Glaschu, one of Glasgow’s most established fine dining restaurants, will join forces once again with acclaimed chef, Brian Maule for two nights on 6th and 7th August. Diners will be treated to a five course tasting menu, offering a unique blend of Maule’s French flair and Glaschu’s commitment to showcasing the finest Scottish ingredients.
Following the success of two initial dinners in May, the event will return with another innovative menu created by Brian in collaboration with Glaschu’s head chef, Graeme Brown to showcase premium summer produce and some of Brian’s favourite dishes from Le Chardon d’Or. The menu features dishes such as Confit chicken bon bon; Marinated cured salmon fillet; Ragu of king prawns; Venison Wellington with dauphinoise potatoes; and an extra bitter dark chocolate mousse with praline crumb. Enotria & Coe has carefully curated a wine pairing to complement each dish. A glass of Moët & Chandon will greet guests on arrival with a complimentary dram of Dalmore single malt to finish.
Brian Maule is a renowned Scottish chef and restaurateur, who owned Brian Maule at Chardon d'Or, often considered one of the finest restaurants in Glasgow until its closure in 2023. Prior to opening his restaurant, Brian was head chef at the two Michelin starred Roux restaurant, Le Gavroche. His career is marked by a commitment to high-quality ingredients, refined techniques and passion for wines.
Chef Brian Maule said: “After two very successful events back in Glasgow City Centre, I am absolutely delighted to announce follow up events at Glaschu. The dinners sold out in record time which is why I have decided to collaborate on more tasting nights. I am delighted to be back at one of my favourite restaurants in the city to showcase some of Scotland’s finest summer produce.”
Located on Glasgow’s Royal Exchange Square, Glaschu offers modern Scottish fine-dining to the heart of the city. Pronounced Glas-a-hoo, the restaurant serves lunch and dinner situated within the iconic Western Club building. The menu embraces Glasgow history and local roots, showcasing the best of Scottish produce. Halibut and Loch Tay trout are freshly sourced by local fishmongers, while meat is supplied by family-owned, John Gilmour Butchers.
Glaschu’s head chef Graeme Brown commented: "We are delighted to welcome Brian back to Glaschu for another two-day event in August. I have always admired Brian and we’ve had a lot of fun with the menu development for the May events. We can’t wait to share an unforgettable experience with our guests, filled with exceptional flavours, creativity, and great company!”
The event is priced at £120 per person. It includes a glass of Moet & Chandon Champagne on arrival, five course tasting menu and paired wines.
00:00Good morning from sunny Glasgow. We're in Glashahoo, I think I said that right. It's the landmark restaurant in Royal Exchange Square and I'm sitting here with Brian Mull. Brian, good morning. How are you doing?
00:14Nice to see you. Nice to see you.
00:17You are doing a special event here. You've already had one of these dinners. Tell me a bit about the reaction to the first dinner.
00:26Yeah, I mean obviously we did one in May, well two in May, similar to what we're doing next month. Two nights, Wednesday and Thursday night. So both nights were full, the last one, and I believe we're full again. So no, it's all good.
00:44And have you got planned for the second one?
00:47Very similar event, matching champagne and arrival and then matching wines to go with the meal.
00:56I'll come out and discuss the menu and we'll have an author who will discuss the wines of why we've matched. I've actually got the tasting tomorrow. So we'll match the wines tomorrow.
01:10Yeah. You were one of the chefs who were responsible for making people look at Glasgow food in a different way through the fine dining element, but also a lot of the chefs that came through your kitchen went on to kind of do their own thing and bring an added energy to Glasgow.
01:28When you look at Glasgow. When you look at Glasgow now, how do you think it's going to change since you returned from your time in London?
01:35Yeah, it's changed massively. I mean, obviously I'm back. I mean, we had the restaurant for 22 years.
01:41As you said a minute ago there, there's a lot of the boys who have came through me, whether they're in Glasgow or went elsewhere, all been successful, which is great to see.
01:52It's a great compliment to myself that, you know, they've listened to what was getting put in front of them, not just on a work element, but a management and a discipline level, which they've took on board and obviously they're doing it on their own now.
02:10So that's good.
02:11And in terms of how you think people look at Glasgow now, the food scene, all the different cuisines, I mean, what was the first big restaurant that you remember coming to in Glasgow when you were growing up?
02:24Obviously Regano.
02:25Right.
02:26I mean, I'm not from Glasgow, I'm Ayrshire.
02:27Yeah.
02:28So coming to Glasgow was a day out.
02:31Yeah.
02:31Back then because the trains and et cetera weren't the best to get here at the time.
02:36So when I left home, when I left home at 18, so coming back, I was, you know,
02:41mid-thirties really coming back to reality.
02:45So when I came back, obviously Regano was still big at the time when I first came back.
02:51But I didn't really know anybody in Glasgow.
02:53So when we came back after I'd been away for so long, it was really just focusing on bringing quality and raising Glasgow, not just trying them all.
03:06It was, you know, it was about bringing Glasgow to the map really and raising the name and the city.
03:13And it's not as rough a city as what everybody had always said in, you know, in those years.
03:19But I think now, as you said there, it's important that we have a lot of different cuisines.
03:29We have casual, you know, a lot more fine dining.
03:32You know, I never really looked at myself as fine dining.
03:36It was more bringing a professional attitude, a professional cuisine.
03:40But I laid back, you know, atmosphere in the room, but making sure that the customers are looked after.
03:48Yeah.
03:49I know one of the things that you enjoyed as a chef in the kitchen was, you know, like getting really good produce and then be able to do something with it.
03:56Yeah, I mean, I think it's still important to get, you know, the best produce.
03:59But obviously, you know, things are getting hard on the prices, you know, as we spoke about off camera there a second ago, you know, price of beef, et cetera, is going through the roof.
04:11And it's not just beef, it's, you know, fruit, veg, fish.
04:18You know, we're surrounded with water and we're paying more for fish here than, you know, the continent.
04:22You know, it's, you know, Brexit's not been a great thing, especially for our industry.
04:29Yeah.
04:29You know, we can't grow fruit here.
04:31Yeah.
04:32We don't have the weather.
04:33So, you know, we're having to buy for salads and, you know, we're fruit, et cetera, still from the European market.
04:40So, there is a, it's getting tighter and tighter on, you know, being able to make money on food.
04:50Yeah.
04:50You know, it's...
04:51Talking of Europe, did you not, as a young lad from Russia, did you not take off to France?
04:58France, yeah, I lived in France for a year and a half, at the age of 19, I went there.
05:04So, it was myself and...
05:06What was that like in terms of like a...
05:08Myself and two friends left.
05:10We had, we never had a job.
05:12We just, we put money in an envelope, three of us, and then chapped doors.
05:16And fortunately, we all got into like the best few restaurants in Leyland at the time, which was mind-blowing at the time.
05:24But obviously, then it was a six-day week.
05:26It was a six-day working week, which is hard enough when you're doing, you know, a normal week-hour day.
05:34But when you're doing 15, 16-hour days, it's telling.
05:39But it's, it's what we went to do.
05:43And, you know, we wanted to learn, I wanted to learn to live and eat like a French.
05:49You know, the way the French do and give me a better understanding of their culture and why, you know,
05:55they're the worst roots ahead on food and wine and probably still are to a degree.
06:02Yeah.
06:03One of the interesting things over the last 10 years when I've been writing about Glasgow food and drink is you meet a lot of chefs that,
06:10they've come back to Glasgow, they go to London or they go to Southeast Asia or they go to America and, you know,
06:17like they work hard and they earn their stripes and then they come back and they bring something really interesting to the city.
06:22Do you think that that's like one of the reasons why Glasgow food seems kind of developed over the last 10 years?
06:27I think that, I think that's a massive importance to any individual because no matter what industry you're in,
06:33I think it's important that you go away and find who you are as a person, as an individual.
06:40Make your own mistakes in life, whether it's your work life or your personal life, I think that's important.
06:47And bringing that experience back to the city is massive.
06:52And there is, you're always going to have an element of guys who are girls who are happy to stay here and work around all the places.
07:03But, you know, in the past, a lot of them were all doing the same thing, whereas now there's a big wide scope of different food,
07:11different cultures, and bringing that experience back with them is important.
