January in Scotland - our survival tips!

Well it all seems a bit of blur really. The maddest busiest time of year was followed by more madness and business as we opened in Edinburgh for the first time in our history on 1^st and 2^nd January 2014.

The thing is Edinburgh is packed with so many things still in full swing that it is madness not to open our doors and be part of it. The fairs still run, the big wheeel, the theatres, the rosy cheeked visitors wrapped up in bright scarves and cosy jackets are wandering past our door on their way to and from the hot spots of the city. So we threw open our door and invited them in.

We were delighted to be snuggled down into our banquette seating with the heating roaring and the head thumping as other like minded souls wandered in and we were collectively brought back to life by some great food and drink.   The atmosphere was crackling and smiles broad so if you didn't make it this year then make a date for next. 

And now it is the 6th of January and yesterday was of course the 12th day of Christmas has come and gone and we are back into the real world, whatever that it. The great big spiky, sweet smelling Christmas tree has been recycled back into the earth from whence it came and the baubles are wrapped in paper until their next appearance in December 2015. But well, we had a chat between us and agreed the twinkling lights outside should be left up for now. Well it is so darn dark and cold and well Januaryish we need something to lift our spirits, make those passing smile and to remind us that though the festive frenzy may be over for another year you really don’t need an excuse to get out and have a good time.

On the note…..there's our game dealer at the door with our pheasant so I must away…..details to follow….and 'til then….Happy New Year!!!  Mmmn pheasant…...

And don't forget it's £7.95 for two courses for lunch at Howies in Edinburgh from now until 31st January-and that includes the whole menu not just a wee short cheaty one.
Early dining as well if you're wanting to be tucked in early doors £14.95 for 2 courses Sun- Thursday - now you can't say fairer than that.

Well here we go! Hogmanay and Blogmanay in Edinburgh 2013.

Edinburgh is a cracking place to be for Hogmanay and this year will be no exception.

The torchlight procession kicks things off which can make grown men as well as hormonal women cry and consists of a long trail of rosy cheeked folk, walking through the most historical parts of this beautiful city holding aloft a flaming torch. Sparkly eyes, romantic notions and chilly toes are the theme and being surrounded by such historical beauty can feel rather profound. The Torchlight Procession is now sold out but even watching it gets you in the mood. So t speak to coin a phrase. Anyway here's the link if you fancy joining in Edinburgh's Hogmanay. And if you do - please wrap up very well indeed. Balaclavas are quite the thing round here at this time of year. You may laugh? But when your extremities are numb you will be coveting that man over there in his  hilarious home knitted balaclava as he will be smiling and cosy  and smiling in there.

A good way to defrost is head our way. We are open at the bottom of Calton Hill at Howies Waterloo Place – you can’t miss us as you turn towards Princes St that’s us on the corner. It is where you can be assured of a warm welcome, twinkling lights, a huge Christmas tree and some great Scottish food and warming wines too. We are taking part in Blogmanay by hosting a table of intergalactic bloggers from all over the world - if you are a Twitterer then we're on @HowiesScotland and we will keep you up to date with the night as it progresses. 

 

Anyway, here's a wee peek at Howies a Georgian Hall with a huge amount of history and we are so looking forward to giving them and your good self a great warming Scottish feast to remembered for a long time beyond. If you Tweet then use the hash tag Blogmanay and you can be part of it no matter where you are.

If you’re in town for the festivities our sister restaurant which is in a medieval building in the beautiful Victoria Street, just 2 minutes from the Castle and The Royal Mile. It is where our new manager Lara resides. Passionate about Scottish food and customer service pop in and say hello – she is a wonderful Irish woman and you will love her!

Once the big night is over we're still open! We’re informal at the best of times but on 1^st January – even more so. We will be up perky and ready to help you ease your way into what can sometimes be a difficult day! Bloody Marys, big smiles and a warming venison casserole will give you a flavour of what you might indulge in if you pop in.

So enjoy yourself and please stay safe. Warm. Happy. Well fed. And watered. And remember what we said about the balaclava! Seriously – you may look daft as brush but you will be as snug as bug in a rug.

HAPPY HOGMANAY TO YOU AND YOURS!

Trip Advisor A Love Hate Relationship

Interesting article in todays Daily Mail - August 5th 2013 very much along the lines of our post on 18th July below...

Reluctant to even write a post about Trip Advisor as it is like a giant, rabid snoring dog that you really don’t want to disturb. But as ever a big mouth and an opinion is why I will. And why those who write up their visits on Trip Advisor do too.

Fair enough.

The main issue is in order to write a review on Trip Advisor there is no palpable evidence that the reviewer has ever been in or even near your restaurant.

Yes I agree most of them probably have. But it is also a fact that some of them haven’t and those reviews are up there in the ether alongside the genuine reviews.

Once in a blue moon you get a vile, spitting toad, troll -  one which gives no details of when they were in, what they ate, its wrongly spelt, they have reviewed no other restaurants in the country let alone your local area and they tell you can get better food at ‘McD’s’  then you do suspect foul play. So you write to Trip Advisor in a calm and measured way and request the review is taken down – you never get a human it is all automated – and they send you an automated response saying it is within the guidelines of the review process and it will remain up there.

Anyone with a business will tell you how utterly frustrating this.  The write to reply is there yes but replying to someone who will never read it because it waas just on a whim they registered and wrote  it in the first place is a pointless exercise.

We recently adopted the Open Table /Top Table Booking system which manages our bookings for us. Once our customer has been in then they are automatically sent an email to ask about their experience. Good or bad there is no getting away from the fact the person reviewing you was there so you accept it and are grateful they took the time to respond.

Walk ins of course are not handled like this and I do believe most Trip Advisors are genuine but take a look at any businesses reviews and if you get a list of 5 great reviews, then one ranting lunatic one the chances are it’s someone with an axe to grind, a competitor or a troll with nothing better to do with their day. 

Just one negative review can plummet a restaurant dozens of places in the ratings and in reverse a new business with 12 great reviews can get to No. 1

The business of running a busy restaurant is paying personal attention to the customer, staff, supplier which is what we are not doing when so much time is spent online. It's fun to interact with our customer online but we love it best of all when they talk to us directly when here. Then we can thank them personally or sort any issues out before they leave. Disappearing off and writing a nasty review after the event does no business any good - the horse has bolted, the party is over etc. so do the business a favour and give them the opportunity to rectify whatever you perceive their mistake to have been then and there. That means everyone is informed, happy and the legacy of a a few harsh words written in haste are not left on line for the rest of time.

So whether restaurants, hotels or attraction take Trip Advisor with a pinch of salt. The good are good. The bad are bad. But who is writing  either? Well that is for them to know and us never to find out. 

Here are ours today....tomorrow....? Well who knows.

Trip Advisor Waterloo

Trip Advisor Victoria

Trip Advisor Aberdeen

Excited Scotsman brandishing live lobsters

This morning as a great start to the week Mr Howie himself - pictured above grinning from ear to ear and brandishing two live critters as the others thrash about in a large box in the walk in fridge - drove the 45 minutes from Edinburgh down to our secret location in East Lothian to collect the latest batch of Scottish lobsters. Scrabbling and twitching to escape he didn't worry that they might get a hold of him with one of their great fat claws as they have bands tied round them to save them lunging and causing death by lobster. So all is good.

Howies is full of lobsters.

They are not amused.

But we are and hopefully you will be when you taste that succulence safe in the knowledge that just a few hours ago they were swimming in the great blue North Sea. 

Enjoy!

Another Day In Paradise.

For the uninitiated the title of this post is ironic. If you are not clear exactly what irony is?  Well read on...

You know there is a certain time of years that all the light bulbs just blow. Usually just as winter kicks in and you need them. Well clearly there is also a time when commercial catering equipment just goes. And in the case of Howies it seems just when we have bought back the business we sold 5 years ago.
So that was yesterdays challenge.

The ice machine.

The dishwasher  at Waterloo and a fridge at Victoria Street.

A dishwasher but not as we know it. Well this one works.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Friday is not a great day to phone someone and go ‘HELP!’ as all commercial kitchen engineers are already running around sorting out other restaurants whose equipment has burst. So we tried everything/everyone. We googled, begged, and had some joy a as the fridge was fixed and then the ice machine too.  But try as we might we could not find someone to sort out the huge up and over dishwasher.

So I have just heard late last night that the Ops Director was in there strapped into ye old rubber gloves where she had a late late sweaty night washing the plates manually.

After a long long day in the office, on the floor, and then in the kitchen washing dishes.  CBE, Knighhood & OBE required.And a holiday. A lie down and a whisky.

Have you ever been faced with an ever increasing mound of dishes. The plates, forks, spoons and knives of 120 odd folk? Well just imagine it... then times it by ten. It is hell.

My first job to supplement the pocket money as a 15 yr old was as a dishwasher at The Crescent Hotel in Aberdeen. A wild eyed chef called Raymond ran the place with a mad eye and a sharp knife. Up to my oxters in boiling water with a film of sweat on my face was how I spent many a miserable hour. The head dishwasher – yes there was a pecking order was called Marlene – after Marlene Deitrich. That is where the resemblance ended.

Woman being blindly guided into emptying machine 1954.

I can recall that hell as if it were yesterday. And if we don’t find someone to fix our darn machine it won’t feel like yesterday it will be today. Off to get some Marigolds in preparation of the day ahead…..

Art, paint, music and food. Perfect.

Victoria Street is open once again. Fresh, welcoming and with 

some great art on the walls.Chris Bushe - a brilliant Scottish painter. 

A fabulous Sam MacDonald picture, an artist from the Scottish islands who makes big battered copper pictures of shoals of fish and

 some Kelly Stewarts scenes of Edinburgh & Paris- all of it

 original stuff and really at home in the restaurant.

Thanks to Chris and his team in the kitchen and Jo, Karen and the front of house team...everything was put back, polished up and looking great for the opening.

Of course the usual last minute traumas occurred as count down to opening drew close. A new coat covered in paint, front door continually blowing open to freeze assembled diners, wireless music stopped so we were in silence. To be honest music is only ever used as a background in Howies, but being a Radio DJ & musician  for years it is something I am more passionate about. So rather than plug on with the antique Amp I sloped off and bought  the groovy new Sonos system which I have been coveting for myself to be honest but at least it let me get my hands on it.

Now I am not an itinerant plugger of all things but seriously this guy at Richer Sounds, Garry (with two r's) was great.  Being a woman more often than not in a place full of hi-fi, wi-fi, streaming, Mp3 players and the like I get used to being spoken to like I have had my brain removed. Garry was great though and so I left confident to go and install it myself which I did. It worked beautifully for 10 minutes then my new title as super techno geek became more useless techno gook until John Lane our super duper IT man  saved the day swooped in found an anti virus program was taking up about 70% of the hard disc sorted us out and Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt. So all is good. The sounds are grooving and the place is jumping.

When  I say jumping I mean packed to the gunnels not a spare seat in the place. In fact it reminded me of the good old days in Victoria Street.

Originally it was  a Pierre Victoire and the long suffering husband Howie and I had our very first ever date there. Struck by the tangible atmosphere - there's something about being in a stone medieval room with history literally all around right next to Edinburgh Castle that stays with you. It does.
So when Pierres closed it was a natural expansion of Howies at that time to buy it and open which we did.

It is one of the best locations in Edinburgh make no mistake so when we sold up 5 years ago it was with a tear in our eye but hey ho on we went.

Who would have thought January 2012 we would be back in there. And delighted too. It's familiar territory and was like being in the company of a great old friend yesterday sitting there for lunch.

The new January menu that Chris produced was a joy from start to finish. You may think of course I am biased but not really.
Having been a judge on Iron Chef on Channel 4 last year I can't help but be critical. But the smoked salmon on a bed of leaves with Thai dressing, followed by creamed spinach & goats cheese crepe is without a doubt my new obsession. I will be in there daily eating it. I will.
The others had great food too.  Hell it's easier if I just show you the menu. And the £8.95 is not a misprint.

January Lunch at Howies Victoria Street

2 Courses £8.95 

STARTERS (all available as main courses)
Soup of the day (v)	£2.65	£3.50
Traditional Cullen Skink served with a cheddar cheese crouton	£4.15	£6.15
Traditional haggis, neeps & tatties with thyme jus	£4.05	£6.70
Bruschetta of grilled sardines with rocket salad and a lemon & thyme dressing	£4.15	£6.55
Herb crusted deep fried brie served with a homemade beetroot & horse radish relish and dressed salad leaves   (v)	£3.95	£6.15
Warm salad  of shredded beef tenderloin, julienne tomato and rocket with a honey mustard vinaigrette	£4.25	£7.05
Hot smoked Scottish salmon with Thai dressed salad leaves	£4.15	£6.05
MAINS
Homemade Scottish beef & venison burger on a toasted flour bap served with a spiced apple chutney and fried vegetable crisps: add organic cheddar or bacon for an extra 50p each and add fries for £1		£6.95
Chunky roast pumpkin chilli served with aromatic basmati rice and a fresh herb yogurt (v)		£6.15
Creamy chicken pot pie  with carrots, celery, peas and warm puff pastry lid		£6.50
Scottish salmon fettuccini with leeks and citrus crème fraiche		£6.85
Warm  spinach, roast red onion & goats cheese crepe  with dressed rocket  salad (v)		£6.95
Freshly landed catch of the day -seabass - yuml		£7.95
Casserole of the day -  It was beef yesterday - with creamy mash - perfect		£7.15
Puds include in the infamous banoffi, dark chocolate & ginger torte, afogatto, poached pear, cinammon panacotta. Nice.
I must away....Howies Waterloo is shut today ofr 3 days for a makeover too....it's never dull this business they call restaurant that's for sure....will keep you up to date....phew....