Granite city visitors and residents will have more to enjoy as hospitality venues come back to form after pandemic lockdowns.
The Chester Hotel has announced its fine dining offering at the IX Restaurant is coming back Thursday 2 June after a two-year break.
Meanwhile, the Holiday Inn Express on Chapel Street has completed a £1 million refurbishment and created 20 new jobs.
Expanded food offering
The Chester has been running a more relaxed bar menu since the start of the pandemic.
But new head chef Chris Gray has unveiled a menu with an increased focus on local, seasonal produce.
The shift comes as the hotel sees a “mood to return to fine dining” in the city, although the revamped menu will be available Thursday to Saturday rather than seven days a week, a spokeswoman said.
Recently the hotel announced plans to offer staff the Scottish living wage and phase out single use plastics such as bedroom toiletries and single use condiment sachets.
It said it would be sourcing food, drink and toiletries from local suppliers including Aberdeen’s Caber Coffee, asparagus from Eassie Farm by Glamis and Gordon Castle by Fochabers.
There’s a confidence that diners want to eat locally produced food and to support local food producers.”
The spokeswoman said: “Sustainable local ingredients do cost more and this will be reflected but there’s a confidence that diners want to eat locally produced food and to support local food producers, cementing the hotel’s sustainable place in community.”
Dishes on the June menu include Scottish lamb rump with potato terrine and heritage carrots, stone bass with west coast langoustine, broccoli and sauce Americaine and Caledonian crown beef fillet with mushroom ketchup and parmesan and truffle chips.
Two courses or three courses will be priced at £37.50 and £47.50 respectively.
Stephen Gow, general manager at the hotel said: “Closing the restaurant during the last two years was the right and only decision.
“But the time is definitely right for us to expand our food offering again.
“We’ve got a young, dynamic and innovative team in the kitchen led by head chef Chris Gray which is keen to have a fine dining menu once again.”
City dining on the up
Fans of fine dining in the north-east are enjoying a renaissance in the city as new bars and eateries have opened or reopened.
Recent newcomers to the city dining and drinking scene include Six by Nico and Barbelow, while old favourites such as Under the Hammer have found a new lease of life under new ownership.
The Chester’s former head chef Kevin Dalgleish has also recently announced he will launch his own restaurant, Amuse, in the former No.1 Bar & Grill.
Meanwhile, the Holiday Inn Express Aberdeen City Centre on Chapel Street has had a cash injection by owner Cairn Group.
Extensive work has been done on all 155 bedrooms, corridors and public areas.
Shows ‘commitment’ to Aberdeen
Cairn has done the work in partnership with the hotel operator, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), which owns the Holiday Inn brand.
General manager Aaron Dias said: “This important project not only underlines our commitment to our long-standing relationship with IHG but also to our presence within Aberdeen city centre.
“After the unprecedented challenges of the past two years, we have worked hard to bring this important project to fruition as part of what we hope will be an exciting new chapter for our hotel.”
Saved hotels and jobs
The hotel along with Holiday Inn Aberdeen West in Westhill was rescued from administration in July 2017 by Newcastle-based Cairn Group securing all 125 jobs.
The Newcastle-based hotel company has been active in Aberdeen for decades.
The Station Hotel, opposite Union Square Shopping Centre and the city’s bus and railway stations, has been part of the family-owned Cairn Group since the early 1990s.
The group also owns the Best Western Summerhill Hotel and Suites Aberdeen on Lang Stracht.
Cairn has a total of 33 hotels stretching from the Station Hotel to The Old Ship Hotel on the south coast.
Conversation