The story so far
Tim Butler, director of the Seafood restaurant at St Monans, has embarked on a new venture with fellow director and head chef Craig Millar. The Seafood restaurant at St Andrews, Fife, is due to open in May as a fine-dining restaurant aimed at the top-spending visitors who fill the golfing Mecca each year.
The building, which is being put up by the landlords, is well under way, while Butler and Millar are responsible for the interior design.
Meanwhile, Butler and Millar must maintain business at the St Monans restuaurant, as they rely on its profits to support the St Andrews project. Trade has been especially good since the restaurant was voted Best Seafood Restaurant in Scotland by the AA.
It's the calm before the storm. Tim Butler is counting down to the opening day of his Seafood restaurant at St Andrews. With only weeks to go he's feeling calm. He's been through a "feeling daunted" phase and he's ready - confident, psyched up.
It's partly down to the couple of days he's just spent touring the countryside around Inverness and Oban with his wife and in-laws. "A couple of days away gave me a chance to stand back from it all and gave me a bit of perspective," he says. "Now I'm counting down the days until we open and I've got every confidence in what we are doing."
The past few weeks have been incredibly busy. Butler has been running through projections, assessing finance costs and sorting out insurance and security systems. On Monday he was flown by private jet to Champagne, to the Roederer estate, makers of his favourite top-end bubbly. It was an early start, he explains - seven of them got through six bottles before 9.30am.
As far as the building works are going, the restaurant is getting there at last. The plumbing's in, the place is wired up and the glass walls, at last, are going up next week. After that its just a matter of laying down the flooring and applying the final touches. It's going to be done in a matter of weeks, estimates Butler: "It's all fairly decorative. There's not much to do because there is so much glass. It's looking good."
Final decisions are being made on fabric. Butler and Millar are aware of the pitfalls of a high-ceilinged glass-walled space overlooking a stormy North Sea and need to keep the atmospheric temperature up. They've chosen thick carpets and luxurious fabrics to keep the sound down and made a decision to cover chairs.
Once that's done, there's just the launch party to organise, probably being held sometime in the last week of May. Butler is putting together the guest list and designing the invitations. "We've had a huge amount of interest from journalists and the catering trade. We're getting a bus organised from Edinburgh and inviting around 150 people for Champagne and canapés."
Factfile
The Seafood Restaurant, St Monans
16 West End, St Monans, Fife KY10 2BX
Tel: 01333 730327
The Seafood Restaurant, St Andrews
The Pavilion, Bruce Embankment, St Andrews, Fife
Directors: Tim Butler and Craig Millar
Estimated opening: mid-May
Seats: 60
Average spend: £35-£40 for dinner
Staff: seven chefs and five front-of-house staff, plus part-time staff
Projected annual figures
Turnover: £800,000
Wages: £200,000
Net profit: £100,000