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This June from the 22nd of June, Sol y Sombra in Broughty Ferry will officially relaunch as Velvet Tide, a modern Scottish house of hospitality inspired by folklore, mythology and the traditions of Scotland’s coastal communities. Led by hospitality entrepreneurs Kelly Fairweather and Paul Fairweather, owners of The Selkie in Dundee and The Ferry Selkie, the rebrand marks a new chapter for the 45 cover restaurant and 30 cover in the bar downstairs, transforming it from a Mediterranean-inspired venue into a destination rooted in Scottish storytelling, local produce and warm, welcoming hospitality. 

Velvet Tide is inspired by the legend of a Cailleach who fell in love with a travelling merchant and made her home by the sea in Broughty Ferry. The concept brings together storytelling and Scottish hospitality across a relaxed, all-day dining venue. Upstairs, The Cailleach Dining Room offers a more refined dining experience, with warm tartans, dark green panelling and low lighting designed for slower, intimate evenings. Downstairs, The Merchant Bar provides a more informal space with fireside seating, champagne by the glass, a curated whisky list and live music into the night. Together, the two spaces create an all-day destination for dining, drinks and live music, moving from relaxed lunches to late evenings. 

The food offering will reflect this shift, with a menu celebrating Scottish ingredients and comforting, seasonal cooking. Signature dishes will include venison stovie croquettes, fresh local lobster with pomme Anna, and a selection of seasonal Scottish dishes inspired by the coast and countryside. The drinks menu will feature cocktails inspired by characters from the venue’s folklore, including Gentle Annie, a champagne-based cocktail, and Lachlan, a contemporary take on an Old Fashioned made with Rum Bothy Run and fresh lime juice. 

Kelly Fairweather, owner of Velvet Tide, said:

“Velvet Tide is areflection of everything I love -Scottish stories, warm welcomes, beautiful food and creating spaces where people feel at home. I’ve spent the last two years trying to make Sol y Sombra something it simply wasn’t, and I’ve realised that real success is about honesty. This rebrand is about stepping into something that finally feels right,  for me, for my team, and for our guests.”

While the concept is new, Velvet Tide continues the same focus on welcoming, characterful hospitality that has underpinned Kelly Fairweather’s previous businesses. The rebrand reflects both the building’s nearly 200-year history and a refreshed approach for the future. 

Images here

  Address: 27 Gray St, Broughty Ferry, Dundee DD5 2BH

A new cookbook is set to inspire readers to embrace their hunger pangs and elevate their grazing game with 52 seasonal snack recipes. Seasonal Snacks by Gabriella English will be published by Kitchen Press in July 2026.

This debut title from cookery writer, recipe developer and food stylist Gabriella English marks the fourth instalment in the popular Seasonal series, which includes Soups, Salads and Suppers.

Seasonal Snacks positions snacks as stars in their own right rather than a supporting act. The collection features an array of flavour-packed, versatile recipes, from Comté gougères and Thai sweetcorn fritters to kimchi pinwheels and Caprese Parma ham roll-ups, designed for everything from relaxed summer picnics to hosting dinner parties.

Drawing on seasonal produce, the book also focuses on creating dishes that reflect what people naturally crave throughout the year, with recipes tailored to each month and moment in the calendar.

Gabriella English said:

“This cookbook is my devotion to snacking, which for me, is perhaps the most joyous way of eating. Snacks are so often an afterthought: a hurried handful of crisps eaten absent-mindedly to tide you over, a container of olives hastily tipped into a bowl when friends visit or a trance-like raid of the leftovers at the back of the fridge. I hope that my cookbook will encourage readers to expand their snacking horizons and find inspiration within these pages.”

Each chapter is organised by month to make the most of seasonal produce and occasions: 

1. January

Pea guacamole / Smoked salmon sushi hand rolls / Satay chicken wings with peanut and lime dipping sauce / Comté gougères / Lemony smoked mackerel paté

2. February

Bagna cauda / Mini Welsh rarebits with marmite / Spring onion pancakes / Turkish borek

3. March

Mini poppadoms with green chutney and salad / Beetroot and mint houmous with feta / Parma ham egg cups with goat’s cheese and wild garlic / Thai sweetcorn fritters

4. April

Crispy roasted new potatoes with wild garlic whipped feta / Filo samosas / Kimchi pinwheels / Sticky sesame-crusted halloumi with tzatziki

5. May

Roasted asparagus with romesco sauce / Smoked salmon taramasalata / Aubergine parmigiana bites / Whipped ricotta crostini with balsamic strawberries and Parma ham

6. June

Chorizo, black bean and sweetcorn nachos / Lemony herby crab toasts / Baked feta with lemon and honey / Pistachio and feta dip 

7. July

Caprese Parma ham roll ups / Feta and spring onion cornbread muffins / Smoky Mexican-style corn ribs with chipotle mayo / Grilled peaches with burrata, nduja and basil / Za’atar-crusted halloumi fries with tahini dipping sauce

8. August

Seared tuna tostadas with avocado and lime / Halloumi and watermelon skewers with za’atar and mint / Chorizo and padron peppers / Mar hor

9. September

Balsamic roasted fig and goat’s cheese crostini / Crispy aubergine with pomegranate molasses / Sweet potato pakora / Mushroom taleggio arancini

10. October

Balsamic onion and goat’s cheese tartlets with honey and thyme / Sesame prawn toast / Muhammara / Crispy mozzarella-stuffed olives / Miso mushroom gyoza

11. November

Smoky kale crisps / Cheesy seeded crackers / Bacon-wrapped figs with Gorgonzola and sage / Korean prawns

12. December

Roasted mixed nuts with rosemary and cayenne pepper / Dates stuffed with labneh, tahini and hazelnuts / Parmesan and thyme shortbreads / Smoked salmon palmiers / Sticky honey, soy and sesame cocktail sausages

Delicious Additions

Aioli / Za’atar pitta crisps / Tortilla chips / Flatbreads / Cheat’s risotto 

Gabriella English trained at Leiths Cookery School in London and has worked across the food industry in recipe development and editorial roles for major supermarkets, food brands and magazines. Her recipe writing focuses on accessibility and clarity, with a belief that good cooking should be achievable in any kitchen through simple, flexible and confidence-building methods. 

Seasonal Snacks by Gabriella English is published in hardback by Kitchen Press on 7 July 2026 and will be available nationwide, priced at £15. 

Kitchen Press titles are distributed by BookSource. 

www.kitchenpress.co.uk 

It’s hard to step back and look at your own brand story when you’re busy working in your own business. I realised recently that we spend so much time telling the stories of our clients that we don’t always focus on our own. So here we go!

We founded Sound Bite PR back in 2018. And by we, I mean Jessica Sneddon and me, Martha Bryce. 

We wanted to create a sound business with an honest approach and none of the smoke and mirrors that PR is sometimes associated with. 

And we wanted to focus on clear sectors, developing deeper knowledge and skills for our team and us.

We’d both spent our whole careers working in PR, particularly in hospitality and food & drink. While Jessica had started her career at Rocco Forte, I’d cut my teeth in my family’s food business before going onto work at VisitScotland. Sound Bite PR is an accumulation of all our shared passion and expertise. These are the sectors that make our hearts sing.

And what brilliant sectors to work in! It’s given us access to truly incredible food, world class drinks and allowed us to visit some really wonderful places. But my favourite part of our work is undoubtedly drawing out the stories from the people and businesses we work with. Being able to share those stories more widely is a huge privilege. 

Our roots are in media relations, but we have relished adapting to a changing business landscape. This has resulted in a more integrated approach, building up a specialist digital team. We now have in-house content creation, social media and digital strategy and management and our work with influencers has increased exponentially.

While we’re now lucky to be part of the creative Custom Lane team at Lamb’s House in Edinburgh, our first office was in Dalgety Bay. My abiding memory of that is us all enthusiastically starting out on the Fife Coastal Path. After me falling face first into a muddy puddle, our ‘Wellness Wednesdays’ came abruptly to an end.

We’ve since grown to a team of ten with each member bringing different skills, knowledge and passion.

We’ve managed amazing restaurant, hotel and product launches across the UK: from seaweed foraging stunts to events at the Chelsea Flower Shower. I can’t begin to imagine how many media we’ve hosted on press trips or how many drinks samples we’ve sent out to reviewers. (Sometimes our office is a bit like Santa’s grotto with a wealth of parcels waiting to be posted!) We’ve managed unexpected crisis communications situations and we’ve celebrated award wins. But we’ve also done an awful lot of good old-fashioned marketing designed to get bums on seats and drive sales.

At the end of the day, no matter the changing techniques, what we do is share stories. And that’s the best bit of all. 

Glasgow West End favourite Five March is shaking up Thursday nights with the launch of a brand-new Burger Night, running every Thursday from 5 pm to 9 pm from 9 April. The special burger menu will be available in addition to the a la carte menu.

Five March owner, Jo Nethery said, 

“Five March is all about offering a warm and welcoming space for friends to come enjoy each other’s company while enjoying delicious food made from local and seasonal produce. We’ve put the same care and creativity into our burger menu as we do everything else – expect bold flavours, quality ingredients, and a few surprises along the way.”

The menu includes: 

• Fried chicken sandwich, Katsu, shredded hispi, pickled ginger
• Korean fried chicken sandwich, gochujang, BB pickles
• Smash burger, cheese, aioli
• Smash burger, cheese, aioli, pickles, shredded lettuce, crispy onions, burger sauce.

Tucked away in Glasgow’s West End, just moments from Kelvingrove Park, Five March is best known for its flavourful small plates. Menus are designed for sharing and driven by seasonality, with thoughtful options for vegetarians and vegans, ensuring there’s something for everyone.

The minimalist interiors offer a refined yet laid-back atmosphere, while the outdoor terrace provides a bright spot for al fresco dining during the Scottish summer and the perfect place to enjoy a drink from the bar’s experimental cocktail list or curated selection of organic wines.

For more information and to book a table, please visit fivemarch.co.uk

Isle of Barra Distillers has unveiled its most atmospheric release yet, Island Dark Rum: Black Forest. The new expression takes the distillery’s award-winning Island Dark Rum to new depths, offering a more layered experience, inspired by a wilder place.

Drawing inspiration from the darker, more mystical side of Barra, Black Forest captures the depth and richness of dark forest flavours. The rum has been built around the bold intensity of wild cherry and blackcurrant, lifted with bright orange peel and mellowed by smooth coconut. The new rum balances the rich flavours of the dark fruits with the familiar, tropical warmth of Island Dark Rum.

Founded in 2017 by Katie and Michael Morrison, the husband and wife Barra natives wanted to create a future for their family and generations to come and, in doing so, founded Scotland’s most westerly distillery. 

Island Dark Rum: Black Forest is priced at £36 and is available to purchase now via the Isle of Barra Distillers website: https://isleofbarradistillers.com/products/island-dark-rum-black-forest 

Website: https://isleofbarradistillers.com/ 

Isle of Barra Distillers has announced that Isle of Barra Gin and Island Dark Rum are now available in Tesco stores around Scotland. This marks the second major supermarket listing for Scotland’s most westerly distillery in the last six months, following its launch in Sainsbury’s in October 2025.

Isle of Barra Gin will be available in 85 Tesco stores and Dark Island Rum will be available in 65 stores, taking Isle of Barra Distiller’s total retail presence from around 299 stockists across the UK to over 620, including  Waitrose, Co-op, Booths and The Whisky Shop. 

Colleen Bowring, UK Head of Sales for Isle of Barra Distillers, said: 

“This year, we’re incredibly excited to continue to see strong growth in the off-trade across the UK, particularly within the grocery sector. For a small independent distillery from the Outer Hebrides, securing listings in both of the UK’s top two grocers within six months is something we couldn’t be more proud of. It shows that consumer demand for spirits with real provenance and a genuine story behind them is stronger than ever and we’re thrilled to be bringing a true taste of Barra to even more shelves across Scotland and beyond.”

Founded in 2017 by Katie and Michael Morrison, the husband and wife Barra natives wanted to create a future for their family and generations to come, and in doing so, founded Scotland’s most westerly distillery. Isle of Barra Distillers produces Isle of Barra Gin, Hebridean Vodka and Island Dark Rum from Castlebay on Barra. Isle of Barra Gin is distilled using locally hand-harvested Carrageen seaweed sourced sustainably from the shores surrounding the distillery’s island home.

The Isle of Barra Distillers has announced a landmark export agreement marking the distillery’s entry into the United States market just in time for Scotland’s first World Cup match in 27 years.

From June 2026, The Isle of Barra Distillers’ award-winning spirit will be available in over 25 states, including key markets in New York, Boston and Texas.

Michael Morrison, Co-Founder and CEO of Isle of Barra Distillers, said:

“This is one of the most significant milestones for our business with international export continuing to be a key area of growth. This is a challenging time for the drinks industry so we’re particularly pleased to have secured this deal in this climate. We’re partnering with Total Wine & More which brings our products to 268 retail stores and online.

“Launching in the US in the same month that Scotland will be playing at the World Cup is so special for us and for our island. Every bottle produced by the distillery carries the essence of its island home – its wild Atlantic waters, its close-knit community and its enduring spirit. So we hope we’ll be able to give the Tartan Army visiting the US a wee taste of home and introduce our Barra Gin to a new audience as we travel across the pond for our launch tour.”

Founded in 2017 by Katie and Michael Morrison, the husband and wife Barra natives wanted to create a future for their family and generations to come, and in doing so, founded Scotland’s most westerly distillery. Isle of Barra Distillers produces Isle of Barra Gin, Hebridean Vodka and Island Dark Rum from Castlebay on Barra. Isle of Barra Gin is distilled using locally hand-harvested Carrageen seaweed sourced sustainably from the shores surrounding the distillery’s island home.

Isle of Barra Distillers is available in 10 countries around the world.

Fife farm shop, Balgove Larder is expanding its award-winning butchery, reflecting continued growth in demand for high-quality, locally sourced produce. 

Balgove Larder is a farm shop, butchery and food destination located on the Strathtyrum Estate by St Andrews. Particularly known for its high quality meat, traditionally butchered by their skilled in-house team, the butchery counter takes centre stage in the shop and also supplies their popular Steak Barn restaurant.

Currently nearing completion, the development totals 100 square metres, more than doubling in size and comprising new butchery space and an upgraded storeroom. This will increase production capacity, improve efficiency in deliveries and stock management, and allow the butchery team more space to process and house more of the estate’s own reared meat. 

While output will increase, the focus remains on maintaining craftsmanship, provenance, and product quality. The expansion is designed to support traditional butchery skills while improving workflow and consistency.

The investment will also add around four additional jobs to the existing eight-strong butchery team.

The butcher at Balgove Larder has also been named a finalist in this year’s Countryside Alliance Best Butcher in Scotland award, recognising the skill, consistency, and quality of the team. The winning butchery will be announced in May.

Balgove Larder has seen a consistent increase in demand for its high quality produce. This is in keeping with a recent survey marking Great British Beef Week 2026 (April 23rd – 30th 2026, which revealed that consumers are increasingly prioritising provenance, quality, and trust, with more choosing to buy from local butchers and farm shops.

Founded in 2010, it is known for championing local Scottish produce, including seasonal ingredients and meat from its own farms and award-winning meat prepared by traditionally skilled butchers. The site has grown to include a Farm Shop, Steak Barn, Butchery, Garden Shed, Homestore, Café and the Eat Out takeaway hut, all housed in thoughtfully converted former farm buildings.

balgove.com

This week, Scotland’s only bookshop dedicated to food and drink will open its doors for the first time. Located on Haddington Place in Edinburgh, The Cookbook Shop brings together a passion for food, books and creativity, offering a welcoming community space that celebrates both culinary literature and the joy of sharing good food. 

Founded by Martyn and Liz Bryson, who wanted to create a vibrant space for the local community, The Cookbook Shop will host regular events and workshops designed to bring together chefs, writers, and food lovers.

Martyn Bryson, Co-founder of The Cookbook Shop, said: 

“The Cookbook Shop is a space for everyone, from professional cooks to complete beginners. We want to help people find inspiration and discover something new and exciting to make. We have a diverse, international selection of cookbooks and food writing emphasising contemporary voices and independent publishers. 

“And it’s not just books: we have a broad selection of work from independent artists, designers, and makers. Some of my favourites are our zines and fruit-shaped trinket dishes, and you’ll also find art prints, artisanal pantry items, fresh foraged foods, and cold beverages.”

The Cookbook Shop is open 11:00 to 6:30, Wednesday to Sunday.

Bookings are now open for The Schoolhouse, an accessible, luxury five-bedroom self-catering holiday home in a restored former village school, set within Straloch Estate. This marks the culmination of an ambitious two-year renovation project by owner and former pupil Lucy Holt who has transformed this long-term derelict building into a stunning rural retreat.

Nestled in a remote Perthshire glen, the 3000-acre Highland estate is a true adventure playground for adults and kids alike, with river fishing, kayaking and rowing boats on the private loch, den building in the woods, campfire picnic teas on the loch island, and guided nature walks. There’s even the option to bundle into the Land Rover to reach a private bothy high in the hills for a chef-prepared Wild Picnic. Modern amenities such as a six-seater hydrotherapy hot tub have been installed at The Schoolhouse, offering the perfect space for post-walk relaxation or evening stargazing in the peaceful surroundings of the estate.

The 19^th century listed property, formerly Straloch School had stood vacant since being mothballed in 2010. It was purchased in 2023 by the Holts from Perth and Kinross Council and   has since undergone a comprehensive refurbishment. The restoration forms part of a wider programme of tourism investment across the family-run estate. Since opening to guests in 2015, Straloch has developed a reputation for well-designed accommodation within a distinctive landscape on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park.

A network of local contractors including project managers Galbraith Group, builders Meldrum Construction firm, and interior designer Tyrella Nash of Dunville Interiors joined forces to sympathetically restore the building and repurpose it for a new generation to enjoy. Two former classrooms have been converted into a spacious state-of-the-art kitchen and sitting room, with walk-in larder, and all mod cons for get-togethers of family and friends. The adjacent sitting room has a wood-burning stove and cosy velvet sofas and chairs to allow the whole group to coorie in for films and board games in the evenings. The refurbishment included a complete upgrade of sustainable services throughout the building, with energy-efficient systems such as an air source heat pump and two electric EV chargers, alongside contemporary appliances and integrated technology. 

Original features and vintage finds layered with modern technology create a calming countryside retreat. Design features include reclaimed 1930’s cast-iron radiators salvaged from Scotland Yard, and a set of original desk and chairs from the former school, together with the original playground seesaw in the garden acknowledging the property’s rich history. 

There are two bedrooms on the ground floor, one of which is wheelchair friendly and the other is en-suite. Upstairs in the former Headmistress’ house are three bedrooms and a further bathroom. Each designed with a lush palette inspired by the landscape of Perthshire and the Cairngorms, and toiletries from The Highland Soap Company.

The project also carries huge personal significance for Lucy Holt:

“It’s a building that means a great deal to our family, especially since I was a pupil at the school with my siblings. We wanted to bring it back into use in a way that respected its history, while making it work for how people want to stay today. It had been sitting empty for years, so seeing it restored and lived in again is incredibly rewarding. The support from former pupils and teachers has been heartening and we can’t wait to welcome our first visitors to experience the Schoolhouse.”

Set within the wider estate landscape, guests at The Schoolhouse have access to walking routes, loch fishing and open ground across the estate’s 3,000 acres. Located within easy reach of Pitlochry, the estate offers a balance of seclusion and accessibility, making it well suited to both short breaks and longer stays. The transformation of the former school marks the return of a previously redundant building into active use, supporting the continued development of the estate and contributing to the wider tourism offering in the region.

Prices start from £2,000 for a three-night stay during the off-season.Bookings are now live and can be made here.