Independent Shopper: Ronan Shaftoe, Brett

Glasgow’s west end has a great reputation for having some lovely shops and restaurants. With all the students around, you find a great energy about. You’ve got a great neighbourhood vibe with everything you would need on your doorstep! What a weekend in our corner of Great Western Road might look like: dinner at Brett with some awesome natural wine followed by cocktails at Banana Moon and a concert at the Hug & Pint. On Sunday you’d be catching a class roast at The Lovable Rogue, and not to miss out squeezing in a coffee and cake from Broken Clock Café. 

As a non-native to Scotland, I would say the most inspiring thing about the food and drink of Glasgow is about more than just the produce. I find the people of Glasgow to be very proud of what they produce and who they are. Something about the experience of living here really brings people together and it shows with the people. Bringing that idea to the food, you find a lot of people that are very proud of what they do, no matter where they sit in the industry. There are plenty of microbreweries, coffee roasters, butchers and fishmongers serving some great produce. 

We get honey for one of our main desserts from Ed’s Bees. Ed’s Bees are urban bees that have been harvested from the beautiful gardens and parks all over Glasgow. I’m planning to join him in the spring to learn about what he does and help with the bees. I’ve been curious about beekeeping for some time, and I’m sure that looking forward to it will help get me through the winter. 

We’re also working with the Hundredth Monkey Bakery. Ciaran started out as a guest and our relationship quickly developed into more than that. At Brett, we don’t have much space to work with, so Ciaran helps us out with making our sourdough focaccia. He does a fantastic job and is in the process of expanding his business.

For our seafood, we work with John Vallance. They do an awesome job in helping us source our Gigha halibut and our Cumbrae oysters. Gigha halibut is an amazing product, they are grown and fed in a completely sustainable environment and use certified organic fish meal to help them grow. With so much care and attention, it’s no wonder they are so delicious. It is a really beautiful Scottish product. Cumbrae Oysters are a family run company in the west of Scotland and work hard to provide an excellent product. I’ve seen their oysters win over those who normally aren’t oyster fans countless times.