Diary of a Scottish Restaurant

A guddle of French, a tuba, whisky and the rugby.

2012-02-26T20:42:00.001Z

What a weekend we had!
Woah!

Of course Edinburgh was invaded by the French for the rugby on Sunday afternoon.
Hoards of them streaming through the streets with big smiles and great joie de vivre - that's about the extent of my French. But one thing that is international is a big smile. A grand....em...smile. Told you I don't speak it though I do love the sound of it.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday the restaurants in Edinburgh were rammed. These photos you can see are Saturday and Sunday lunchtime at Howies Waterloo as we hosted huge parties of French folk raring to go to the rugby. Wine, whisky and a 3 course meal, a cup of black coffee and they were off.
Literally in under 2 hours they had been, eaten and whizzed off.

Several things were interesting to observe. What a good looking lot the French are - there was a lot of eyeball exchanges between the staff as they all arrived, looking stylish and beautiful/handsome. Sorry I digress....only 3 out of the hundreds drank milk with their coffee. The ladies in the group didn't have sweet and they were in very good voice as a great French band arrived complete with tuba...you can just about make it out in the photo...quite surreal the whole thing. But what fun.
Even more fun for them later as they beat Scotland at the rugby at Murrayfield - c'est la vie as they say.

C'est la vie.

Vive La Belle France!

2012-02-23T14:54:00.000Z

Rugby matches always mean fun, mayhem and extremely packed restaurants.
This weekends French match will be no exception but we just love the rugby fans....they are raucous and lively but they fill the place with such energy and fun we put on about 6 extra staff to keep them fed and watered.

We are opening early on Saturday to accommodate all the bookings knowing that chilled wine and good food are the very bedrock of French life.

So....half the restaurant is full of Scots - the other half French and far from being an atmosphere of hostility it will be an atmosphere of hospitality which will, if previous memories of such events are anything to go by, be peppered with outbursts of music, song and impromptu hugs

Bring it on. Lose or win. Edinburgh just loves a rugby weekend.

Lee Randall interviews the long suffering husband and I - The Scotsman Newspaper 20/2/2012

2012-02-20T21:19:00.000Z

. Picture: Phil Wilkinson

Published on Monday 20 February 2012 00:29

The founders of Howies restaurants are again in charge after buying back the business they sold in 2006. So, why didn’t tales of false teeth down the loo and communal sing-songs put them off, asks Lee Randall

“She got a little excited,” says Scott, in a voice resembling the velvety red he’s pouring into my glass. “She came over to me rather sheepishly, pulled me to one side and said, ‘David, I think my teeth are down the loo.’ These were retrieved, and I said, ‘We’ll wrap them up and you can take them home.’ She said, ‘I haven’t had my main course yet! Just give them a boil, I’ll pop them back in.’”

Scott and his wife, Alison Craig, best known as an author, broadcaster and now reporter with The One Show, opened the first Howies in July 1990, on St Leonard’s Street, Edinburgh, in the spot currently occupied by Blonde. The address started life as George’s Transport Cafe, then became Rasputin’s Russian Restaurant, owned by former Fleet Street star Dorothy Young. In the early days Scott spent some of his time in the kitchen and, after finishing her morning shift at Forth FM, Craig pitched in as a waitress. Even Scott’s mum provided Border tarts for the sweets menu.

“There was never a grand plan,” says Craig. “This is where David’s experience as an estate agent came in, because he was always aware of what was on the market. St Leonard’s Street wasn’t as busy and upmarket as it is now and people thought, ‘Is he barking?’ But word got around within days among the student population, so it became busy very quickly.”

Informality was a Howies hallmark, and one of the reasons for its popularity. “It wasn’t white tablecloths and people asking if they could top up your wine glass all the time,” says Craig. “In fact, one night David was cooking and I was waiting tables, and the place was rammed with students. For some reason someone stood up and began to sing a song, and their table all joined in. Then the next table stood up and sang a song. It went round the entire restaurant – by this time all these strangers were arm in arm. Finally it came to a table occupied by a couple. The man stood up and said, ‘I can assure you I will not be singing a song, nor have I ever sang a song in public.’ Everyone went back to eating. He paid his bill, but as they were leaving, a little voice in the corner began to sing, ‘So long, farewell … ’ and all the diners stood up and serenaded this guy.”

Scott, the son of a banker, is originally from Edinburgh, and Craig comes from Aberdeen. Though Scott attended university there for a year, he didn’t meet Craig until much later – they were both 29 – in the Bailie, in Stockbridge. He’d returned to Edinburgh and taken a job as a cashier in the Luckpenny on Hanover Street. Whenever things were quiet, chef Mike Scott (no relation) would teach him to cook. David progressed from the kitchen to managing the restaurant, and helping with their outside catering business and chip shop.

“But after five years I realised there was no future. It was a family operation and they had children. So I thought I’d go back to university to do a business degree at Heriot-Watt – and finish this time. I swore I’d never get involved in catering again, because it’s such a mad gig, too intense, a young person’s game. I was feeling old and run down in my twenties. But that’s because we used to work six or seven days a week, and we played very hard. In the summer we’d go out after finishing work then come straight in the next day not having slept.”

After university he worked briefly as an estate agent, but the company wanted to send him to the west coast. “That was like another country. I was chatting to Alison one night and she said, ‘What do you really want to do?’ I said, ‘Open a restaurant,’ and she said, ‘Well just bloody do it!’”

With St Leonard’s Street up and running, Scott was keen to expand. “My nature is not to stand still, so I thought: ‘OK, put the staff and systems into place and go find another one.’” They opened on Dalry Road in 1992, and never looked back. In time there would be branches on Alva Street, in Bruntsfield, and in Dundee and St Andrews.

In 2006 they surprised everyone by selling Howies to entrepreneurs Cameron McColl and John McCoach. Why? “Gosh,” says Scott, “it got to the point where we ran out of the impetus and energy to keep expanding. That was after 16 years – a long time to be running hard at it – and we received an offer that was hard to turn down.” He won’t be drawn, but the deal was reported to be in the £2 million range, with Scott and Craig retaining ownership of the actual properties at Waterloo Place, and Chapel Street in Aberdeen.

Scott’s idea was to devote his time to property and land investments. “I did projects with people I knew, getting involved in adding value by getting planning permissions and so on. But three years ago the markets dried up in terms of liquidity with the banks. They said, ‘Use your own money.’ I said, ‘I don’t think so.’”

Late last year the couple heard that Howies was headed for receivership and for sale at a combined value of offers over £485,000. Buying it back was a no-brainer – every instinct said go for it. “It would be difficult to see it in anybody else’s hands,” says Scott. “We’ve done that, and that was horrible,” echoes Craig.

It made sense to keep Waterloo Place and Aberdeen open, since they own the properties. As for Victoria Street – well, back when it was a Pierre Victoire, they had one of their first dates there. They rent that property, but it’s a room of two halves, with separate owners. “Edinburgh’s like that, there’s never any cut-and-clear divisions,” says Craig.

From an economic and business perspective, operating a delivering business from your own premises has a lot of appeal to the banks. “I do feel for the people who bought this business,” says Scott. “When you buy a catering business and you’re not actually involved in catering as part of your life, or haven’t been historically, there are huge challenges that aren’t apparent on the surface. That’s when it becomes more challenging.”

Was it heartbreaking watching the restaurants decline? “Because his name was above the door, it was always going to be personal, even if we were not involved,” says Craig, alluding to the fact that Scott’s middle name is Howie.

He says: “The toughest thing is that Edinburgh is a village, maybe a town if you’re lucky, and no matter what ends up in the press saying ‘Sold’, a lot of people still thought we were involved for the past five years. At times it was disappointing to go past and look at the building and think: ‘Oh, it doesn’t present itself the way you want it to; it doesn’t look fresh, it doesn’t look right, the lights aren’t on.’”

They are slowly refurbishing the venues, but the basic ethos is unchanged: simple cooking and wholesome, seasonal food. Famously, the restaurants only have tiny freezers, for storing sorbets and ice-cream, and food is delivered fresh seven days a week. Each of their three chefs – Stephen Wallace at Waterloo Place; Chris Thomas at Victoria Street, and Louis Hewitt in Aberdeen – is encouraged to put his own stamp on his menu, so they aren’t cookie-cutter identical.

Might they renew their policy of expansion? “If we were 20 years younger …” says Scott, leaving his sentence hanging. “But I think we’ll pause and make sure we’ve got it right and develop the theme.” Apart from anything else, they owe it to the staff. “It was a transfer of a going concern, so we bought all the assets from the administrator, which includes all the staff – some of whom we’ve known for a long time,” says Scott. That amounts to roughly 70 people, all of whom have lives and personalities and histories. “And we’ve taken that on,” says Craig. “There are probably people who have lost faith in the brand, and it’s our job to let them know that the original ideas and standards are very much back in operation.”

Social media ducking & diving.

2012-02-03T11:29:00.000Z

Another thought for the budding restaurateur…..before you turn your back on a day like this one in the hills of Scotland, fishing a Highland stream for wild brown trout to start a restaurant....

I know it sounds straight forward and in theory it is. Find a room, cook some lovely food and serve it to a customer with a smile. Sadly it is shark infested custard these days on all fronts. And the latest challenge is social media.

When we started Howies all those years ago – 1990 there were barely computers let alone Websites, Trip Advisor, LinkedIn, Twitter etc. We were line free, straight backed and clear headed. Well most of the time.

Admittedly we sold up 5 years ago it was all there but not as ingrained in the publics consciousness as it is now so we are currently attempting to step up to the plate. Well we are a restaurant so plates are quite the thing for us in a more traditional way. This plate is altogether more challenging.

Anyway after many emails and explanations and general gibbering Trip Advisor I hope is now updating to explain our rather unique situation. Yes it is under new ownership -us. But it was us that started is. Then sold it. Then bought it back 5 years later. Confused? Yes me too.

The thing is it’s imperative to persevere as Trip Advisor is a tremendously powerful tool and looking at Howies reviews they are a mixed bag. Also they are before we took over, so I am trying to get all reviews prior to January 1st 2012 taken down.
So our challenge is to explain to those using Trip Advisor that we are now back in charge as of NOW and to disregard bad ones, old ones, ones prior to this year.
But that is hard.
Trip Advisor have been helpful but I expect they are inundated with similar requests on a daily basis.

Howie's rated "excellent" by travellers

In order to prove ownership the only thing they don’t required is our DNA string.
Now at least we are noted as being the owners and I hope in time the recent great reviews will overshadow and outdate the old bad ones.

As you can see from this wee widget - call me IT guru!! Things are looking up up up !

How chuffed are we?

2012-02-02T18:44:00.001Z

Howie's rated "excellent" by travellers

Another Day In Paradise.

2012-01-28T10:04:00.002Z

For the uninitiated the title of this post is ironic. If you are not clear exactly what irony is? Well read on...

You know there is a certain time of years that all the light bulbs just blow. Usually just as winter kicks in and you need them. Well clearly there is also a time when commercial catering equipment just goes. And in the case of Howies it seems just when we have bought back the business we sold 5 years ago.
So that was yesterdays challenge.

The ice machine.

The dishwasher at Waterloo and a fridge at Victoria Street.

A dishwasher but not as we know it. Well this one works.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Friday is not a great day to phone someone and go ‘HELP!’ as all commercial kitchen engineers are already running around sorting out other restaurants whose equipment has burst. So we tried everything/everyone. We googled, begged, and had some joy a as the fridge was fixed and then the ice machine too. But try as we might we could not find someone to sort out the huge up and over dishwasher.

So I have just heard late last night that the Ops Director was in there strapped into ye old rubber gloves where she had a late late sweaty night washing the plates manually.

After a long long day in the office, on the floor, and then in the kitchen washing dishes. CBE, Knighhood & OBE required.And a holiday. A lie down and a whisky.

Have you ever been faced with an ever increasing mound of dishes. The plates, forks, spoons and knives of 120 odd folk? Well just imagine it... then times it by ten. It is hell.

My first job to supplement the pocket money as a 15 yr old was as a dishwasher at The Crescent Hotel in Aberdeen. A wild eyed chef called Raymond ran the place with a mad eye and a sharp knife. Up to my oxters in boiling water with a film of sweat on my face was how I spent many a miserable hour. The head dishwasher – yes there was a pecking order was called Marlene – after Marlene Deitrich. That is where the resemblance ended.

Woman being blindly guided into emptying machine 1954.

I can recall that hell as if it were yesterday. And if we don’t find someone to fix our darn machine it won’t feel like yesterday it will be today. Off to get some Marigolds in preparation of the day ahead…..

Victoria Street - water cracker!

2012-01-25T20:52:00.000Z

It's been a bit mad round here. When is it not? Suddenly a week has gone.
So anyway, a PS on the Vic St refurb.
We opened up happy, decorations done. Radiators up. Art hung. Glasses polished. Deliveries in. Music thrumming gently in the background. Tantalising smells wafting from the kitchen, the waft of warm bread being sliced in preparation for the imminent arrival of our lunch customers. Of course it couldn't last. It never does.
So as we drank in that one moment of perfection and peace there was a sudden loud and very wet sound... sort of giant kersplooosh broke the moment. Quickly flinging the door to the office open we saw the culprit. The blooming' boiler - the only part of the entire restaurant inside and out we hadn't touched. As we started the refurb we looked at it, admired it almost, and agreed it looked robust and stalwart. How wrong were we? I looked at it now. It was as if it objected to being ignored as all around was upgraded, painted and fussed over so it just got angrier and angrier until it just burst and poured it's cold, effusive contents onto the laptop, and the office all round. It is of course the thing that holds Howies world in it's belly. ****. So there it is, perched on a radiator dripping as I write whilst we hover, as if at the door of intensive care awaiting the surgeon - in this case John Lane our IT guru to give us the prognosis. Gulp. It's going to be a long night.

Yes I knew you'd want to know the name of the radiator company - OK then here they are www.bestbathrooms.com

Art, paint, music and food. Perfect.

2012-01-15T12:55:00.003Z

Victoria Street is open once again. Fresh, welcoming and with

some great art on the walls.Chris Bushe - a brilliant Scottish painter.

A fabulous Sam MacDonald picture, an artist from the Scottish islands who makes big battered copper pictures of shoals of fish and

some Kelly Stewarts scenes of Edinburgh & Paris- all of it

original stuff and really at home in the restaurant.

Thanks to Chris and his team in the kitchen and Jo, Karen and the front of house team...everything was put back, polished up and looking great for the opening.

Of course the usual last minute traumas occurred as count down to opening drew close. A new coat covered in paint, front door continually blowing open to freeze assembled diners, wireless music stopped so we were in silence. To be honest music is only ever used as a background in Howies, but being a Radio DJ & musician for years it is something I am more passionate about. So rather than plug on with the antique Amp I sloped off and bought the groovy new Sonos system which I have been coveting for myself to be honest but at least it let me get my hands on it.

Now I am not an itinerant plugger of all things but seriously this guy at Richer Sounds, Garry (with two r's) was great. Being a woman more often than not in a place full of hi-fi, wi-fi, streaming, Mp3 players and the like I get used to being spoken to like I have had my brain removed. Garry was great though and so I left confident to go and install it myself which I did. It worked beautifully for 10 minutes then my new title as super techno geek became more useless techno gook until John Lane our super duper IT man saved the day swooped in found an anti virus program was taking up about 70% of the hard disc sorted us out and Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt. So all is good. The sounds are grooving and the place is jumping.

When I say jumping I mean packed to the gunnels not a spare seat in the place. In fact it reminded me of the good old days in Victoria Street.

Originally it was a Pierre Victoire and the long suffering husband Howie and I had our very first ever date there. Struck by the tangible atmosphere - there's something about being in a stone medieval room with history literally all around right next to Edinburgh Castle that stays with you. It does.
So when Pierres closed it was a natural expansion of Howies at that time to buy it and open which we did.

It is one of the best locations in Edinburgh make no mistake so when we sold up 5 years ago it was with a tear in our eye but hey ho on we went.

Who would have thought January 2012 we would be back in there. And delighted too. It's familiar territory and was like being in the company of a great old friend yesterday sitting there for lunch.

The new January menu that Chris produced was a joy from start to finish. You may think of course I am biased but not really.
Having been a judge on Iron Chef on Channel 4 last year I can't help but be critical. But the smoked salmon on a bed of leaves with Thai dressing, followed by creamed spinach & goats cheese crepe is without a doubt my new obsession. I will be in there daily eating it. I will.
The others had great food too. Hell it's easier if I just show you the menu. And the £8.95 is not a misprint.

January Lunch at Howies Victoria Street

2 Courses £8.95

STARTERS (all available as main courses)
Soup of the day (v)	£2.65	£3.50

Traditional Cullen Skink served with a cheddar cheese crouton	£4.15	£6.15

Traditional haggis, neeps & tatties with thyme jus	£4.05	£6.70

Bruschetta of grilled sardines with rocket salad and a lemon & thyme dressing	£4.15	£6.55

Herb crusted deep fried brie served with a homemade beetroot & horse radish relish and dressed salad leaves (v)	£3.95	£6.15

Warm salad of shredded beef tenderloin, julienne tomato and rocket with a honey mustard vinaigrette	£4.25	£7.05

Hot smoked Scottish salmon with Thai dressed salad leaves	£4.15	£6.05

MAINS

Homemade Scottish beef & venison burger on a toasted flour bap served with a spiced apple chutney and fried vegetable crisps: add organic cheddar or bacon for an extra 50p each and add fries for £1		£6.95
Chunky roast pumpkin chilli served with aromatic basmati rice and a fresh herb yogurt (v)		£6.15
Creamy chicken pot pie with carrots, celery, peas and warm puff pastry lid		£6.50

Scottish salmon fettuccini with leeks and citrus crème fraiche		£6.85

Warm spinach, roast red onion & goats cheese crepe with dressed rocket salad (v)		£6.95

Freshly landed catch of the day -seabass - yuml		£7.95

Casserole of the day - It was beef yesterday - with creamy mash - perfect		£7.15


Puds include in the infamous banoffi, dark chocolate & ginger torte, afogatto, poached pear, cinammon panacotta. Nice.
I must away....Howies Waterloo is shut today ofr 3 days for a makeover too....it's never dull this business they call restaurant that's for sure....will keep you up to date....phew....

Refurbishment of Restaurant Day 2

2012-01-11T08:22:00.000Z

There we are the circular sign on the right.

We are in the process of completely doing up our restaurant in Edinburgh's Victoria Street. It is one of the most beautiful streets in the world-that is official not just me bumping my gum and it was looking particularly lovely early this morning in the winter sun as I went back to see how refurb Day 2 was going. Ridding ourself of purple, red, black the biggest decision is colours. Which one?

John Graham

John Graham & John Corrigan

On the left you can sees John the painter daubing a few colours outside for us to decide which is the one we want to coat the whole exterior. Wet they all looked a bit glow in the dark but John was well prepared instead of waiting hours for it to dry he just went marching into his van and returned with a hairdryer which you can see he is drying the wall with.

Meanwhile John the painter/hairdryer holder on the left meets with John the kitchen equipment supplier in the middle who is clutching a clipboard and also talking to the long suffering husband David Howie about life, Hobarts, fridges, hobs and dishwashers as the spark arrives.
'Hello' I shout and invite him over and introduce him to the others. 'This is John'.
Yes the electrician is also called John. John Strachan.
So now we have 3 Johns.

A non John in the Jon Smiling.

Well more accurately we have 5 if you count the two Johns inside - the ladies and the gents which are also being gutted and done up. I won't dwell on them but here's a photo of smiling man who is in the process of doing up the Johns...he is smiling because he is happy in his work but mostly because he is not called John.

Next our IT/music guy who pitched up next can you guess what he's called? Yup ....he is. John. John Lane.
You couldn't make it up.
Well you could but no-one would believe it.

So, which colour do you like? I wonder if it's the one we've gone for.
I am off there again today and will report back.

My challenge for today is to find another John on site.

You challenge is to come up with collective noun for a number of Johns.

A nudge? A clump? A host?

Oh and a colour!

Victoria Street Refurbishment Started!

2012-01-08T20:35:00.002Z

Very excited about our refurbishment which kicked off today January 8th, 8am at Howies, Victoria Street, Edinburgh .

Here on the left you can see the Howies sign on the current exterior which is Purple and Black...don't ask why - I don't know, you see we have just bought the restaurant back after 5 years so you would really have to ask the previous owners......so..anyway inside and out we decided it's time for a change.

Here are some of the photos of the ‘before’.

As you can see a mishmash or colour and all sorts of quirky bits and bobs .

The restaurant has two separate dining rooms.

The front room has 3 huge picture windows that look out onto Victoria Street - Victoria Street was built hundreds of years ago and is genuinely regarded as one of the most beautiful streets in Europe as it snakes from Edinburgh's Grassmarket to George IV bridge, The Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle just round the corner.
Every shop or restaurant here is a one off. So if you want a real flavour of medievil Edinburgh look no further....I digress.

As you can see red, whitea silver extraction pipe and splodges of teal on the wall. These are the colours we are looking at painting it - no not all of it just the pillars and arches. Final decision on colours tomorrow with John the patient and delightful painter.

If you would like to keep up to date with the inevitable stramash (Scots for everything going wrong, then right, then quickly wrong again) then click the follow button at the top right hand button of this page.

This is the bar which is usually stacked with bottles, glasses, coffee cups and smiling staff but it's all been cleared out for the big turnaround.
Colours have been difficult to decide upon. Howies logo is teal and cream so why mess with something so delicious we are just using those lovely hues to do the whole jing bang (Scots slang for the entire project).

The current window display is mainly brushes, rollers, and large plastic buckets. We are only shut for 4 days so you can imagine the pressure on turning it round fast. We have 7 - yup count 'em - 7 brides for 7 brothers no no no I mean 7 painters in there with scaffolding, dungarees, a loud radio and a propensity to whistle out of tune.

This is the back room. An in fact the only thing we've done since buying Howies back mid-December is to rehang this amazing battered copper chandalier which was originally an gas fired one in the Victorian era. Tis a thing of beauty so much so it's being lowered during the refurb so you can see it properly...it's a beezer (Scots slang for a beautiful example) and was hanging in the very first Howies we opened 21 years ago and we've carried it with us ever since.
The high chairs are looking for a home as there just is no room for the little darlings. They look like Ercol and will be wending their way to an Edinburgh charity shop unles you would like one? Free to your lovely baby.
We need stacking high chairs for our mini diners - baby changing facilities also being fitted into the ladies loo. We do love the wee ones. Good news cludgiewise too the loos are being done up too - I didn't think you would appreciate those photos...no I thought not.

Part of the exterior here. The middle section...black, blue, purple and the most attractive addition of the plastic hanging basket which will be ritually burnt as it is truly a hideous thing.

The whole place was done properly a long time ago and since then has been patch painted and occasionally tweaked so it is well overdue a great big wash of coherent colours.

The picture windows were full of people with their noses pressed against them today wondering what on earth is going on. So do tell them......

That both inside and out it is all being done…..exciting stuf. I shall post an update - meanwhile if you want to book a table for the reopening click HERE

Deer Deer Deer what next?

2012-01-04T19:03:00.002Z

Do you like the photo? A stag the casually walked past the house we were staying in the Scottish Highlands. What a beauty! Of course little did it know we were inside talking about food, specifically Scottish game or to be even more specific venison. Still having had venison on Hogamanay (New Years Eve) and then for lunch on the 2nd he was safe just this once. After much discussion we sorted out our January offer which is up and running so if you’re in Edinburgh or Aberdeen click on the relevant city for details of what we're up to.

Public Holiday but not for the Restaurant Business....

2012-01-02T21:15:00.001Z

Highland Cattle - yeh they look cute but by goodness they taste even better. (Sorry Coo)

Yes two whole days off. The1st and the 2nd then bang! The 3rd January it's back into the frey.
Closing Howies for 2 days sounds like heaven but in reality it means the second the doors open again we all hit the ground running.
Phone messages, emails and texts for bookings are taken as deliveries start piling in from 10am sharp.
We have no freezers in Howies so we get deliveries every day except Sunday and if we've been shut for a couple of days that means we start from scratch again. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Yes yes of course this adds pressure on the chefs but vitally it gives us the ability to be seasonal and change the menu every day. Yes we have our stalwart favourites but at this time of year in Scotland there is a plethora of game available. Lordy it's tasty stuff. Venison, pheasant, rabbit, hare, partridge and the like gathered from the Glens and cooked fresh. Wonderful. This January we have a great supply of Scottish pheasants so there are lots of tweaking on a variety of pheasant recipes to decide which ones cut the mustard and are on the list.

So as you read this the chefs are getting all their delicious ingredients together and preparing for the cook off. Yeah!

This is a joy.

The head chef cooks everything on the menu. Every starter, every main course and every pud and then we all get together to taste and give feedback as to what's good, great and an absolute beezer.

There are 3 Howies Restaurants but we are not a formulaic set up on any level so the chefs design their own menus and with tasting, testing and talking we end up with 3 cracking and unique menus.
Head chef at Howies Victoria Street is Chris.....Waterloo Place is Stevie and in Aberdeen we have a new head chef starting on the 6th....more of which later....

I intend to try everything. EVERYTHING. Of course there will be salad on the menu this month - well there has to be for me or I may combust.

Menu highlights here in next post....but right now....I'm off to pluck a pheasant......please fill in your own joke here........oh and here are some highland coos in action on the Isle of Mull on the West Coast - cute !

Busmans Chrismas Holiday

2011-12-29T09:03:00.008Z

Here he is David Howie Scott.

There are only 3 days a year that Howies is shut and what’s he doing?

Well cooking up a massive Christmas feast for friends and family.

He can’t help himself.

When the first Howies was opened in 1990 he did so because he loved food, cooking and hosting his pals. As you can see he still does.

This is good news for everyone apart from me, his wife, as when he cooks at home he cooks for about 40 people and waste not (waist – not) want not I eat the lot.

Remembering the very first Christmas at Howies though it was a slightly less relaxed affair as David decided it would be great to cook Goose as opposed to turkey.

What he didn’t realise then was that cooking Goose was tantamount to opening a large gushing tap of fat and sitting back as it drained out.

By the time the bird was cooked the weight of it had divided by about 10 and the meat was distinctly average,.

So what to do?

Disappoint the diners as the queued up ruddy cheeked and excited at their goosey gander extravaganza ? No

So he gave away the goose and cooked up turkey instead.

Happy days.

Loss making Days?

Yes.

But happy.

PS This beautiful kitchen isn't ours sadly but belongs to our pals Ben & Karen and just to make you lads feel inferior Ben built the whole thing! He did. Scottish wood, designed and byootiful! Talented man.Here's his site if you would like to live in a Scottish heavenly wood designed space.

Christmas Time Burglings Of Wine or more acccurately Scotch!

2011-12-27T13:05:00.001Z

Wild pheasant - furious and on the menu today!

Yes the joy of Christmas proved too much for one guy who decided to smash a window , set off the alarms, dogs and Lothian & Borders Police and settled himself at the bar at Howies Waterloo for a quick bottle of Scotch on Boxing Day before being arrested and dragged off to the cells.

So Boxing Day was spent with a man in a uniform - the very impressive and delightful Lothian & Borders Police as they swooped in and saved the day. There's something about a man in a uniform...sorry I digress.

Glass being swept, window being replaced and business as usual of course deliveries are just in - 11.30am on the 27th - and the chefs are getting their dander up as they are off the Christmas Menu and back to seaonsal fresh and whats in the marketplace today.

So today....yum... where to start?

We have some fresh wild pheasant literally just arrived. Did I say wild? Yes it's bloomin' furious.
Oh and some amazing Scottish sirloin.....cooked the way you like it.
And never forget the Howies banoffi - aye there for your delight and delictation.

Well with the holidays in full swing, Hogmanay just round the corner and the sales are doing a roaring trade so take some time out why don't you? Howies in Edinburgh are offering up a calm, warm, sweet smelling, tinkly music type environement to come and relax. Stuff your carrier bags under the table, order a drinkandn exhale.
We are called human beings - not human doings!

So wait not a moment longer - come round and remind yourself why Scotland's larder is the way to go.

Christmas time diamonds and wine.

2011-12-24T06:56:00.001Z

Just your average carry on at Howies

Over the years I have worked for so many different companies and I can say almost without exception we never got any Christmas goodies. Nothing. Nada. Well being self-employed that may have had something to do with it. And I’m pretty sure I did get a frozen turkey from Radio Forth one year but I left it in a bar and other than that nothing.

Some poor bar man found this under a table in the morning.

I do recall vividly feeling really hacked off that working a whole year for a company and them not acknowledging that fact it in any way whatsoever.

So now back in the fray at Howies David and I were talking about this very thing when I said ‘Come on Dave let’s take everyone to Portugal for the weekend’.

Of course he passed out.

But he was fine once had brought him round with smelling salts.

Yes OK so he is money side of the business and clearly I am not. Happily.

So as that would have put us out of business 2 weeks after getting back into it I agreed we would be slightly more reserved.

So with 63 employees what do you get?

Well booze.

Yes it’s a cliché but it’s also something that most people can enjoy and if not they can gift it on to someone else that will.

So a lovely bottle of delicious red wine was sourced from Corney & Barrow each of which arrived in a little silver box.

In addition we joined MacIntyres of Edinburgh for everyone too.

MacIntyres is a wholesale jeweller and you can’t shop there unless you have a Company account. So with diamonds, watches and wine hopefully the team at Howies know how much we appreciate them. Because without them, Howies is nothing.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Time in Scotland

2011-12-22T21:21:00.000Z

Aye.
I was at Howies Waterloo early today and climbed up Calton Hill, which we sit at the bottom of and took these photos. Crackers aren't they? It's funny even when you live here it sometimes takes your breath away.
Back down on Princes Street Edinburgh has transformed itself into it's annual Winter Wonderland. The main street is now brimming over with good cheer in the form of the big wheel, a helter skelter, the German Market, a couple of London double decker buses, the drone of bagpipes, parp of brass bands, and waft of hot chestnuts as red cheeked over excited children buzzing around their parents.
We are due for the biggest party of the year on Hogmanay - 31st December - and with a mild winter so far Primal Scream playing in Princes Street Gardens the party is just getting started.
Howies Waterloo is situated right at the East End of Princes Street a 1 minute walk from The Balmoral Hotel, Travel Lodge and Apex so we are in the perfect spot to observe everything as it reaches fever pitch with the arrival of the big man in the red suit on Christmas Eve.
With only a few days left in which to pull a cracker - pun intended - we hope you're not over wrought and over turkey before the big day itself.

Here at Howies we have been selling mulled wine by the gallon as there is really little that whips up the spirit of Christmas than the wonderful aroma of cinnamon, cloves and red wine. Hmmmn.

If you fancy making your own here's the oldest recipe we could find! From about 1390 - yes I know people have been knocking it back for 750 years and yet still we get hangovers! I wish someone would work on that with as much enthusiasm. If you would like a look at this amazing tome then here's the link to
The Forme of Cury

So we've been going for 20 years - not quite as long but I can recommend this is a corker of a recipe to put a smile on your guests faces when the pop in this Christmas.

Howie's Mulled Wine.
Orange studded with cloves.
A few shards of Lime &/or lemon peel
A slug of Crabbies Ginger Wine - old Man Crabbie lived in Edinburgh a local delight,
1 Cinammon Stick
A little Nutmeg
1 Star Anise
A sprinkling of Sugar
Red Wine - decent house type wine - Merlot works well with it.

Aye just pop your everything in a pan and then slowly heat, stirring to ensure you melt down your sugar, then ....em......well.......drink it!
Play with quantities and other bits and pieces til you find your perfect blend, by goodness me that's the fun part I can tell you.
Sponsored by paracetamol.

Going to get the hangover cures from the chefs and post them for 1st January, It's aye worth a try.

Fancy some festive fun, food and free fizz tonight? No Tricks!

2011-12-22T16:48:00.000Z

Eeeek! The dog is depressed. This dog wants to party but a huge corporate has just had to pull out of the their booking for tonight Thursday 22nd so we have an unbelievable 70 seats left for dinner at Howies Waterloo!

Yes it’s last minute but why not?

Would a bottle of free Prosecco tempt you?

Hmmmn thought it might.

Well why not? We’re in the mood for some Christmas cheer so every table gets a free bottle, whether for 2 or 4 people!

Main courses from £11.95 so if you don’t fancy the full cracker extravaganza then just swoop in for a quickie!

Go on call your friends and family and get in touch with us now.

It’s on a first come first served (free fizz) basis!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM HOWIES!

0131 556 5766 or get online www.howies.uk.com

The Restaurant Business brace yourself!

2011-12-17T05:21:00.000Z

Are we mad?
Well we must be.
5 years ago we sold a restaurant group in Scotland called Howies and this week - *drum roll* we bought it back.
When we sold up it was a halleluiah moment.

It was a fond farewell to 37 hour days, stress, sleepless nights, supplier dramas, customer juggling, responsiblity for keeping everyone staff and customers hap hap happy.
And a big hello to a calm and regulated lifestyle, regular hours, quality time with family and friends, inhaling without the pressure of a manic voice in your head shouting 'stop inhaling that's taking too long you should be on the phone sourcing a new Hobart as the old steam drive one has finally collapsed'.

And now look at us!
Once more into the breach.
With the benefit of time, bascially being out of the madness of catering for 5 years, we are back, fired up and raring to go.
Well we are.
Which is just as well....we're in the middle of a recession, and the world has changed and well frankly so have we. No longer the wet behind the ear, wide eyed newbies not these days we are more the crinkly faced, bow backed, fools who for some reason best known to themselves glossed over the bad memories and focussed on the good time (singular). Ok I do exaggerate but well.......

....here we are pictured last week. The day we got the keys back standing outside Howies Waterloo in Edinburgh.
If you come back to this blog, which I hope you will, you will find an honest day to day account of what it's really like to be in this business they call restaurant.

7 days a week. 7 nights a week. Dealing with the public. Dealing with farmers, veg growers, cheesemongers, booze purveyors, bakers, joiners, plumbers, chefs and each other.
I am wondering about seeking sponsorship from the local psychiatric unit as this I suspect is where this will all end.
Well it beats wearing a 3 piece suit and sitting behind a desk.
Or does it?
We'll see.

Wish us luck. We'll need it!

Howie's Back.

2011-12-15T07:05:00.000Z

The following column appeared in The Edinburgh Evening News this week - telling everyone we have been bought back by the original owner David Howie Scott & his wife, writer & broadcaster Alison Craig.

Alison Craig: A taste of the past as we buy back Howie’s

By Alison Craig
Published on Monday 12 December 2011 11:59
Stuffing an Edwardian bookcase into the back of the car at the Jane Street Auction I wedged myself back into the car and glanced around. A box of 100 crackers spilling out over the seats, 5,000 fliers, a lifejacket, a very grumpy dog, a lamp and eight loaves of bread. Like a slap round the chops with a kipper I knew we were well and truly back in the restaurant business.
Twenty-one years ago David, my long suffering husband, started Howies in St Leonards Street.
At that time it was called Rasputin’s, run by a very temperamental Russian chef who opened when he felt like it. So there wasn’t much goodwill when David bought it.
We sat around for many a night spouting names but none of them seemed right, then his mum said, what about your middle name? Howie. Well, that was that. Next we painted the place from head to toe and hit the auctions to buy bentwood chairs and mismatched tables. The only remnant from Rasputins was the pianola which sat in the corner, and a battered copper chandelier.
Then we opened. With no money for advertising, we just sat and waited. My dear pal Diane Lester – aka Dynamite – and I would sit in the window to make it look busy, then when someone came in we would leap up, make them sit at the window table and serve them.
I was doing the breakfast show on Forth FM in those days so I was always ready for a night out by lunchtime, Dynamite did the early news too, so the pair of us practically moved in as customers once the place busied up. It was soon hoaching so much that we regularly had to wheel the pianola over the road to Bill’s Bar, the pub across the way.
The only place it would fit was beside the dartboard so every time it came back with a few more holes in it. There are a thousand hilarious stories to tell but suffice to say, over the years the restaurant grew from one site to eight at its peak and seven when we sold Howies five years ago.
To be honest, latterly it wasn’t much fun. David had gone into it for the great people, food and fun, but the job had turned into being more like an accountant slaving over books. So we took down the battered copper chandelier and moved on.
It was strange as it felt as if a part of our lives was over forever. Walking past the place with his name on the door and not having anything to do with it took quite a bit of getting used to.
Still it meant we could go out and eat in lots of different restaurants and enjoy the experience without feeling like we were on a busman’s holiday.
Then, a few months ago, we heard the devastating news that Howies had gone into administration. It was a no-brainer – we had to buy it back.
So we did. Well, three of them. And the reasons for those three?
Well, heart ruling head as usual. Victoria Street was where we had our first date. It was Pierre Victoire then. Waterloo Place was Café 1812 when we spent our first Valentine’s Day there together. (Considering the jacket David pitched up wearing, frankly he was lucky we ever saw each other again. It was a vented cream number straight out of Jason King circa 1971.) And then Chapel Street in Aberdeen, as I’m an Aberdonian and when I was at school the eatery was Gerard’s, a French restaurant. I had my first job there as a waitress clad in a full-length blue Crimplene skirt with flowery apron on top.
On day one I dropped a bowl of spitting-hot roast potatoes on an American oilman and was thrown out there and then, still wearing the uniform. Happy days? Well sort of.
So as my car stuffed with stuff and I snaked around the streets of Edinburgh with this disparate selection of gubbins, half of me thought – what on earth have we done?
Then the other half was thinking, this is blooming great. It really was about great people, food and fun all those years ago and that’s what we intend to make it again. After we refurb in January we’ll have no spare cash so it’s going to be like the old days – friends and family, and a passion for great food but we’re determined to bring it back, alive and kicking. Oh, and guess what? The battered old copper chandelier is going up in Vic Street tomorrow – it seems we’re all back where we belong.