Chef Dean Banks launches £50,000 crowdfund to reopen Haar

Chef Dean Banks has launched a crowdfunding campaign to reopen his St Andrews restaurant Haar in a new location.

The MasterChef: The Professionals 2018 finalist launched Haar at the Kinettles hotel in 2019 but it closed in April. The chef said he had been unable to reach an agreement with the landlord and was looking to move the restaurant to its ‘forever home’.

Banks has found a new site on Golf Place in St Andrews and is aiming to raise £50,000 on Crowdfunder to help with the renovations.

The new restaurant will create 12 permanent jobs and Banks wants to continue working with local suppliers, including fishermen, who helped with the team’s ‘At Home’ service during lockdown.

Crowdfund rewards include pre-purchases of tasting menus and gift vouchers for the restaurant.

Announcing the news on Instagram, Banks said: “We have such an amazing and loyal customer and supporter base in Scotland and beyond so I wanted to thank everyone so far in our journey.

“This is a big push to help Haar settle in its forever home in St Andrews. If you wanted to come dine with us you can simply pre purchase your meal today and we will use these funds to help with renovations.”

Banks took over the running of the Pompadour restaurant at the Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh - the Caledonian hotel, this summer. The site was run by the Galvin brothers as Pompadour by Galvin between 2012 and 2019.

He previously worked as a private chef and held a chef de partie role at Number One at the Balmoral hotel in Edinburgh.

For more information on the crowdfund click here.