Forth Valley Food Links

The Albion Bar, located in Barnton Street in the centre of Stirling, has recently completed the finishing touches to their new kitchen expansion and recently renamed dining area – The Scullery.

The past six weeks have also seen the owners using land they already own – through the pub's sister company Albion Holiday Lets – put to good use in the form of allotments.

The new kitchen, which will see the Albion Bar serving food for the first time, will serve a variety of hot and cold snacks, from full Scottish breakfasts to their special Haggis Lasagna, using locally sourced food. It is hoped that the allotments will provide its first harvest later this year, the yields from which will be used in the kitchen to cook these meals.

It is also hoped that, depending on how much is provided by the allotments, they will be able to sell the extra vegetables – all of which are being grown organically by an appointed gardener, former Forth Environment Link volunteer, Caroline Kemp.

The owners, Pauline and John Thomson, hope that in promoting the use of home growing, others will be encouraged to do the same, and perhaps stop the spread of the ‘concrete jungles’ that are taking over our towns. One of the principles upheld by the Albion Bar is in employing local people to work on the premises, and using locally sourced food wherever possible.

The Albion Bar's website is at http://www.albionbar.com or the Scullery website at http://www.albionscullery.com/menu.php. Contact Pauline Thomson on 01786 469533.

Article by Alison Glover

 (Picture of grower Caroline Kemp in one of the allotment plots)