A West End restaurant will reopen its doors for the first time in months on Christmas Eve despite new restrictions coming into place which will affect it within days.

The renamed Ziques in Hyndland had been planning to reopen this week following a major revamp and menu change including out with the breakfasts and in with a new cuisine.

After it was revealed on Saturday that parts of Scotland will be plunged into the most severe restriction level 4 from Boxing Day, the former Café Zique has now had to revise plans.

They are planning to open on Thursday and then move to a take-away service in light of the Boxing Day lockdown forcing pubs and restaurants to close once again.

Read more: Glasgow West End restaurant favourite to return after major revamp

Mhairi Taylor has ploughed £50,000 into the revamp and has been pulling out all the stops for the reopening.

In the past 20 years Café Zique became a firm favourite of West Enders looking for a trendy brunch venue, but when doors open next week the café element will be dropped along with their famous Eggs Benedict which will no longer be on the menu.

With months in lockdown it has given Ms Taylor has chance to decide what she wanted to do with the business and tampering with the brunch menu is not the only change. Lockdown gave her a new appetite for cooking and she is getting back to her comfort zone in the kitchen.

Mindful of people wanting to feel safe and confident when they eat out, Ziques, as the venue will now be known will give people more space and social distance.

Ms Taylor said: “I think the way people eat and how they source their food has changed a lot over the past few months. I know I love to cook with a lot of vegetables and I suppose I cook by colour, and I hope people will embrace the change in the restaurant.”

Ms Taylor and her team are desperate to get back to cooking and serving people.

She added: “I think we have all really missed seeing our customers and we are desperate to welcome them back. When compiling the new menu I certainly had a few of the customers in mind. Glasgow Warrior rugby players are among the customers I used as a benchmark when choosing new dishes. We have gone a little more vegetarian and vegan and just creating lovely, healthy dishes and I thought ‘yes I think the rugby team would eat this.’”

Revamping the restaurant at a time when social distancing restrictions are in place has been turned into an opportunity for Ziques.

Ms Taylor, 55, added: “We have made more space in the restaurant to give people more space and social distancing is something we see as being a positive thing. We can give our customers that space to feel confident about dining with us. We have also developed an outdoor terrace area, but given our climate I wanted to make it a cosy area.

“We can’t give out blankets or throws because of covid, so came up with the idea of hiring out water bottles. Money raised from this will go towards supplying hot water bottles to those who are homeless and I hope there will be a few places who will come on board to help them fill up their bottles when it is most needed.”