NEWS


Mercado was revamped in the summer.


Tapas bar revels in new culture


GLASGOW tapas bar and restaurant Mercado claims to have been on a roll since its transformation in the summer. Previously trading as Spanish restaurant El Sabor, a refurbishment in June saw booths and couches installed and the bar itself made into a prominent feature. Candles and dimmed lighting create what general manager Diane Neville describes as “quite a cosy atmoshpere” while outside, in the courtyard, customers can enjoy the ambience of Merchant Square while dining. “We do Spanish tapas and we also do main meals and specials,” she told SLTN. “We’ve also got quite an extensive Piri Piri chicken menu.” Mercado’s lunch menu


offers two courses for £5.95 and any three tapas dishes for £6.95, with the weekday dinner menu offering three tapas for £9.95.


While the venue continues to have a strong focus on Spanish tapas and wines, more draught beers have been introduced and the bar now serves a wide selection of cocktails, using premium spirit brands like Absolut, Beefeater and Havana Club in place of house pours Smirnoff, Gordon’s and Bacardi. The draught lager selection includes Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Sagres, Birra Moretti and Heineken, while the bottled beer range adds names such as Alhambra, San Miguel and Cruzcampo. Diane said the new culture has led to a more relaxed approach to turning tables. “We don’t put a time on tables,” she said.


“If people want to come and sit and spend money on the table they’re very welcome to stay on.”


10 - SLTN - November 11, 2010


Tomkins makes a wise move


gone back to his roots – by go- ing Gallic for his latest venture. Alan Tomkins announced his


New Glasgow restaurant has a French focus, finds Dave Hunter O


NE of Glasgow’s best known restaurateurs has


arrival on the hospitality scene 30 years ago when he launched Lautrec’s, a French wine bar and brasserie, in the west end. Now the man who has stakes in Gamba, Vroni’s, Blue Dog, Booly Mardy’s and Urban Bar and Brasserie, has again turned to France for inspiration. Balthassar, a French-themed café-restaurant on Ingram Street, is located in a 100 year- old former fire station that was most recently one of Baby Grand’s Ad Lib restaurants. Creating Balthassar, which


takes its name from a 12 litre bottle of wine ( it was also the name of one of the three wise men) took three weeks, with the work largely focused on restoring the building’s origi- nal features. Balado Interiors was contracted to carry out the £60,000 project. “The building’s got some fan- tastic features, like the Grecian marble that was built when it was originally a fire station,” Tomkins told SLTN. “There’s an original oak floor


which we’ve brought back to life, which looks fantastic. “We’ve not changed the


physical status of the place, but we’ve enhanced and improved the existing bar counter, and we’ve upgraded the kitchen with new equipment. “What we’ve really done is just worked on the basics that were there, because it’s a very nice space. “I just felt the space and the building lent itself to the way I would imagine a French café bar to be in a provincial town in France. “It’s got lovely granite pillars outside, where the original fire station doors are, granite mar- ble walls inside and a high ceil- ing. To me it was just going to be a good fit.”


Nods to Gallic culture are dis-


persed throughout the restau- rant’s menu and wine list. Dishes include onion soup


gratinee, cote du boeuf and es- cargots in garlic butter, while the French flavour continues into draught beer Meteor, li-


queur Lillet and throughout the wine list, which was com- piled by Alexander Wines. Head chef Jim Kerr, whose resume includes stints at Mar Hall, One Devonshire Gardens and Rogano, said that authen- ticity is absolutely crucial to the food at Balthassar. “Paris is my favourite city in the world and I believe this is the nearest thing to Paris in Glasgow,” he said. “For example our croque monsieur uses the original French bread and the French onion soup is a meal in itself. “It really feels like walking into a café in France, the mar- ble walls and red lamps give the place a feeling of warmth.” However, despite the venue’s strong Gallic flavour, Tomkins hopes Balthassar appeals to a wider audience than just fans of French cuisine. “We’re not going totally


French,” he said. “We’ve got inspiration from France – the wine list is predominant- ly French, and the food has a sprinkling of French classics, but we’re not trying to narrow the market down by being spe- cifically French.”


Instead, Balthassar aims to


offer customers value through high quality, but reasonably priced food and drink. Starters on the restaurant’s main menu range from £4.75 to £14.50, with many of the main courses sitting at the £6,


Alan Tomkins, right, said much of the work carried out at Balthassar focused on restoring the building’s original features. The original fire station clock is still there, albeit it’s permanently stuck at five past one.


£7 or £8 mark, heading up- wards up for steak and seafood dishes. The value approach extends to wine, with customers able to buy 14 different wines by the glass, as well as carafes of wine for around £9 each. “I just think we all as opera-


tors are very price conscious,” Tomkins added. “We’re trading in extremely difficult times and you’ve got to have a viable business. “I’m adopting a policy here


where I want to make the price appear sexy to the customer and offer good value for the type of dish they are going to expect. “I’m aware that people’s pock- ets are a lot smaller than they were in the past. We’re just try- ing to make things go a little further.”


The Merchant City has seen


a number of refurbishments in recent weeks as operators look to position themselves ahead of the Christmas season. The area is now a lively centre


of nightlife as well as a popular residential district. As a result, Tomkins said the Merchant City has come to rely on visitors from elsewhere less.


“The Merchant City has be- come a bit of a destination, but there is a very neighbourhood feel to the Merchant City now. “We’d like to think that we’re


going to get a lot of the locals who live here, who comprise students, young professionals, young couples. It’s a kind of 20 to 40 age group neighbour- hood-wise. “We’ve also been very im- pressed by a lot of our existing customers from the likes of Ur- ban Brasserie coming down to try us out. So we’ll get support from our customers from Vro- ni’s or Urban Brasserie.” Despite the tough market, the


operator maintains that there are still opportunities to expand in Glasgow. “Just because we’re in a tough economic climate it doesn’t mean that people are going to stand still and do nothing,” Tomkins said.


“But I’m more willing to look


at opportunities in the mid price-range, as opposed to fine- dining range at this point in time.”


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