Latest opening: Haar
What: The new incarnation of the fine dining restaurant that was previously located in Kinnettles Hotel in St Andrews. It has now reappeared in a new location in the Scottish seaside town a deal to keep the restaurant going within the hotel couldn’t be met.
Who: Chef Dean Banks is the man behind Haar, named after the cold sea fog that comes in on the east coast of Scotland. Banks is a MasterChef: The Professionals 2018 finalist who opened Haar having spent the previous seven year working as a private chef all over the world.
The food: The tasting menu-only restaurant majors on but is not exclusively restricted to seafood, with Banks focusing heavily on sourcing as much produce as he can from the British Isles. His cooking style is described as British with styles and nuances from Europe and further afield, and this is evidenced in dishes on the menu including halibut, brown crab and galangal curry; smoked lobster with mirin butter (Banks’ signature dish that is available as a supplement); Loch Etive trout with pumpkin kosho and squid ink; and gochujang beef cheek with celeriac and pickled shimeiji. Vegetarians are well looked after with a meat-free tasting menu that features the likes of tandoori brassica with salsa verde; kosho pumpkin with finger lime and rice cracker; and kimchi wonton with cauliflower velouté. While only having a tasting menu offer, Harr is described as not being Haar ‘pretentious, stuffy or over-foamed’.
The vibe: Located at Golf Place, the two-storey, 40-cover restaurant has a golfing view over the Old Course and has a modern and bright colour palette of blue and white with light wooden and grey tiled floors as well as sand-coloured stone flagged walls in parts. There’s a chef’s table that seats eight diners for customers who want a ringside view of Banks and his team at work.
And another thing: Banks is planning to add boutique rooms to the premises early this year to attract people from further afield.
1 Golf Place, St Andrews, KY16 9JA
https://www.haarrestaurant.com
