I’ve rarely seen my friend as excited, chattering away about what great news this was for Dundee, and especially the Ferry.
She was talking about the hot new place in town, Sandbanks.
It’s the newest addition to the Tayside and Fife empire of MasterChef 2014 winner Jamie Scott and his wife Kelly.
And so, on Saturday, as I found myself stuck for inspiration for a present for a ‘big birthday’ for my cousin, it struck me. I’d drive to the new brasserie and buy a voucher.
As I approached the venue – formerly the Tayberry – on the Esplanade, I was quite unexpectedly hit by a tidal wave of emotion.
I lived just a stone’s throw away – at 15 The Esplanade – with my mum for a few years from the age of about 10.
It was glorious. We’d moved from Ellengowan Drive (the white houses off the Arbroath Road that were recently pulled down and replaced) to a more spacious first and second floor home.
Here, the sound of waves rocked me to sleep and the sea salt air left me pink-cheeked and glowing.
I’ve written previously about Ellengowan – of summer holiday talent contests in Baxter Park and buying cigars for my grandad at the Kiosk.
It has always struck a chord with readers. And I’ve loved to receive the emails from people sharing their own memories.
Now I wonder who else remembers that little corner of Dundee – or the Ferry, darling – on the Esplanade?
Lives shaped on the Esplanade at Broughty Ferry
The last time I mentioned my Ferry childhood here, a reader wrote to share the exact same Esplanade memory I had.
It was of a handsome teen who worked at the travelling fairground which came every year. We both had an enormous crush on him.
Sometimes (I mean, once or twice… I’m not obsessed) I wonder what happened to that boy with the soft blond hair, tanned face and bright blue eyes.
And that’s the thing when you live where you grow up – you are faced with ghosts from your own past every day.
The memories can be happy. But sometimes, they floor me with sadness. An ache for a life that seems so far away.
Still, back to my voucher.
Making memories for a new generation
What came back to me as I entered the brasserie was the very vivid memory of being taken there on my 13th birthday for dinner with my mum.
Back then, it was the fine dining restaurant L’Auberge.
I remember the older waiter (he was probably all of a very youthful 40… I wonder what happened to him) making a fuss of me. And I remember the food.
Oh, the food.
There was cream of cauliflower soup followed by medium rare steak with creamy potatoes and (I think) sticky toffee pudding for dessert.
I hadn’t had much of an appetite until that awakening and it was the first time I had adored and eaten every mouthful put in front of me.
I told the staff at Sandbanks about my memory. Suggested to them that they might serve someone today who remembers the experience for the rest of their lives.
Hopefully they thought I was more melancholy than mad.
And hopefully the Scotts will love their time at the helm of this fantastic venue, making memories that shape other people’s lives.
Ghosts make us who we are today
The day before my visit to Broughty Ferry Esplanade, I’d had a conversation with a young man. He asked if I remembered his gran, May Carr, from Charleston, where I lived at Buttars Street with my mum and gran before we moved to Ellengowan.
I told him I remembered her well. Aged five or six, I had a dolly with red curly hair who I named May Carr in her honour.
Jacob said his gran had sadly just passed away. Our family wish his mum Lisa and their family our deepest sympathy.
Time waits for no man. Life must move on. These things are true.
But the ghosts of the people and places of Dundee – sometimes happy, sometimes sad, usually a mix of both – are the things that make our lives unique.
