The wait is nearly over for street food fanatics as Resident X will open its doors to the public this November in Aberdeen.
Scheduled to welcome guests in two months time from mid to late November, Michael Robertson and David Griffiths, the duo behind the street food market hall, have confirmed plans are “moving along” to open ahead of Christmas.
The project is well underway with the build itself half completed at its location in Marischal Square beside Mackies 19.2 ice cream parlour.
Expectation vs reality
While initially plans were to bring six food vendors to the collaborative food and drink space, due to the cost of living crisis, increases in materials and labour and other factors, this will now be decreased to four.
There will be the potential to add a fifth back in after six months of operating if costs decrease.
The two bar areas that will highlight modern craft drinks are still as planned and local cocktail mixology company Boozy Events have been working on them as a consultant.
Vendors are still in the process of being finalised and will be announced in the coming month. It is not known if they will all be local or from further afield.
Having successfully launched their other business, a Dutch fries street food firm on Shiprow, Michael and David announced earlier this month that they would be branching out to Glasgow to commemorate the firm’s second year in business.
However they have reassured fans of the fries brand and those behind Resident X that they are heavily invested in the Aberdeen food and drink scene.
See inside Resident X at Marischal Square in Aberdeen
Capacity for Resident X, which takes up two units at Marischal Square, will see around 500 people in the space at any one time and it will also generate up to 50 new jobs in the city centre.
A large shared kitchen will assist the vendors, while also offering the potential to act as a dark kitchen space for individuals and businesses alike to test out menus.
Michael Robertson said: “We’re really excited to be opening soon. It has been a long time coming and we’ve been working on this for around two years now.
“We’re acting as the developer and the tenant so it has been tough with external factors like covid putting a blocker on us at the start. The energy crisis has also affected us as the prices are now six times what they were when we first started and that has impacted our budgets.
“We have come up with something different the city hasn’t got and bringing life to a space that has been empty since it opened. It’s a massive operation.
“Attracting businesses from outwith Aberdeen is also very exciting and I think the public will really like what we’re going to do with the space.”
It will be open Sunday to Thursday from noon to midnight and will be open Friday and Saturday until 1am initially.
The duo also hope to implement a 3am license a few months after opening on Fridays and Saturdays for a period of time. This will bring an upmarket late night drinks venue to a quieter side of town according to Michael and David.
Food vendors will be able to stay open until then if they choose to do so.
Conversation