Pomp and Circumstance

Anyone interested in what’s moving and shaking on the Scottish restaurant scene should be following Dean Banks. This summer, he launched a third venue to complement his fi ne-dining operations in St Andrews and Edinburgh. Donald Reid caught up with him to talk about an ever-expanding empire

Dean Banks is a man with ambition. ‘From day one of opening Haar in 2019, the plan was to come into Edinburgh and open a fine-dining restaurant,’ he states. ‘That’s what led to Dean Banks At The Pompadour, with the vision to start creating experience-led dining in the city, obviously using the best of local produce, sustainability, all these beautiful things we have. We’re surrounded by this beautiful coastline and I think Scotland has a niche there, because as a small country we have locality built in. So, at Haar, the lobster comes from the harbour 100 metres down the road. Where I see the experience in the restaurants going is in the storytelling.’

As well as the focus on local produce, foraging also plays a key role on Banks’ menus. ‘In the past couple of years, I’ve seen restaurants like Fhior and L’Escargot Bleu with their own plots of land growing veg, which wasn’t a thing before. When I first started three or four years ago, I was foraging myself, but when we were busy I didn’t have time to do it. Now we have three or four foragers. I get a WhatsApp message with a list of ingredients, and it’s like doing an order to a wholesaler; that’s how cool it’s got.’

At the age of 21, Banks first worked as a chef in Edinburgh at The Balmoral’s Number One restaurant, which was a Michelinstarred venue alongside the city’s long-established ‘top trumps’, Tom Kitchin and Martin Wishart. Ten years on and he’ll admit that such awards are still attractive, but with three venues, further developments in the pipeline, and now 70 staff, the priorities have shifted.

‘Before this growth in the business, my goals were awards (Michelin star, four or five Rosettes), but as a business, revenue is obviously the biggest player. Awards are for Dan Ashmore [the group’s executive head chef] and the teams to drive for, and I push them. But my targets are to create more jobs, to create more business.’

He says his role has changed massively in the last 12 months with the opening of his latest venture in Edinburgh. ‘When things come up and I feel they’re right, I just go for it. With Dulse, when I walked in I thought, it’s the perfect fit, let’s do it. I wanted to have somewhere more relatable in the city, somewhere you could just come and have a glass of wine and a plate of oysters and spend £15. Dulse is somewhere I want to go as a customer to relax, be myself, kick back, and get messy with food.’

Since Ashmore has come on board, Banks has become more of a creative director rather than head chef or executive chef. ‘I’m still very much present in one of the restaurants each night but I’m also a man of many hats depending on which day of the week it is. For example, last week we’re doing a photo shoot for The Pomp and I’m stopping at the side of the road and grabbing moss off walls because I want the food to look a certain way. One image on Facebook or Instagram can create a lot of revenue for you. I really enjoy being creative. Creating a plate of food and designing it is the same as designing a restaurant, thinking about the flow of service and the experience. At the end of the day, food is fashion; you’ve got to remember that.’

Dulse, 17 Queensferry Street, Edinburgh, dulse.co.uk; Dean Banks At The Pompadour, Waldorf Astoria, Princes Street, Edinburgh, deanbanks.co.uk; Haar, 1 Golf Place, St Andrews, haarrestaurant.com