It was a pandemic side-hustle that took flight during the lockdown.
Now a restaurant-quality takeaway overlooking the Moray Firth is to be transformed into a two-storey dining experience, with floor-to-ceiling windows and enough room for almost 100 people.
Owners Ruth and Barry Scott, who run The Bothy Bistro in nearby Burghead, received planning permission for the Hopeman site this month and have already started construction.
The new restaurant is scheduled to open in time for the summer, bringing high-level cooking to the Moray coastline.
The restaurant will sit directly on the site of The Bootleggers Bothy seafood takeaway that the Scotts opened during the pandemic.
Lockdown restaurant venture
The husband and wife team were forced to improvise when the indoor dining ban closed The Bothy Bistro.
And even they could not have foreseen the success of The Bootleggers Bothy, which was an instant hit with both locals and tourists.
Almost 5,000 people visited in the first two weeks of opening.
The takeaway mixed stunning views of the firth with fresh, locally-sourced seafood and meat straight from the grill.
And its unique location appealed to a newer generation looking to fill their social media channels along with their stomachs.
“It did become a bit of an Instagram phenomenon,” says Barry. “People seem to be travelling from a good distance. Some of that was Covid-related, but also because we were doing different food.”
Moray weather gets in the way
Ultimately, however, the Scottish weather and local bureaucracy put paid to the takeaway’s growth.
With Covid receding, the council told the Scotts the temporary takeaway would need to go, but that planning permission for a café was possible.
So, with the couple looking for a more sheltered location, the idea for the new and improved Bootleggers was born.
Best of both worlds
Barry says the new 150-square-metre site, which sits 20 metres from the sea, will be a combination of the same high-quality food found at his main Bothy Bistro restaurant with the unbeatable views enjoyed by customers at the takeaway.
“It is pretty spectacular, overlooking the sea, with the dolphins swimming past,” Barry says. “Also, we found with the original takeaway that there was a huge demand for restaurant-quality food outside. There was a huge demand for better quality stuff.”
Workers are ready to install the second floor at the new restaurant, which, like its predecessor, will be built out of shipping containers.
And though it retains some of the qualities of the first takeaway, including an outdoor section, Barry says he’s not ready to call it Bootleggers Bothy 2.
“[The name] is still up in the air,” he adds. “We probably won’t know what it’s finally going to be called until we start piecing the design together.”
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