Dean Banks to open Haar restaurant at new site in December

Chef Dean Banks has announced he has found a new home for Haar restaurant, with the concept due to reopen at 1 Golf Place in St Andrews in December.

“We are going to put our stamp on the interior of this beautiful building and are currently under way with renovations,” Banks posted on Instagram.

The restaurant will be split over two floors, with 38 covers. There will also be a chef’s table seating four guests, offering the fusion tasting menu using local ingredients.

The venue was previously a hotel and Banks hopes to open four suites at the site in the new year.

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 launched a £50,000 Crowdfunder in August towards the renovations, however it did not reach its target. He 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.

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