St Andrews’ culinary scene will lose one of its top restaurants as MasterChef: The Professionals finalist Dean Banks has been forced to turn his focus to the capital.
The Angus-born chef had always planned to add an Edinburgh restaurant to his portfolio, but has had to close his Haar restaurant in St Andrews following an unresolved lease review with his landlord.
Celebrating its second birthday a few days ago, the restaurant, which was based in North Street in the popular tourist town, had only experienced one full year in operation. The second year has consisted of reopenings and closures throughout the multiple lockdowns as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
E.D.I.N.B.U.R.G.H
2021— ChefDeanBanks (@banks_chef) April 9, 2021
Unable to come to a conclusion with his landlord on the venue’s lease, Dean has spent the last three months scouting for a new home in St Andrews, with no suitable venues presenting themselves.
He said: “We went to go and open a restaurant in Edinburgh this time last year but we had to stop because of the pandemic.
“With everything opening back up again soon we decided to kickstart the project again. We have found a different site to the initial one. It is very central and is well-known, and is a beautiful place.
“Originally this was meant to be the second Haar and after everything that has happened, Haar doesn’t currently have a home in St Andrews.
“I’ve been searching high and low for the past three months for somewhere. There’s been a few sites but they have asked for a high premium of £75,000 to take on the lease. There’s nothing realistic.
“We want Haar to have its home in St Andrews. We have an amazing, loyal customer base there. It is our flagship, where we’ve made the brand and what we’re known for. I’m hoping someone has a place that just isn’t on the market.
I’ve been searching high and low for the past three months for somewhere.”
Dean Banks
“We want to stay here, but we need to look at getting the business trading again for when we can reopen. We don’t want to not have a restaurant open so the key is to get the Edinburgh venue open – probably by June 1.”
Lease review issues
Employing 18 members of staff, Dean has confirmed that four or five, who are mainly core staff, have been moved to other areas in the business.
Each member of staff has been offered a job in either Haarbour, Haar at Home or in the new Edinburgh restaurant to safeguard as many jobs as possible.
“It was a lease review with unreasonable terms – we just couldn’t’ agree to it,” revealed Dean on sharing the news that Haar is no longer operating in St Andrews for the time being.
“We have built a great name for ourselves in not just the town but in Tayside and Angus, too. We want to have our home there, but after being stressed for three months trying to find a home, we just can’t find anything.
“We tried to offer all of our staff jobs elsewhere with Haarbour or Haar at Home. We offered jobs to people in Edinburgh but some are located in the local area.
“It is disappointing as we’ve worked so hard during the pandemic to keep all of our staff, but we’re now at the point where we no longer have a restaurant for them to work in.
“We have other premises they can work in but it isn’t the same working in a fish and chip shop if you’re working in a fine dining restaurant.
“Four or five of the staff have taken on elsewhere in the business – they are some of the main core team. We have a lot of students who are currently at home who work for us, too. But most of the core team have positions sorted.”
New Haar Edinburgh Restaurant
With his mind set on moving forward and keeping a positive outlook, Dean, who is saddened by the situation, is hopeful that the move to Edinburgh will keep the staff motivated.
“We want to have the venue open by June. My birthday is in June so I am determined to have it open by then. The lease is over a long period of time. It has always been the plan to have Haar in Edinburgh.
It is disappointing as we’ve worked so hard during the pandemic to keep all of our staff, but we’re now at the point where we no longer have a restaurant for them to work in.”
“If we find a home in St Andrews we will definitely reopen there again. The tables have turned.
“Rather than us having a home in St Andrews and trying to find a second restaurant in Edinburgh about a year ago, we now have a home in Edinburgh and nowhere in St Andrews. It has flipped around.
“Haar at Home is still flying and has been great for business for us. We have around 28 staff now so within the year we have grown the business massively.
“Haarbour is getting busy again and we’ll be reopening the restaurant side of that on April 26 which is really exciting.”
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