Celebrate the Jubilee and we'll put a smile on your face!

                                    Joo Bell Eeee

Or to be more specific Jubilee Jubilations – which is easy for you to say.

So after a brainstorming session (pint) last night we have decreed a desire to celebrate the Queen’s 60 years on the throne by giving away lashings and lashings of free Pimms. in the shape of The Great British Cocktail. Slurp.

Yes we have lost the plot.

Of course this was all ticket boo until the penny dropped this morning that the drinks orders are in and everything  already sorted for the coming weekend and holiday so I am off to Costco with a van, a smile and a list as long as my arm, your arm and that man over there’s arm  to buy lots of Pimmsy (sic ) goodies so holiday Monday and Tuesday go off with a whizz, bang, yo ho  ho.

Of course the ultimate Great British Cocktail recipe is under discussion.

My belief is the following:

Pimms No.1

Ginger Beer

A splash of gin (Edinburgh or Hendricks of course), fresh mint and summer fruits bobbing in it soaking up all that lovely flavour – one of your five a day?  We like to think so….

So give us a call, pop in, meander round to Howies and raise a glass to celebrate a day off work....ohh yes and The Jubilee of course  and enjoy a chilled and delicious Great British Cocktail  - (alcoholic or non) on us with your meal.

Best book if you can - it's going to be a cracker!

Off to mix up a tasty tester right now....see you there....*clink clink*

Stevie - our hero - swoon.

Well what do you know!
Star chef Stevie at our Waterloo restaurant was interviewed in The Edinburgh Evening News about his rather heroic behaviour at the weekend - see the post before this one for our take on it. There are some classic quotes in the article...rather than reproducing it here is the link....EVENING NEWS ARTICLE

After the event the paper caught up with David Howie Scott who was impressed - to say the least - how many bosses would say this!

A spokesman for Howie’s said of Mr Wallace’s have-a-go heroics: “We are so proud of him. So grateful to him. So angry that he put himself at personal risk without thinking and yet touched by his instinct to protect his team and kitchen that we want to thank him.

“Thank you, Stevie, star chef of Howie’s Waterloo, protecter of the kitchen. Protecter of the team.”

Photo courtesy of The Edinburgh Evening News.

Working in Howies is sometimes a riot - literally.

Saturday the sun was shining, the weather was hot and in Edinburgh the collective sounds of slurping sun cream bottles being squirted simultaneously all over the city onto shocked and delighted Scottish bodies could almost be heard – it was going to be a scorcher.

Howies Waterloo was rammed with booking for lunch. Well over 100 in fact. A 40^th birthday. A surprise 60^th and a Private Dining Room full of revellers too as well as over 100 others.

Busy and challenging enough  without the added drama of the EDL – English Defence League marching right outside out door. The EDL being penned in on one side of our front door - then the anti EDL on the other and an impressive Police Presence in between to keep them apart and hopefully keep the peace.

  

In reality this meant that our lovely Howies Waterloo was slap bang in the middle of it and the road was shut. Shut. As winching our customers down from a hovering chopper was unlikely we had to find a way to let customers in, keep them in, and safe and let them leave when and if they wanted to.

With the protestors corralled into pens the Police kept the pavement open from the east end of Princes Street and were more than happy to tell all our customers it was OK, to walk up the street and into Howies where we were waiting to welcome them.  Once they were in , it was business as usual.

Outside the scenes were rather more dramatic.

David Howie Scott wanting to make sure his beloved Waterloo and customers all safe, was on hand to meet, greet and smooth the way.  As the crowds gathered clutching his iPhone he managed to capture these images.

The photo above is taken from the other side of the road from Calton Graveyard and this one was he getting quite carried away with the camera on his iPhone ignoring riots briefly to take an artistic shot.

Battling his way back over the road it was now about half way through lunch the kitchen team were e moving faster than a fiddlers elbow and the atmosphere of jollification inside the restaurant in full flow. Outside the baying of chants and a near riot was also in full flow. Then as it seemed d never the twain would meet suddenly the door by the kitchen flew open and a protestor ran in.  Stevie our head chef clocked him immediately as he swung his hand up and smashed the glass on the fire alarm.

Instinct took over and Stevie despite cooking for his 100 diners he dropped everything (happily not on his foot) and chased the baddie.  He not only chased him out the backdoor but up the street and for quite a distance until puffed out, a long way from his buzzing kitchen, he caught up with him, apprehended him and kept a tight hold of him until the Police came over and took him away.

Stevie returned to the restaurant after his have a go hero moment and continued service as if nothing had happened and then last night cooked over 160 dinners.

We are so proud of him. So grateful to him. So angry that he put himself at personal risk without thinking and yet touched by his instinct to protect his team and kitchen that we want to thank him.

THANK YOU STEVIE! STAR CHEF OF HOWIES WATERLOO, PROTECTOR OF THE KITCHEN. PROTECTOR OF THE TEAM.  

Today is the Edinburgh Marathon and we're off again.....well as they say .....if you can't stand the heat......

Hollywood rolls into town and Howies celebrates in style!

I can't tell you how proud we are to be supporting Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012.

Well I just did.

Very proud.

We have made Howies in Edinburgh both Waterloo Place in the new town and Victoria Street in the medieval old town available to delegates and jurors who have people to meet, things to do, delights to eat and films to see.

Our Private Dining Room sadly is booked for the night they wanted it for the deliberations of the jury but none the less we are all on red alert for the glamorous film types that we expect to see wandering in.

The opening film this year is Killer Joe,  a William Freidkin film starring the rather delicious (in restaurant terms of course) Matthew McConaughey. Though it would be fair to say he is hardly a pussycat in this film he is more your mad deranged assassin type of guy. Still even they have to eat.

A filmy type person reviewed Killer Joe as follows:


'Brilliant, hilarious and shocking film. Saw it at the Venice Film Festival and it was definitely one of the most enjoyable (and enjoyed) films there. Go and see it'.

Ah we do love it when the film juggernaut rolls into town.

It used to be in August the same time of year as the Fringe and International Festival but cleverly it is now a month and a half earlier than that other monumental bun fight which frees up more time energy and space to concentrate on this one.

With a restaurant in the new town and one in the old town we do get a fair number of the glitterati turning up on our doorstep. They are seldom recognised which they seem to love– this is mainly because there is aye such a buzz of comings and goings and of course everyone here is so obsessed with food that a film or TV star can easily go unnoticed. Of course if Marcus Wareing or other world renowned chefs were to pitch up there would be a collective fainting fit.

Oh did I mention that Sean Connery celebrated his birthday at Howies Waterloo a while back?. Our pal has promised us photos….you will see them here…when he follows through on that -  and he had better! Oscar?????

The Howies Team Loaf Around

Bread,

Yum.

Warm from the oven.

Slathered in butter.

Does it get any better than that?

Well yes when you get to visit the bakery, meet the artisan baker and taste some of his fantastic breads. Holy Tamoly.

Breadwinner in Edinburgh is an institution and who wants to live in an institution? Well if it’s this one. We do.

A family run business making bread since 1973 as we walked along the road the waft of fresh baking curled into the collective nostrils and we practically burst in the door shouting ‘feed me!’.

And they did. But not before showing us round  and introducing us to the team.

Their new French baker Sebastien pictured here – a strapping lad – proving (pun intended) bread and kneading are good for the physique. Ahem.

His French stick was a thing of a beauty, Please insert your own joke here – this is not the Benny Hill Show you know.And here he is doing the croissant thing......big light buttery oh I could go on. And frequently do.
As we ate our way round the bakery one of the delivery drivers left with a big grin on his face and a hunk of bread in his hand. 25 seconds later he came running back in 'It's sooo good' he beamed 'I have to have some more!'  So even a man who sees the bread day in and day out cannot resist the lure of the dough.

Fruit bread, croissants, rolls, loaves, cottage loaves, corn bread, rye bread oh any kind you can think of and lots more besides. Howies frankly loves this bakery. 

The Team. Lesley, Kris and Sean McVey.

And this month - after 40 years in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh they have moved to The Gyle and we just want to wish them the very best of luck with the next phase of their wonderful business.
So next time you’re in Howies  and yumming down on the bread you can be assured it is years of experience you are enjoying, and boy does it taste good.