Hidden Stockbridge speakeasy reveals successful first year
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Tucked beneath St Stephen’s Street in Stockbridge, Skua is celebrating its first birthday this month.
In just one year, the speakeasy bar now finds itself listed in the Good Food Guide and the Michelin Guide.
An unassuming hangout, only the glowing neon sign hints at the hidden away basement bar which serves up cocktails and small plates using locally sourced and foraged ingredients.
There are some staff changes as it enters its second year. James Aikman will become head chef, continuing to bring his expertise and creativity to the kitchen. Following his time at Michelin-starred Timberyard, he has spent the last year at Skua collaborating on the menu with owner Tomas Gormley.
Sinead Power will be stepping in to the general manager role, as Katie Messer shifts focus to operations manager, overseeing Skua, Cardinal and new site Messer. Due to open in May, Messer will be Scotland’s first artisanal knife and kitchen supply store and the team’s latest addition to St Stephen Street. Together, Katie and James have travelled widely and take inspiration from the ruin bars of Paris and New York, blending welcoming service, daily menu changes and a relaxed atmosphere. Head bartender Jacob Thunder is also to introduce a selection of inventive cocktails preserving the best of Scotland’s natural larder for house-made liquors, syrups and fermentations.
Skua is also to extend its service to six days a week, opening its doors from Monday to Saturday, with bookings encouraged and walk-ins welcome. There is also a 10 per cent discount for people working in the food and drink trade.
Working closely with suppliers including Free Co, Phantassie, Coure Sauvage and David Lowrie, this month the menu will include gougere with fermented ramson and Alp blossom; cured trout with taramasalata and Aji Amarillo; hen of the woods agnolotti with a nettle sauce, along with sustainably caught fish and regeneratively farmed “pasture for life” meat cooked over coals.