Callander’s Crags Hotel is to reopen with an Indian restaurant, bar and the offer of cooking lessons.
The Courier has spoken to new owner Vishant Das about his plans to breathe new life into the Main Street building.
The Crags has been shut since its owner, Mountview Hotels, entered administration in January 2023.
The company additionally owned Abbotsford Lodge, also in the Stirlingshire town, which was reopened by a Crieff couple in summer 2023.
Now the Crags is to follow suit, with Vishant hoping to reopen in the first week of May.
Fine-dining Indian restaurant coming to Callander
The 42-year-old arrived in Scotland from India in 2004.
He was the head chef at Loch Fyne Restaurant in Newhaven, Edinburgh, and was then in charge of Guchhi Indian Seafood and Bar in the city’s Commercial Street.
He completed the purchase of the Crags on March 14 this year.
Vishant says he has already refurbished the hotel’s 10 bedrooms ready for reopening.
Now workmen are in the process of setting up a new Indian restaurant.
“It will be a fine-dining Indian restaurant, which we don’t have anywhere in Callander,” Vishant said.
“I have been planning this for a very long time because from here people have to go to Stirling, Glasgow or Edinburgh for an Indian meal.
“It will be a proper authentic Indian restaurant.”
“Prices will be very reasonable – the same prices we have elsewhere in Callander.”
Crags Hotel to offer regular cooking lessons
There will be other options for those who opt not to have an Indian meal.
“There will be a mixture of pasta and steak on the menu as well,” Vishant added.
A special children’s menu will also be included, with under-5s eating for free.
There is also a plan for regular cooking lessons from head chef Vinod Singh, who has worked at restaurants in India, Dubai and Edinburgh.
“People will come for their food, and that’s good,” Vishant said.
“But we are trying to do something that isn’t being done yet in Callander.
“So every week or 10 days there will be a cooking lesson so people can learn how we cook Indian food.”
The restaurant may be new, but Vishant plans to reopen the front bar without making any changes to how it operated before the hotel closed.
He continued: “The licence will still be 1am and I want to bring back the old staff so people feel a sense of community.
“There is history in the bar so there will be no change there.”
‘So many local people try to help me – I really like the community here’
Vishant says he has already received great local support.
“When I was outside this building I saw everyone pass by and they were all excited, so I hope they like it,” he said.
“So many local people try to help me – I really like the community here.
“I have not decided on a particular opening date but I am hoping it will be the first week of May.
“Callander is one of the biggest tourist places in Scotland, with more than 20 hotels and holiday lets.
“I know it can be difficult in the winter but this is part of the business.
“Sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down.”
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