One of Scotland’s leading restaurateurs has confirmed he is taking a top spot at Bonnie & Wild’s new Food Hall, alongside the award-winning team behind Glasgow’s first patisserie, and a fine-dining fried chicken start-up led by a Heston Blumenthal-trained chef.
Stefano Pieraccini, Director of the Edinburgh-based Rocca Group of restaurants, said the opportunity to be part of Bonnie & Wild was an opportunity he had to “grab with both hands”.
Pieraccini will be launching Rico’s Pasta Bar in Bonnie & Wild’s Scottish Marketplace, a 16,700 sqft casual dining experience in the new St James Quarter. Guests to the Food Hall will be able to choose from changing menus provided by eight food businesses with a focus on seasonal and locally-sourced ingredients.
Pieraccini joins Anna Medjanskaja and Artem Podburtnoi who are bringing their Broken Clock Café and Patisserie to the Edinburgh Food Hall after successfully building up their Glasgow business over the past two years. After a surge in demand for Broken Clock’s seasonal artisanal cakes during lockdown, Anna said she had been considering a move to Edinburgh when the opportunity at Bonnie & Wild came up.
Medjanskaja said, “At the heart of our philosophy is we need to enjoy what we eat, while also being committed to using locally sourced ingredients of the highest quality. This is something I know is important to Bonnie & Wild and the other food businesses coming into the Food Hall.
'As the Broken Clock team prepare for Bonnie & Wild’s opening, Anna revealed she has already ordered in 450kg of high quality Belgian chocolate in preparation for opening at Bonnie & Wild. Last year we went through one tonne of exquisite Belgian Chocolate. This year, I expect that to double!”
Medjanskaja said that, chocolate aside, Broken Clock focuses on using Scottish fresh fruits, with the cakes changing regularly to reflect the changing seasons. On the coffee side, they source from Loch Lomond Coffee Co. The start-up, which won Out of Home Business of the Year at the recent Baking Industry Awards, will be increasing its staffing from 10 people to 18 thanks to the expansion.
Joining Broken Clock is Rico’s Pasta Bar, the latest offering from the family-run Rocca Group, and start-up CHIX, run by Max Murray and Ed Cresswell, who worked as Chef de Partie at Heston Blumenthal’s Michelin three-starred Fat Duck prior to co-founding CHIX.
Pieraccini added, “Despite all of the challenges of the last year, we’re always looking for opportunities to grow the Rocca Group further. When the chance arose to take a food stall in Bonnie & Wild’s Scottish Marketplace, I knew I had to grab it with both hands.
'This is an exciting opportunity to bring something very different to Edinburgh city centre. I want Rico’s Pasta Bar to be a place where guests know they will get excellent, authentic Italian dishes made with the freshest local ingredients. The pasta bar will complement our main restaurant, Rico’s on North Castle Street, and give diners a ‘taste’ of what they can expect at our new restaurant, while also being a standout destination in its own right.”
CHIX’s Head Chef Ed Cresswell said he was looking forward to giving fried chicken a fine-dining makeover within the more casual Food Hall setting at Bonnie & Wild. He said, “CHIX is a completely new entity and concept. We’re bringing a refined and classy approach to this wonderful dish, but enhancing it with an unrivalled range of innovative and complex dips and sauces that will tantalise people’s palettes!
“We are very excited to launch CHIX within the Bonnie & Wild Food Hall at St James Quarter. This is a fantastic space and something the city centre has been lacking. We both very much look forward to serving both local customers and tourists when they return in high numbers.”
Within the Food Hall will be food stalls operated by The Gannet, East PIZZAS, Joelato, Erpingham House and Creel Caught, the new seafood concept launched by BBC Masterchef Gary Maclean. The butcher will be operated by MacDuff 1890 and bottleshop by Inverarity Morton.
Bonnie & Wild’s Scottish Marketplace is scheduled to open in July.
