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With a CV including stints at Gleneagles, Edinburgh’s The Caledonian Hotel and as Nick Nairn’s executive head chef, Colin Halliday arrives at Restoration Café with as much pedigree as the produce he cooks. We caught up with the new head chef at Restoration Café to discuss passion, produce and provenance… FIVE MINUTE INTERVIEW: COLIN HALLIDAY When and why did you first find yourself in a professional kitchen? I studied food and nutrition at high school and felt an unbelievable sense of achievement when I immersed myself in the cooking. I was always making soups, casseroles and Sunday roasts. Then, aged 15, I started as an apprentice chef at The Caledonian Hotel and I’ve been in the kitchen since. Which chefs have you found most inspiring in the time since? I’d have to say John Webber, who I worked with at the Nick Nairn Cook School. John has been awarded a Michelin star on two occasions in his career and has a depth of knowledge that’s second to none. When we were teaching, he would relay information to the customers about the produce they were going to be using and I would think, wow, I never knew that! I learnt a fantastic amount just listening and watching. Describe the creative process of bringing a Restoration Café menu together… I start with random scribbles, to be honest! Then I look at seasonality, current trends, customer feedback, social media, cost, balance of dishes and, of course, I take input from the team. How important is local produce in that process? Very. Using local ingredients adds a real sense of provenance to Restoration Café and shows customers we’re supporting local businesses. What are your dreams for Restoration Café? I’m passionate about making this a destination restaurant, one that offers the best dining experience and exceeds the expectations of our customers. That’s the level I want to achieve across all the eateries we have here, as well as our growing Restoration Yard events and wedding business. Do you find it easy to switch off from the kitchen when you’re at home? No, I’m forever scribbling down ideas, watching cookery on YouTube and reading Saveur and The Staff Canteen. I’m travelling to London this weekend and, even then, I’ll be spending a couple of hours in Borough Market. Are you a reserved diner or a ‘go for it with all three courses’ type when eating out in or around Edinburgh? I prefer savoury dishes and always go starter and main – though occasionally, I’ll have the cheese trolley. What are your musts for a successful dining experience? The company is the most important thing. The food has to be good, cooked well and seasoned correctly, and everything on the plate needs to be there for a reason. The ambiance has to be one in which we feel relaxed too, meaning the service needs to be friendly, attentive and not overbearing. Restoration Café serves breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea seven days a week, as well as offering special evening events and private dining options. For more information, visit restorationyard.com or search @restorationyard on Facebook and Instagram.

For the magpie… These exquisite fine jewellery pieces by London designer Alex Monroe are high at the top of every woman’s wish list this year. Each and every intricately crafted piece is inspired by nature and we’re particularly fond of the dainty bumble bee collections (hint hint). Long bumble bee necklace by Alex Monroe, £178. Shop more jewellery here. For the mixologist Toast your romance with something a little different this Valentine’s. . . Old Curiosity’s Secret Garden Gin not only tastes divine, it also changes colour adding a whole new element of fun to cocktail hour! Colour changing gin by Old Curiosity, £45 For the stationery addict… Why not get creative and add a handwritten love note on the first page of a beautiful journal? They’ll think of you and smile whenever they write. Assorted notebooks and journals by Matthew Williamson. Shop here For the fashionista… Wear your heart on your. . . hip! We’re completely obsessed with this fluffy heart handbag by Alex Max. Not only is it beautifully soft and cuddly, it’s also incredibly spacious – so they can throw in all those essentials and still make a style statement. Heart handbag by Alex Max, £49.95 For extra brownie points… Sometimes the most thoughtful gifts are the best, and if your loved ones are in need of a little R&R, take a look at This Works’ collection of miracle magic potions. We love the deep sleep range, guaranteed to have us in a zen-like state within minutes! Sleep remedies by This Works, from £18. Shop more here. For the hostess with the mostess… Our prettily-wrapped hand soaps make the perfect gift for those of us who’ve been swept away by the recent ‘Mrs Hinch’ homecare craze – our bathrooms have never looked so pretty! Individually wrapped hand soaps by Restoration Yard, from £4.95. Shop here. For the fragrance connoisseur Miller Harris’ evocative scents bring memories alive and each individual scent is completely unique. Lyn Harris trained at Robertet in Grasse and still sources aromatics from the same company in France, the country of love! Fragrance by Miller Harris, from £75 For the chocolatier Where words fail, chocolate will always prevail and our foodhall is bursting with every shape and flavour imaginable. From luxurious Champagne truffles to fondant cremes, Holdsworth’s decadent boxes are particularly delicious, wrapped in the most beautiful packaging and guaranteed to set hearts a flutter. Pink Prosecco Truffles by Holdsworth, from £5.50 For the newly engaged… With so much love in the air at this time of the year, it’s no surprise that lots of lucky couples are putting a ring on it! Help get the wedding prep off to the best start possible with this beautiful – and oh, so chic – Moleskine wedding journal. Wedding Journal by Moleskine, £28.95 For the ultimate gesture… If you’re looking to make an impact this year, it doesn’t get much more romantic than your very own love seat! We could while away hours whispering sweet nothings on this plush velvet style. All we need now is someone to share it with… Pink two seater sofa, £2,150

The Scot was the first person to ever feature on a commemorative bottle of Coca Cola. Legendary artist Bob Dylan revealed that ‘A Red, Red Rose’ by Burns is his source of greatest creative inspiration. It is claimed that Michael Jackson’s smash hit Thriller was inspired by the Tam O’Shanter poem. One of Burns most famous works, Auld Lang Syne, has appeared in over 170 Hollywood films including The Apartment, It’s A Wonderful Life and When Harry Met Sally. Burn’s popularity stretches much further than Scotland. At pedestrian crossings in Japan, the sound indicating that a walker can cross is a rendition of ‘Coming Through The Rye’. One of the most famous US presidents Abraham Lincoln could recite Burns’ works by heart. Burns fathered at least 13 children by four different women. His wife, Jean Armour, gave birth to nine of his children, but only three survived infancy. Burns’ oldest child, Elizabeth was born after he had an affair with his mother’s servant and his youngest son Maxwell, was born on the day of his funeral. John Steinbeck took the title of his 1937 novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ from a line a Burns poem ‘To a Mouse’ which reads, ‘the best laid schemes o’ men an’ men/ gang aft agley’. American designer Tommy Hilfiger claims to be a great, great, great nephew of Robert Burns. Astronaut Nick Patrick carried a miniature book of Burns poetry on a two week long space mission with him in 2010. It completed a 5.7 million mile trip and 217 orbits of the earth. There are more statues, monuments and memorials dedicated to Robert Burns than any other non-religious figure, after Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus including one in New York’s Central Park. CELEBRATE BURNS NIGHT AT RESTORATION YARD Say ‘Slangevar’ with friends, family or book in for a unique date night! We are ending (dry) January by toasting Scotland’s bard with a delicious three-course dinner in our beautiful Restoration Café. Most importantly, for this special evening opening, chef Colin Halliday has created a menu comprising such culinary delights as haggis, neeps and tatties with whisky cream (of course), Scottish salmon with Crowdie cream cheese, pickled cucumber and radish salad and Scotch Lamb with root vegetables and fondant potatoes. Team your choice with some delicious whisky from our drinks menu and it will be a celebration worthy of our nation’s favourite poet. We’re taking bookings from 6pm to 8.30pm. For more information or to book, give us a call on 0131 322 2572 or book online using the OpenTable app below for 25th January. BURNS NIGHT MENU STARTERS Truffled celeriac soup – croutons – chives Haggis neeps ‘n’ tatties – whisky cream – parsnip crisps Smoked Scottish salmon – Crowdie cream cheese – pickled cucumber and radish salad Mull cheddar and Ayrshire ham hock croquettes – salt baked beetroot – tomato and chilli jam MAINS Oven roasted chicken supreme – clapshot – wild mushrooms – kale – Arran mustard cream Char-grilled rump of Scotch lamb – root vegetables – fondant potato – barley broth Scrabster cod fillet – butter poached leeks – baby spinach – skirlie potato cake – caviar cream sauce Char-grilled Scotch sirloin steak garni – hand cut chips – bearnaise sauce DESSERTS Warm marmalade steamed sponge pudding – vanilla custard Drambuie pana cotta – macerated winter fruits Cranachan parfait – raspberry purée – heather honey shortbread Isle of Mull cheddar – chutney – oatcakes – grapes – celery 3 courses £35 Steak supplement £5 Cheese supplement £4 For more quirky facts on Scotland’s bard read www.scotsman.com

Self-care Christmas? It’s a time of joy, family and a whole heap of expectation – how can we do self-care at Christmas? Indeed, it is one of the most stress-filled times of the year for many of us. Self-care is essential to survive that Christmas stress says Jen Wood, our Wellbeing Lab manager & therapist FIVE MINUTES WITH Jen Wood, Wellbeing Lab manager & therapist Why is Christmas so stressful? The main thing is the expectation we place on ourselves. We are trying to be all things to all people. There is this huge pressure from the media and society to be perfect and as soon as we strive for that we are in trouble. We actually get hooked on the dopamine our brain releases when we receive praise and society rewards perfection. We often don’t realise that good enough is good enough. Also, the media tells us it is a season of joy, fun and togetherness. We should be out having fun. Yet, particularly the bereaved, that triggers a sense of loss, loneliness and isolation. Statistics show the increase in numbers of people suffering depression and anxiety at this time of year. What should we be doing to counteract the pressures? Downtime is hugely important. In our seasonal cycle, winter is a time of resting and renewal yet we are instead building up to a crescendo of festivities in a state of Christmas-stress induced panic. It’s difficult to step back completely but look at bringing in some self-care to your everyday. How can you nourish yourself? Even if it is just one minute your brain acknowledges you’re nourishing. You need to fill up your self-care cup every day. But we are so busy – what can we do to fit in self-care? The key things are eating well by balancing all the rich foods we eat at this time of year with lots of good, natural foods. Hydrating ourselves is essential, especially if we are drinking alcohol. Also, ask yourself if you sleeping enough? If we are just on the edge of coping a lack of sleep will tip us over. Just thinking of nourshing yourself will start to help. What are your top self-care tips? A little self-care can be a different thing everyday. I drink a glass of water in every morning before I do anything and I drink it in, mindful of all the goodness its bringing me. Or it might be that you come home and have a shower after a stressful day. Literally wash that stressful body off your body and out of your self. Breathe. Consciously breath, asking yourself what do I need today. If the answer is that you feel stressed then try breathing that out on your out breaths. I also find writing out my feelings and thoughts as a way towards stress-relief. It is lovely to meet up with friends but it is not always possible. If you hold your anxiety in then it can come out in an unhealthy way – losing your temper, feeling highly strung with everything still locked inside of you. Writing is as good as talking so writing a journal can help let those feelings out. If we have a little more time for self-care what should we do? Go for a massage. Ask for that voucher for Christmas or treat yourself. It’s cold and in the cold we tense up without even knowing it – even without stress. So the best way to combat that would be a luxurious massage. JEN’S GUIDE || HOW TO DO SELF-CARE AT CHRISTMAS Restoration Yard is not just a store and a beautiful restaurant, we passionately believe in restoration of self too. Life is complicated enough: so we’ve created a haven for emotional healing, rebalancing and renewing the self. We call it our Wellbeing Lab: a welcoming series of spaces for everything from yoga and Pilates to mindfulness and mums & babies classes. We host learning workshops and art-making crafternoons, and also offer harmonizing coaching, massage therapy, reflexology and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in our Sanctuary.

Enjoy a curry? Our Christmas Foodie Market is opening up its hatches again this weekend, December 8th and 9th – we are looking forward to warming up with a delicious curry from Scotia Spice. Come along, enjoy sample pots made up by Yasmin McDonagh, founder of Scotia Spice. FIVE MINUTES WITH Yasmin McDonagh of Scotia Spice What can we expect from Scotia Spice this weekend? Well it’s December. People will be cold. We will be in the courtyard with something to warm them up. I’m going to be bringing a taster of our Tandoori Salmon and our Lamb Keema. How did Scotia Spice come about? I’ve always been a passionate foodie. I grew up surrounded by Punjabi cooking. My mother and grandmother were always cooking. Food is part of the fabric of our family. In 2006 when my youngest went to school I thought what now. I’d always worked in pension litigation but now I wanted flexibility. So I started a small cookery school. What did that entail? I started courses for three, in my kitchen. It was about getting people to look at spices, taste them and then cooking with them. It’s all about bringing different layers of taste through learning the expertise behind authentic Punjabi cooking. It’s easier to cook with spices when you understand them. How did you go from cookery school to Scotia Spice packs? I thought about how I could put the cookery school into a box. I decided to try out my idea at a local Christmas fair in Stirlingshire. 11pm the night before I had 15 boxes prepared all complete with hand-wrapped spices. Within half an hour of the fair opening my 15 boxes were gone and I had a list for more. I sold 70 in the end. It grew and developed from that point on. Since then I’ve moved it on to smaller kits for people to try on a smaller scale. Little recipe kits. It’s had an unbelievable response. Best moments so far? In 2016 – to my utter surprise – I won the Curry Queen Award in the Scottish Curry Awards. All I am doing is trying to show how simple it is, using simple methods, how the magic comes from the spices. What are the future plans for Scotia Spice? In 2018 I’ve started working directly with a spice trader. He goes back generations of spice traders – his uncle, his grandfather. Now I can source single origin spices. If I want a chilli powder from India I can select which one. For the first time I am able to make my family Garam Masala. I am hoping to market that next year. MORE ABOUT CHRISTMAS AT RESTORATION YARD Make Restoration Yard your Christmas shopping destination this year. Every weekend you’ll find a pop-up mini festive foodie market with a selection of local artisan producers showcasing their favourite Christmas gifts to help you tick off your list. Alongside Scotia Spice, other producers include O’Donnell Moonshine, Buck and Birch. Plus, don’t forget to bring the car and pick up your Christmas tree – we have a selection of 5-8 foot stunning Nordmann Fir non-drop needle trees for sale. Also, this weekend you’ll also find a selection of local choirs performing their favourite Christmas songs. Find who’s on here.

Meet the maker of our new Restoration Yard Christmas Gin, Hamish Martin. Hamish and his wife Liberty set up The Secret Herb Garden, nestled at the foot of the Pentland hills on the outskirts of Edinburgh, in 2012. It boasts a wonderful café, a shop full of vintage furniture, wine and beer. It was born of their dreams to create a special little retreat out of their love of herbs, good food and all things vintage. So how did it become The Old Curiosity distillery into the mix? Hamish reveals his gin journey here and how he made our new Restoration Yard Christmas Gin. What inspired you to start up Old Curiosity gins? The gin was borne out of necessity rather than thinking there was any business opportunity. Midlothian Planning Department were trying to stop us holding weddings at the Secret Herb Garden. They said: “weddings weren’t ancillary to our horticultural holding.” If we lost wedding revenue it would have shut us down. We fought their decision and 18 months later (and much cost and heartache) we won but from the very outset my wife turned round to me and said ‘you know that thing you can do with the roses and the gin I think you had better make business from it just in case we lose.’ Well that’s how it started. We had no money but I did manage to persuade three shareholders to invest in me and we built the distillery and away we went…. Why gin? It could have been a floral spirit but the current popularity of gin was too good an opportunity to miss and everyone knows what they get when they buy a gin. How did you find your little plot of land? The start up to the Secret Herb Garden that started seven years ago when we bought a 7.5 acre derelict site. I had stumbled across these huge ruined glasshouses and fell in love with the land and the potential it held to build a herb nursery, cafe and shop. We spent the first three years living in a static caravan with four kids and five dogs (we now have built a house on site and are up to seven dogs and five children) while eveloping the site. It took two full years to get it ready to open. What have been the challenges and the triumphs? Major triumphs have been national listings with every M&S, John Lewis and Harvey Nichols stores. Oh and of course our first account we ever sold to which was Restoration Yard! The challenges are always present, thank goodness, life would be very dull if they weren’t. What sets your product apart from others on the market? We are different to all the other gins on the market in a few ways. Firstly we grow our own botanicals, hand pick them, use no chemicals whatsoever – we don’t even use organic chemicals. I’ll only use a plant to heal a plant. Also, we have our own drying room where we can obtain perfect colour of the petals and aromatics from the botanicals. Secondly we make single plant distillates. That means we distill flowers separately. For example, the Apothecary Roses are distilled, which means you capture the true flavour, aroma of the rose. We then add this to our gin, which is why you can taste the roses so clearly in our gin. Thirdly, we then use the dried petals to infuse the gin to get the colour from the petals. The fact that the gins then turn pink when you add tonic is a natural pH reaction within the petals. All our gins taste of the flowers they say they are, turn pink all completely naturally and taste fantastic – this makes us truly unique in an over-crowded market. Can you tell us some of your perfect gift ideas for this Christmas? Give someone a young native tree for them to plant somewhere – what better gift can you give for one person and in turn benefit everyone? Tell us a little about our Restoration Yard Christmas Gin that you’ve created for us? So your gin is made from Juniper, Coriander, Winter savoury and Angelica (all grown on site at the Secret Herb Garden). We distill separately ginger and then cardamon and lastly cinnamon. I then blend these three very powerful distillates and add it to the gin. That is why, when you drink your gin, you will taste the classic gin flavour first but you will slowly detect the clean, fresh flavours of the ginger, cinnamon and cardamon all warmly wrapped up in one glass to deliver the most perfect Christmas Gin – serve on ice long, with dried or fresh orange and a stick of cinnamon – perfect. What will be your perfect gin this Christmas and how and where will you be partaking it? My perfect Christmas gin would be our Limited Edition Christmas Gin which was made the same way as Restoration Yard’s Christmas gin but we also used petals to give the gin the most amazing light red colour that when tonic is added . It turns pink. It is amazing. We could only make 476 bottles (ran out of petals) – however we sold out in five days. I’m not to sad as I will be drinking your Christmas gin. I will be making it into a classic Negroni with a festive twist. My wife will make a bulk amount of this to see me through the festive period as it is my ‘go to drink’. However, it should have a warning as having a pre-made Negroni makes it too easy to have seconds. MEET THE MAKERS LATE NIGHT SHOPPING AND CHARITY RAFFLE Meet Hamish at our event at our Meet The Makers special tonight, 29th November from 6 to 8pm.We’re kicking off our Thursday late night shopping events with a special Christmas ‘Meet the Makers’ evening where you’ll get to meet some of the designers and producers behind our labels, helping you pick the best of their collections. What’s more we’ll be hosting an extra special charity raffle to help raise much-needed funds for CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland). Enter to be in with the chance to win some amazing prizes including a Chamomile Sanctuary Ultimate Indulgence Package, Afternoon Tea and Restoration Yard Hamper.

A celebration of colour, culture and diversity is the brand philosophy of Scottish-based designer Taisir Gibreel. Gibreel’s collection of silk shell tops, kaftan dresses and scarves brings that gorgeous splash of colour and pattern to Restoration Yard’s store. We are excited to invite you along to meet her at our Meet The Makers special on November 29th. The best bit is Gibreel will not only showcase her own collection – she’s a font of knowledge on every single item within the store. As our head of retail, Gibreel’s the guru behind our carefully curated fashion finds, best of beauty and off-piste gifts, so while perusing her beautiful pieces you can tap into her clever brain for some smart gift suggestions for any tricksy customers on your to-shop-for list . For a bit of background, it was after years of working in fashion retail in London, Amsterdam and Spain, Gibreel decided to embark on her degree in textile design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. She graduated specialising in print and weave and now her collections are based on original hand drawings of rural and urban Scottish landscapes. Since launching in a New York show in August 2013, each bold and beautiful piece Gibreel creates brings together her Sudanese and English heritage as well as influences of the Scottish landscape. ‘Art to Wear’ is how she sees her abstract print and weave creations. Gibreel explains: “When I sat down to design, all of these wonderful rich textures and colours appeared. Look at my Fairground Sugar Rush prints, you’ll see the little upside down boats from the Parliament, the flashes of orange could be my African roots or perhaps Irn Bru and Ben Lawers inspired the rich, beautiful and dark colours of the Silver Dew Rainbow pieces.” Designer Taisir Gibreel with a selection of her creations MEET THE MAKERS LATE NIGHT SHOPPING AND CHARITY RAFFLE On 29th November from 6 to 8pm – We’re kicking off our Thursday late night shopping events with a special Christmas ‘Meet the Makers’ evening where you’ll get to meet some of the designers and producers behind our labels, helping you pick the best of their collections. What’s more we’ll be hosting an extra special charity raffle to help raise much-needed funds for CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland). Enter to be in with the chance to win some amazing prizes including a Chamomile Sanctuary Ultimate Indulgence Package, Afternoon Tea and Restoration Yard Hamper.

||Covet |of Thistle Street, Edinburgh – is a real treasure trove of a store for accessories lovers. Think less well-known handbag and accessory brands from all over Europe that can’t be found anywhere else in the capital. Think pieces that just have that point of difference from so much of what’s available on the high street and from high-end designer labels. That’s Covet. So we are super excited to announce that Covet co-owner Blaise Donald and her handpicked selection of Covet gems are coming to Restoration Yard’s store on the evening November 29th, as part of our late-night shopping ‘Meet The Makers’ event. Come along, find yourself inspired by meeting one half of Edinburgh’s most passionate, creative and intuitive business duos and pick up some amazing gifts. Here’s our very quick catch up with her on what she will be bringing to RY on the night. THE 5 MINUTE INTERVIEW So, Blaise, tell us a bit about why you’re bringing Covet to RY? We love the whole of the Restoration Yard’s aesthetic and the store’s ethos. It really feels like Covet and Restoration Yard are the perfect match. Tell us what Covet will be showcasing at our Meet The Makers event? Well, I’ll be bringing along our beautiful Anna Somerville scarves. As well as being my co-owner of Covet, Anna is also an abstract artist. We decided it would be amazing to bring her art into the store in pieces that could be worn, making abstract art accessible. She’s created a beautiful autumn/winter collection in which each scarf design has been taken from an original oil painting of Anna’s and digitally printed onto a 100% wool scarf. At £69 they are a fantastic buy. Anna Somerville scarves from £69 You’re well known for bags. Can we expect to see some on the night? I’m also bringing our own-label Covet bags, which we launched last year. We launched Covet the store in 2007. After a decade of countless trips to fashion trade fairs in Milan and Paris, we felt qualified to bring a desirable collection of Covet own-label handbags to the UK market. We have also been listening all these years to our customers telling us what they wanted. We feel perfectly placed to create a capsule collection of beautiful, practical, affordable, quality, luxury bags women will love. There’s the Covet Essential clutch, which can work on a night out as a standalone piece but is also handy as a bag inside a bag for organisation; the New Town bag, which is a comfortable shoulder bag that can convert into a cross-body bag; The Tote, which works hard by being a good size to carry laptops and other every day essentials; and finally, there is our bestseller the Edinburgh Bag. The Covet Edinburgh bag Why is the Edinburgh bag a favourite? We designed the Covet Edinburgh Bag to be a true multi-tasker. It’s been created to take women effortlessly from day to night. For during the day the detachable strap can be adjusted to any length allowing it to be worn as a cross body or a shoulder bag, either folded or open as a messenger. When it comes to evening you can take the strap off to strap to transform it into an elegant clutch with room in its two zipped section for all essentials. And, like all our bags, it’s handcrafted in Spain from luxurious Italian leather. MORE ABOUT THE EVENT MEET THE MAKERS LATE NIGHT SHOPPING AND CHARITY RAFFLE On 29th November from 6 to 8pm – We’re kicking off our Thursday late night shopping events with a special Christmas ‘Meet the Makers’ evening where you’ll get to meet some of the designers and producers behind our labels, helping you pick the best of their collections. What’s more we’ll be hosting an extra special charity raffle to help raise much-needed funds for CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland). Enter to be in with the chance to win some amazing prizes including a Chamomile Sanctuary Ultimate Indulgence Package, Afternoon Tea and Restoration Yard Hamper.