Busmans Chrismas Holiday

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!

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.

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

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!

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!

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.

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.