The chef patron of an award-winning Edinburgh restaurant has revealed why he feels the time is right to open a second venture under his Ondine seafood brand.

Roy Brett will open an Ondine Oyster & Grill in St Andrews as part of a new 40-bedroom luxury hotel currently under development. Valor Hospitality Partners plans to launch Seaton House in the former Scores Hotel, which overlooks the town’s West Sands beach that famously appeared in Chariots of Fire, in early 2025, in partnership with US-based Links Collection.

The Ondine project came about through Mr Brett’s long-standing friendship and working relationship with Euan McGlashan, a luxury hotel operator who co-founded Valor with Steve Cesinger in 2021. Valor runs hotels for a range of major hotel brands around the world, including IHG and Hilton.

Mr Brett told The Herald: “I’ve been doing work with Valor Hotels and Euan McGlashlan, one of the CEOs of the hotel group. I’ve known him for a number of years, and we have been great friends. The opportunity came up that we could go into the old Scores Hotel to do an Ondine Oyster & Grill which we just feel is the right time for us now.

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“We have waited for 15 years to do a second site, in terms of an Ondine, so it is not that we have rushed into it, or we have not had stability or [the] credentials. We were always thinking that we’d just be the single Ondine Oyster & Grill, but we then made a decision that we feel strong enough now. I think it is an opportunity for not just myself but the whole team; for their personal growth it is really important. Everybody is quite excited about it.”

Mr Brett is under no illusions about how tough it will be to establish Ondine in St Andrews, which he said was home to a number of “great restaurants”.

He hopes Ondine will be able to take advantage of the strong network of suppliers already supporting the dining out scene in the town. “There will be challenges up there,” said Mr Brett, whose career has included managing restaurants for renowned chef Rick Stein.

“We really respect [the fact] there is a lot of good restaurants up in St Andrews. With all these great restaurants there a lot of great suppliers 'round there. I have got a lot of great friends up there who are running restaurants and I have a lot of time for them, we have been friends for a very long time.

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“So I think going up there, it is just respecting what is there and really enjoying the relationships that we have built, like we have in Edinburgh with other restaurants, to get the best out of the land and the sea that is around us.

“The East Neuk of Fife has just got an incredible larder and we are in a very privileged position. We are just looking forward to it. We are looking forward to what we always enjoy which are the seasons, the produce, and the provenance of where it all comes from.”

Asked whether the new restaurant would be able to secure all of the seafood it needs from the East Neuk of Fife, Mr Brett said: “Yes, I do think so. There is such an abundance up there. I just feel that it will be good to work with the local market there as well.

“We will always have key suppliers that we will always work with, but there are so many good suppliers up there. We are really looking forward to making new relationships and keeping as much of the business in the local area as possible.”

The Ondine at Seaton House will be joined by a second food and drink offering at the hotel from Mr Brett at his team. Mr Brett is keeping details of plans for the second offer “under wraps” for now, although he said that both restaurants will be “accessible for all”.

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Meanwhile Mr Brett, who opened the first Ondine in Edinburgh’s George IV Street in 2008, said the restaurant sector was continuing to feel the strain from high costs. Energy prices are still high, while hopes in the hospitality sector for a reduction in value-added tax seem unlikely to come to fruition.

“It is still tight and product prices are still going up the way,” Mr Brett said. “There does not seem to be a ceiling on increases on produce. Utilities seem to have stabilised but when I say stable they are still high. We all really want them to come down a little bit more to make it more viable.”

He also said there has been a change in consumer behaviour in the capital, with people seemingly reluctant to eat out later in the evening. Local customers are more likely to dine earlier in the evenings, though tourists appear more willing to come in for the later slots.

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Mr Brett said: “When you get a 9.30pm table it is a little bit unusual. That is one of the biggest ones that we see – it is a shorter market throughout the week. Business, locally, does not seem to be out as late as it used to. It is a strange one, I don’t get it. But there must be something there. I remember Covid [and everybody was] told to get home early… I don’t know if that is still there.”

Asked whether this trend reflected a concern over insufficient public transport provision, as has been highlighted in Glasgow, Mr Brett added: “It is a changed market for sure. It is one of the most significant ones that I see – [the] change in the timings. You lose an hour of business a day. But you just have to keep going.”

Despite seeing businesses continuing to close in Edinburgh because of cost pressures, Mr Brett said independents are still coming through with new ideas and concepts, which he said was “encouraging”.

“People still like to enjoy local businesses,” Mr Brett said. “Edinburgh and Glasgow have got good independent restaurants and I think they have still got a relevance.”