Food for thought as dream realised
Couple achieve restaurant ambition
A “tenacious” couple who had been striving to set up a restaurant in Stirling for six years have finally achieved their goal.
Stewart Pleace and Sandra Milne have launched the Loving Food restaurant at 51 King Street.
And they say Stirling’s newest food offering will be open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch with dinner on Thursday to Saturdays. More evenings to happen soon.
Sandra told the Observer: “I’m thrilled that we finally have a proper home in King Street which is turning into a great food hub now with places opening that cater for everyone’s tastes.”
The couple built up a following among foodies in the city with Herve, their vintage Citroen van from which in 2014 they sold a range of street food from a pitch opposite the railway station.
The business was that year the only street food operation in Scotland nominated for two national awards and their success encouraged them to press ahead with plans for a bricks and mortar eatery.
They approached the council in 2014 with plans to convert the former pavilion in King’s Park into a cafe-bistro in a scheme expected to create 15 jobs.
The couple successfully applied to take over the derelict pavilion and in July 2016 were granted planning consent for its conversion. But after drawing up detailed plans for the work, the council awarded the lease to another applicant.
Stewart and Sandra were angry at the council’s abrupt change of tack which left them £15,000 out of pocket. They switched their focus to the King Street unit which opened earlier this month.
Stewart said: “We’ve had obstacles to deal with, firstly finding a place for Hervé, our truck, to trade and then issues with King’s Park pavilion, but we did breathe a big sigh when we could open the doors properly last week in King Street.
“We’ve always seen Stirling as a great place that needs a good balance of eateries and food types and we hope our breakfast, lunch and dinner menus will attract locals and tourists alike.
“We’ve always had great support from Stirling residents who have supported our truck, pop-up restaurant nights and secret cinema events.”
He added: “We are tenacious types who like a challenge, and we’ve certainly had a few, but it’s great to finally be somewhere and welcome customers. We are partnering with fantastic coffee provider Allpress and Pekoe tea to bring something different. We even had to go through a kind of audition process with Allpress.”
Sandra added: “The reason for choosing Stirling was that it has a diverse profile due to the businesses that exist around it, Stirling University and the many visitors that Stirling welcomes each year. People are expecting more from food offerings, we recognised this and we wanted to change that.
“Our food has been very well received and we have had regular visits from local prominent chefs and restaurateurs over the years.”
Loving Food say they do breakfast, lunch and dinner, also home baking and pastries to sit-in or take-away.