There’s something of the Paris bistro about Guy’s in Glasgow’s merchant city. The decor, with its white wood panelling, wall hung china plates and modern art may be eclectic but it’s a welcome change from the many interior-designed eateries in the city. It’s also an interesting lesson in how important the shape of the location is to a restaurant’s atmosphere; the ‘busy neighbourhood bistro’ feel is largely down to the
Music of every genre from folk to Viking intergalactic thrash metal will ring out from over 20 venues this weekend as Dunfermline Live gets underway. More than 50 acts will perform including national festival headlining bands and young performers playing their first gigs. What makes the festival unique is that for one weekend a year the whole town becomes a music venue: as well as in theatres, clubs and bars, you’ll find musicians
The excellent Cupar Arts Festival has just got underway and runs until 17 October. An impressive list of interesting visual arts events has been put together, including a man wondering around town dressed as a pig, handwriting cut into the town’s park grass and video projections onto buildings of people immersed in water. There are lots of live music performances and family activities too. Also featured is the work of
Without whisky Prince Albert of Monaco and Alex Bruce, a descendant of Robert the Bruce would never have met. It was Adelphi whisky, bottled in Charlestown, Fife that brought the two together; the Monagasque royal buys whisky from Alex who manages the company. Scotland’s national drink could be the unsung hero of international relations. When Alex heard that the Prince,who loves Scotland, was doing a private tour with Princess Charlene,
Artist Doreen Le Marinel, chic and charming in person and the creator of these sophisticated, tender and deeply feminine works, seems quintessentially French. She hails however from Clydebank, moving to France with her French husband more than 20 years ago. Le Marinel, who is self taught, is inspired by the work of Klimt, Schiele and the sculpture of Camille Claude and exhibits regularly in Brittany where she now lives.
These 1960s plans for Irvine ‘New Town’ show the architects had the best intentions even if the results attracted controversy. Irvine was officially designated as a ‘New Town’ in 1966, the fifth and last to be developed in Scotland and the only ‘new town’ to be located on the coast. The other Scottish ‘New Towns’ were East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Cumbernauld and Livingston. Plans are afoot for Irvine. There is the
Brilliant Fife photographer Kevin McCollum is back from an enviable trip to New York and Chicago bringing back with him not the usual collection of selfies and naked knee shots but these stunning images in both colour and black and white. New York really is the city equivalent of Kate Moss – no matter the advancing years nor the decadence, it has just so many looks and seems hardly able
100% Madagascan chocolate was described by one Hello Chocolate customer as ‘like chewing paracetamol’. But Gill Lyth, founder of the Dunfermline chocolate company, doesn’t sell the most bitter of all chocolates – she just uses it for her tasting events. She explains: ‘During our chocolate experience events we taste chocolate from around the world, from countries like Tanzania & Ecuador and, despite its bitterness, some customers actually like the 100%
David Austin’s self-confessed low boredom threshold has been good for Dunfermline in Fife. Having opened Reuben’s, a cafe/deli which quickly became popular in the town, he soon added a wine store. The venue, named after his son, then started hosting wine tastings and live music events. After that came the de Brus beer, the town’s own blond ale developed by David and named after King Robert the Bruce. The beer