Hide & seek
The name suggests it's in a hidden lane and it combines a café and a gallery. Donald Reid went hunting
he Hidden Lane doesn’t do location, location, location. Start in the ramshackle stretch of Argyle Street between Finnieston and Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery where there’s a growing and diverse range of small, independent bars and dining spots such as Lebowski's, Kokuryo and Fanny Trollope's. Places such as The Sisters and Mother India are a block away. Keep a sharp eye out for a narrow entrance way under some tenements, the kind which would once have led to some oily car mechanic garages and metalworkers. Go through it and you’ll find a little enclave of mews, workshops and units filled by small design studios, picture framers and other creative types. There’s nothing glamorous here: the cobbles are uneven, concrete slabs are cracked and drainpipes leak, but it’s quiet, alternative and intriguing. Tucked onto a gable end in a sunny corner is a tall, conservatory-like structure. A couple of demure signs announce this as the Hidden Lane Cafe- Gallery. lt’s run by Gill Millar, and is the
kind of place that smacks of
tentatively nurtured dream rather than grand masterplan. A single page menu, served from a galley kitchen on the ground floor,
a me LIST 14—21 Aug 2008
IT SMACKS OF TENTATIVELY NURTURED DREAM RATHER THAN GRAND MAST ERPLAN
currently offers sandwiches, a soup of the day. a dish of the day (Spanish tortilla perhaps, or a chilli con came. or Moroccan meatballs), snacking platters, milkshakes and home-baked cakes. Up a pine stairway is a mezzanine level with wicker furniture and sufficient wall space to exhibit artwork. The programme of regular poetry readings, art previews and jazz. sessions is increasing all the time.
The decor ranges from plants and fairylights to bits of naff junk and exposed plumbing. If you want to eat outside (and on a good day the sun streams in) just drag your chair outside. The coffee and tea is organic but there’s also a hanging net stuffed with packets of Golden Wonder crisps. There’s no license but there is free wi-fi, although networking here also means neighbours popping in for a coffee and wandering back to their iMac carefully clutching their cup and saucer
HIDDEN LANE
E-GALLERY 8Argy‘le Court, 1108ArgyleStreet, Glasgow 0141 564 1363, www.the
hiddenlanecouk. Open Mon—Fri loam—10pm, Sat & Sun 1prn—10pm. Also the cafe will host an open accoustic night with a slight leaning towards more ethnic and unusual instruments every Thursday from
7.30pm. Sandwiches from £2.90;
daily specials £4.50.
The menu may well evolve if
Millar‘s plans to open in the evenings come to fruition this autumn. For now the food is nothing outstanding but it’s respectable enough. it‘s freshly made on a small scale and it suits the low-key style of the place. There are kinder things you can do to a homemade scone than microwave it. but the fact that such practices are there for all to see is itself a declaration of the simple honesty of the place.
There are. inevitably, funkier, cooler, more stylish spots around the West lind. There are more dynamic and ambitious menus. There are edgier galleries. None of them, however, do hidden.
News to nibble on
I m I‘ experienced diners know full well that the Two Fat Ladies fish restaurants had nothing to do with motorcycling cooks Clarissa and Jennifer, and everything to do with the address of the original site at 88 Dumbarton Road. However, the latest addition to Ryan James’ portfolio suggests that there might, after all, be something more to the dames’ identity. The Shandon Belles is located in the basement space below Two Fat Ladies at the Buttery at 652 Argyle Street, with a simple home-style menu offering dishes such as lamb chops or belly pork cassoulet for under a tenner. Book at 0141 221 8188 or go to www.twofatladies restaurantcom
I ms “ m and shaking happening in the pubs and taverns of Stockbridge in Edinburgh in recent weeks. Martin Luney and Colin Church, former managers within the Montpelier’s group, have taken on Hamilton's as their first venture, covering the walls with pop art and promising “local produce for local people'. Meanwhile. Edinburgh Real Ale Ltd. the team behind Cloisters and the Bow Bar, have renamed Bert ’8 Bar on Raeburn Place as the Stockbridge Tap and are teaming up with Carlo Coxon from the Grain Store to look after the food side of things. Good food is also promised at the St Vincent Bar by St Stephen’s Church, where Craig McAlpine of Home Cuisine is to run the food operation.
near Kilearn are now running a daily shuttle bus from various points in Glasgow with a whisky expert on board for the 14-mile trip, which costs £18.50 including a tour of the distillery and a couple of drams. For more info call 0800 0141 495 or visit www.thewhiskybus.co.uk