Minute on the clock – Martin Wishart

09 May 2011 by
Minute on the clock – Martin Wishart

Martin Wishart runs his Michelin-starred restaurant in Edinburgh as well as a cookery school and a restaurant at Cameron House, and has a new brasserie opening this summer. He spoke to Kerstin Kühn

You're opening a new restaurant in Edinburgh this year. Tell us more We had been looking for a site in Edinburgh for over a year and it was quite hard to find the right type of property, which we could buy. It's just off George Street in the site that was previously Tony Singh's Tony's Table.

What will be the general idea of the restaurant? It will be called The Honours and it's a 70-seater restaurant with a brasserie approach. It's divided into two fairly large rooms, with a bakery downstairs and lots of storage space, which allows us to develop the concept further. We're planning a little private dining room, which will be an extension of our cookery school.

Who will be the key players? Head chef will be Paul Tamburrini, who joins from the Hotel du Vin in Glasgow. He previously worked with me and will be my partner in the business. Restaurant manager will be Steven Spear, who has worked at my flagship restaurant.

What will be the on the menu? The menu will be much larger than at the other restaurant with about 50 different dishes on it. We'll have a dedicated grill section where we'll offer a variety of different cuts of beef - from côte du boeuf for two to steak Diane. There'll be lots of seasonal dishes and classic brasserie-style dishes such as European charcuterie and there'll also be lots of vegetarian dishes and salads de chef.

Do you have plans to open further restaurants? If the Honours in Edinburgh is a success there is the potential to roll it out as a concept. We've spent a lot of time looking at the design of it and developing the brand. We're looking potentially at Glasgow, Aberdeen and Newcastle.

Your flagship restaurant was recently named most popular by Toptable for the second time. You must be very proud It is a great achievement for everyone here, not just me. I'm the chef but I look at the whole package and front of house is as important as the food. It's nice because it's the public that votes for this. With all these awards, it's always a team effort.

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