Gaucho has arrived in Glasgow, with the new food spot set to open on West Nile Street this weekend.
Heralded as Scotland's first 'carbon-neutral' steak restaurant, the 120-cover venue is set to serve up its renowned Argentine Beef from 'cattle which have enjoyed a life roaming in vast pastures at specially selected pampas farms'.
Alongside a comprehensive steak offering, diners will also find the likes of burgers, seafood, vegetarian and vegan options, while of course there's an extensive selection of wines. Gaucho has also garnered a reputation for its Sunday Roasts and brunch meals too.
The new Glasgow city centre restaurant becomes Gaucho's second Scottish destination, with a number of eateries across the UK, including a popular spot in Edinburgh.
And ahead of Saturday's opening, we got a sneak peek preview of this sleek new space - you can have a look inside by clicking on our gallery below.
Meanwhile, we also caught up with CEO Martin Williams to ask what Glaswegians can expect from Gaucho, about the carbon-free aspect of the restaurant and serving up 'the world's best steak'.
Why has Gaucho chosen to open in Glasgow?
"It’s the first new opening we’ve done for about six years. It’s a great new chapter and it will be fantastic to have a new restaurant in Scotland. Edinburgh’s been doing incredibly well. We’re very excited to see how we get on with Glasgow.
"We’ve got a really good team in Edinburgh and we were looking at whether to open a second restaurant in Edinburgh or whether it would make more sense to expand to another city. Glasgow feels very different and a lot of our guests who were visiting us in Edinburgh were from Glasgow. It felt like a very natural next step.
"We’ve been got 16 restaurants in the UK and Edinburgh in particular has been one of the top performers. It seems the offering works really well in Scotland and people appreciate what we’re trying to do in terms of levels of hospitality and service and the feel of the place as well, it seems to fit really well."
What can people expect?
"It’s a very evolved look and feel. We worked with three design agencies to help find a new defined DNA that reflects modern Argentina. It’s quite cool, a bit more international, with a sense of Ralph Lauren about it. It’s aspirational but very accessible and that applies to the offering as well.
"Its roots are in Argentina and Argentine steak but it reflects Latin American cuisine and international food and wine as well. People always know about us because we’re serving the world’s best steak, but actually it’s much more diverse than that.
"We’re seeing much more woman visit us, a much younger generation and demographic than we’ve traditionally enjoyed. It’s a much more diverse product and a much more diverse demographic as well."
What does ‘carbon neutral’ steak mean?
"We did a three-year study of the carbon impact of our cattle in Argentina. We’ve got 30 partner farms out there and we work with them on the quality of the beef, but in this case it was really about calculating the footprint of the beef. Now we’ve finished that study we know every scientific calculation of the carbon methane footprint from birth through to slaughter and from the travel all the way to your plate.
"Now that we’ve calculated that, we’re starting a reforestation programme, in the Amazon, at the source, with a charity we’re working with called Not For Sale who take people away from danger of modern slavery and sex trafficking and give them work.
"We’re planting over 20,000 trees this year with their projects so that the steak is offset by this reforestation programme.
"It means people can have a great steak, but also a guilt-free steak, knowing that the beef is 100% carbon neutral and this is the first restaurant we’ve done it with. It’s very exciting.
"Every restaurant is thinking about their sustainability and our footprint. We were thinking about it 2019 and it’s great that project has finally come to fruition."
What have your diners said about your other Gaucho restaurants across the UK?
"I think people come for different reasons. If you’ve got guests coming who want to do corporate entertaining, they’re in love with the steaks. We also have amazing brunches. In the last couple of years we’ve diversified the menu, so there’s more vegan, vegetarian and fish options on it.
"The general feedback is about the quality of the menu and the quality of the service. That’s the USP of the brand. It is premium, but it is accessible.
"If you look at the dining scene in the UK and in Scotland, you were either going to Michelin or aspiring Michelin restaurants or you had a choice of more high street chain offerings and we sit between the two.
"That’s what people like, this premium offering and a step up in price to everyday dining, but it’s still a really accessible price point and a really enjoyable, more casual, less stuffy experience than if you were going to something that was Michelin level."
For a look at the menu and to find out more about Glasgow Gaucho, you can visit their website here.
