instead, the team settled on a simple but typically inventive menu. ’There’ll be four of
,
hope,’ Radford explains. ’The focus is on freshly prepared ingredients, so even if it takes a little longer it will be worth the
The shape of things to come: Air Organic
everything — four colours in the decor, four sandwiches, four soups, sweet potatoes with four fillings. It’ll be quite soupy,’ he reveals. What it emphatically won’t be is ’artsy people grazing on salad.’
Fans of the old CCA’s cool line in pre- club Dls won’t be disappointed either. 'We’re hoping to set up a performance- based club night; but we want it to have that CCA vibe where people come in even if there’s nothing on. It'll be a warm meeting place that gets more funky at night; and we think it'll attract people who wouldn’t normally go to the CCA.’ With the CCA's
inimitable
ambience and Air Organic’s effortless style, Four looks set to be a hangout for ’
those truly in the know.
What will happen when the CCA moves to its permanent home remains ;
to be seen; but for now, in terms of both food and atmosphere, Air Organic have
it all worked out. we“ be keeping it as ‘ fresh and simple as we can, without
compromising our good name!’ (Hannah McGilI)
I Four opens on Fri 15 Oct at the CCA, Sauch/eha/l Street, Glasgow 564 5207.
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The high life: Andrew Radford's blue
wait. This follows on from the notion that this is not only a place for sit down diners but as suitable for the snackers among us, which
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is reflected in the varied menu. The location, hidden just off Glasgow’s shopping hub Buchanan Street, has almost guaranteed the restaurant a varied clientele. ’We should have a big mix of ages, quite a varied crowd - that was always the idea.’ blue in Edinburgh has been a great success since it opened two and a half years ago above the Traverse Theatre. Its appeal is not
only in its menu but its design;
blue slabs of colour contrast with the pale varnished wood and stainless steel furniture and fittings giving it an airy, uncluttered but welcoming feel and the Glasgow restaurant
follows in a similar fashion. ’It's very much the same design and style as blue in Edinburgh,’ says
Radford. Opening to coincide with the new Lighthouse exhibition
entitled RED (’just to confuse you,’ he says), blue will add another splash of colour to the west coast, as it has already in the east.
(Mark Robertson)
l b/ue opens on Thu 74 Oct at The Lighthouse Ga/lery, Mitche/l Lane, Glasgow 204 2404.
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EVERY NIGHT -
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50 Hope Street, Glasgow. Tel: 0141 24.8
7—21 Oct 1999 THE l|8T115