Candles flicker on the table, the light catching the pastel hues of tulips carefully arranged in vases.
-
Some Press and Journal online content is funded by outside parties. The revenue from this helps to sustain our independent news gathering. You will always know if you are reading paid-for material as it will be clearly labelled as “Partnership” on the site and on social media channels.
This can take two different forms.
“Presented by”
This means the content has been paid for and produced by the named advertiser.
“In partnership with”
This means the content has been paid for and approved by the named advertiser but written and edited by our own commercial content team.
Cosy blankets are draped over the chairs, each place setting so thoughtful in detail.
Napkins beautifully tied with brightly coloured ribbon, fresh strawberries perched on the rim of each champagne flute.
The softly lit room appears to be holding its breath, ready for the next group of customers to come in and make themselves at home.
There will be no rushed conversations and hastily eaten sandwiches, as hostess Bev Lee talks people through the menu.
Each and every diner will receive a heartfelt greeting, a smile which says ‘I’m so glad you came.’
The menu, scrawled across the chalkboard, but elaborated upon by the small but hard working team.
That delicious slither of ham, brought from Bannerman Butcher in Inverbervie.
The same for the beef cheeks, cooked deliciously slowly for 18 hours in a bottle of red wine.
Not a single morsel on the mouth watering sharing board is pre-packaged, an ethos which has seen Bev start cooking very early in the morning in a bid to follow through on her vow of freshness.
This isn’t just afternoon tea, for a shop bought macaroon would be considered blasphemy!
This is an occasion, a moment if you will, where Holburn street fades into the background as you come together over secret recipes.
Whether it’s a bistro night or table for two, Bev’s Bistro marks a return to dining as it once was.
A time to be cherished, where nothing but the very best will do.
Don’t confuse perfection with serving staff in tailsuits, for Bev describes her offering as honest over flash.
She represents good food, done right.
And for that, we salute her.
Team Society was lucky enough to catch up with Bev during a rare quiet moment, and found out why she has put her heart and soul into a rather special venture.
What’s your background in hospitality?
‘I’ve been running Bev’s Bistro since 2014, but you could say I was raised in the hospitality industry.
When I was growing up, our next door neighbours were Italian.
They had their own restaurant, and my grandparents had a hotel as well.
I grew up in the type of family where everyone sat down together at a big table at the end of the day to share a meal and our stories of the day.
We’d go round to our neighbours for lunch time and still be there at 9 PM.
They would serve lots of little dishes of food and I knew that if I ever launched my own business, I wanted to replicate that lovely cosiness and atmosphere.
I’ve done the London scene, from The Waldorf to Harrods before I came to the north-east of Scotland.’
So it was important to create a special environment at Bev’s Bistro?
Yes, absolutely.
Customers come in as strangers but leave as friends.
Particularly on our bistro evenings, everyone sits around chatting.
Just the other night, complete strangers turned their chairs around and everyone was chatting away.
That’s always what I wanted, that sense of home.’
What was your vision on the food front?
I just wanted to deliver simple, good quality homecooked food, but with a twist. Our soup for example, never runny.
It’s soup you can stand a spoon up in and dunk your crusty bread in.
I use all the best local produce. I’ve found that people don’t necessarily know where their food comes from, and they think healthy food is always boring.
I’ve always been very conscious that I don’t want to serve food out of a plastic packet. And why would we when we have such excellent suppliers right our doorstep?
I know exactly where our food comes from; I drive past the cows grazing in the field every day.
We use local producers like Bannerman Butcher, Castleton Farm and Westerton in Laurencekirk.
It all ties in with my ethos of supporting other local small businesses, and it means our food doesn’t have a high carbon footprint too!’
Tell me about your afternoon tea
Where do I begin! We have a selection of options to cater for a wide range of budgets and requirements.
My extra special afternoon tea for example has deep filled sandwiches, savoury treats and a range of sweet treats, such as fruit tarts and the traditional scone of course.
Our customers go mad over our strawberry tarts!
I always say your health is your wealth!
To make the ham in all our sandwiches, I cook a ham joint adding my own herbs and spices to create the flavour.
The same with my chicken and beef. This isn’t out the packet meats, which you often get at other cafes and hotels. It’s little things like this that make the difference to the taste.
To coin a supermarket strapline, you can taste the difference!
I cater for dietary requirements too, such as allergies, gluten-free diets etc.
I know first-hand what a pain it can be going out to eat if you have an intolerance, so I go out of my way to find out how I can make their food safe, but interesting too.’
What makes your offering different?
Aside from the freshness and flavours of our food, we cook everything from scratch. Our beef cheeks are very popular; we cook them for 18 hours in red wine, incredibly slowly, so the meat is beautifully tender.
We also make our own pastry; this is good old-fashioned cooking.
My customers often say the food tastes like the dishes their grandmother used to make. Our bread is made fresh overnight!
It’s not unheard of for me to be in here at 2 AM to make a start on the food.
It’s because I like to know that everything tastes beautiful and is as fresh as you can get.
All my food is made to order. I don’t take walk ins, and I don’t have afternoon teas ready, just in case.
There’s nothing I can’t stand more than dried, shrivelled sandwiches.
It’s a real pet hate of mine. So, I take measures to eliminate this; my clingfilm wrapped sandwiches frequently raise an eyebrow, until customers take the first bite. Then they understand!
But it’s not just the food that I am picky about, it’s also the little things that make the difference too, such as the plates have to be a set distance apart and the cushions have to be just so.
For me, attention to detail is what sets us apart from other restaurants.’
The reception seems positive?
Without doubt. I guess the bistro is a bit of a hidden treasure in the city.
We are a destination venue where you go to be pampered and treated like friends and family.
If you value beautiful -looking, flavoursome food that has been cooked from scratch, then my bistro is the place for you.
Our tasting menu is designed to take people out of their comfort zone, by serving up food pairings that perhaps they would not have tried before.
We have camembert and marmalade soldiers for example, and we do a lot of sharing boards which is perfect for groups of friends. This is about taking pleasure in the taste of food. If people lick their bowls out, I consider that an absolute honour.’
Given how busy you are, do you have a big team?
No, it’s just myself and Alan Bruce, who I met at a farmer’s market over 12 years ago. We’re both as passionate as each other about this business.
We’re a great double act, which is essential as we are often working together for up to 18 hours a day, and I know no-one could look after the customers quite like we do.
We occasionally ask friends to help with deliveries, at peak times like Valentine’s Day and Mothering Sunday, but mainly, it’s just us.
At the start of the pandemic, we originally thought we would be shut for four weeks.
So, we started taking strawberry tarts and bacon butties up to the hospital, as a way of saying thank you to NHS staff.
Word got out after one of the nurses put a picture on social media, and before we knew it, we had more than 300 strawberry tarts to deliver. That’s how our delivery afternoon tea business took off.’
What’s next for the business?
Over the last six to nine months, we’ve taken on more corporate work as people have returned to offices after the pandemic.
We’re catering for events and meetings, but also delivering lunches every day to a number of organisations around the city.
It’s nice to see how some businesses are finding ways to help their employees through the cost of living crisis, or just investing in their workforce in general.
In terms of new things, we’re busy working on plans to develop the menus over the next couple of months, but that’s top secret at the moment!
I look to destinations such as New York, London and Paris for menu and presentation inspirations, so watch this space.
I want everybody to feel special when they come into the bistro, and we’re always learning new things to keep pushing the bar.’
For more information, head to bevsbistro.co.uk or follow Bev’s Bistro on Facebook
