Scottish MasterChef: The Professionals finalist and restaurateur Dean Banks is set to open a new eatery in the Autumn.
The chef, who already owns restaurant Haar in St Andrews, will open fish and chip restaurant Haarbour in the town in September.
A childhood ambition, Dean has not revealed the site for the high-end eatery yet, but plans are currently underway.
The chef has also been busy with his Haar at Home delivery dining concept which he launched in May during lockdown and is sending out more than 500 boxes per week across the UK weekly.
He originally started with 50 boxes per week and has quickly built demand up.
Dean has been able to bring some of his staff back from furlough and re-employed them at his award-winning restaurant after being inundated with orders from across the UK for his home deliveries of fine dining lobster and crab dinners.
He is also currently looking for a commercial unit with a kitchen and large storage area where he can run the concept from, ensuring the entity continues once Haar reopens.
Just took our 2000 order for Haar at home!! 💥
— ChefDeanBanks (@banks_chef) June 29, 2020
The 32-year-old was a finalist in the 2018 series of BBC’s MasterChef: The Professionals and opened his first eatery in St Andrews last year.
He said: “After all the hard work of setting up a new restaurant and building a loyal clientelle, the Covid-19 closure was a devastating blow to us. My first thought regarding home deliveries was to supply roast dinners. But as an option they didn’t reflect what Haar has to offer.
Who needs seats? Getting ready for our first UK wide delivery. 1.5 tons of deliveries heading out! pic.twitter.com/ZRjHhJxK02
— ChefDeanBanks (@banks_chef) June 18, 2020
“People want something to make their weekends sparkle and to celebrate special occasions, so we wanted to offer a fine dining experience and Scotland’s fabulous seafood was the answer on our doorstep.
“After quite a bit of experimentation and working out how to home-deliver a restaurant standard meal, we settled on the luxury lobster and crab box which are oven ready with optional champagne. And the response has exceeded our wildest expectations. We’ve grown from supplying 50 to 500 boxes a week in just a month with customers as far south as Bristol.
“It’s been fantastic to be able to take some of our dedicated staff back to work full-time and we’re now looking at additional new premises to continue the service after Haar is able to re-open.”
