Food&Drink News&Reviews
D R O F D A R I
B A © S O T O H P
Chip off the new block At Timberyard, Donald Reid finds two generations of Radfords energising an unconventional venue with wise creativity and youthful verve
SUPPORTED BY
SIDE DISHES NEWS TO NIBBLE ON
KELVIN BRIDGE’S BIG BLUE has faded out after nearly 20 years at its unique location on the river Kelvin. New bar Inn Deep promises cask beers and cocktails with a heavy Williams Bros presence and looks set to be a popular watering hole for Glasgow’s brew fans.
PART CHEMISTRY CLASSROOM, part new-age café, Brew Lab is the
latest evidence that coffee- geekiness is a coming trend. Located beside Edinburgh’s Old College, the aim is to explore coffee beyond the espresso machine with brewing techniques including The Syphon, Aeropress and Chemex. brewlabcoffee.co.uk
A COUPLE OF NEW PRODUCTS Innis & Gunn have launched raspberry and strawberry fruit lagers under the Melville’s label, while Macsween’s vegetarian haggis has had its 28-year-old recipe tweaked to make it nut-free.
+ An enveloping venue reclaimed and revitalised
- Not all the rough edges are deliberate
from
D iscovered by Andrew and Lisa Radford after they’d the drawn breath closure of Atrium and Blue in early 2011, the old Lawson’s timber store near the art college has been coaxed from dusty obscurity in the past few months. An intriguing warehouse restaurant has been created, showcasing the owners’ singular vision, restaurant know-how and cultural sensitivity.
The venue – equally at ease as a wine bar, cocktail hangout, morning coffee stop or place to eat – retains the feel of a bluecollar site with bare brick, steel pillars, large doors on rollers and uneven wooden floors. In have come chunky wooden tables (retrieved from the Atrium), salvaged stoves and radiators, and a spacious kitchen. The charming internal courtyard, a birch tree planted in the middle, is fringed with assorted outbuildings shored up as covered sitting areas, a butchery and small smokehouse.
is
tasty,
The food interesting and unshowy, comfortably in step with what good local sources and the seasons are offering. Both set menu (for lunch and pre-theatre) and main à la carte, are pared down, focused. Bites – essentially bar snacks or amuse-bouches – include a sliver of pickled mackerel sharpened by fennel and mellowed by sour cream, reaffirming that a taste of something good is better than a bowlful of bland. Heritage new potatoes have sufficiently old-school depth to carry a dish alongside
samphire and a poached egg yolk, while sweet, juicy lamb loin is joined at either end of its flavour spectrum by earthy chanterelles and perky fresh peas. The idiosyncratic wine list has an attractively large
number available by the glass at fair prices.
The Radfords had plenty of genuine local goodwill banked from their Atrium years and they’ve rightly been drawing their interest on that in the first few weeks of operation, but the engaged charm of Timberyard may well be down to a factor beyond. In this venture the experience and tasteful artistic touch of Andrew and Lisa are joined by the youthful verve and energy of their twentysomething children, with son Ben in charge in the kitchen, and Jo and Abi helping with front of house and the management. It’s a balanced blend of young and old, one hand fully complementing the other, that may be even more of a creative discovery than the venue itself.
TIMBERYARD
10 Lady Lawson Street, Edinburgh EH3 9DS 0131 221 1222, timberyard.co
Tue–Sat noon–2pm, 5.30–10pm. Closed Sun/Mon
Ave. price two-course meal: £14 (set lunch) / £23.50 (dinner)
DEUCHARS RECOMMENDS
BIDDY MULLIGANS 96 Grassmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2JR In one of Edinburgh’s favourite Irish bars, Biddy Mulligans, you can find a traditional drinking spot, hearty Irish grub and plenty of craic. Even midweek holds a buzz of regulars and visitors satisfied with an authentic atmosphere, plasma TVs and live music with bands every night. This is the place to visit for a cracking pint of Deuchars whilst visiting the Grassmarket.
20 Sep–18 Oct 2012 THE LIST 29