A bookshop-themed bar serving cocktails and small plates is due to open in Glasgow city centre at the end of this month.
The Last Bookstore, which will take the place of the Fat Lobster restaurant on Hope Street, is a new bar and eatery concept from the team behind the popular bars Devil Of Brooklyn and Tabac.
It will offer a cocktail menu inspired by famous authors, including Jack Kerouac, Dorothy Parker and Ernest Hemingway, served in an extravagantly bookish setting.
A total of 8000 books will line its walls, including a literary archway made of 1300 books – a collection which, we are assured, contains no less than 442,000,000 words, although we have no intention of double-checking that statistic.
The decadent cocktail menu is certainly one for book lovers, having been designed by former English teacher, now head bartender, Mick Quinn.
“With this concept, we really wanted to create an atmosphere of having a dog lying on your toes while you drink something strong,” said Quinn, deploying a descriptive simile.
“The Last Bookstore is the perfect situation for me – I studied to be an English teacher before I became a bartender, so I’m a happy camper!” he added, embodying a partially mixed metaphor.
“I’ve used that knowledge when designing the cocktail menu; each cocktail is inspired by an author and a line or connection they’ve written about alcohol.
“If the drink inspires you, you can go ahead and purchase some reading material to go with it.”
There will also be 12 beer taps on offer, including Bookstore Lager, Cruzcampo, and Guinness.
The Last Bookstore’s opening small plates and lunch menu includes brisket croquette with mascarpone, rosemary and apple and charred cauliflower, pickled shallot and tahini yoghurt.
“This is a new chapter in Glasgow’s dining scene,” said menu creator and executive chef Stevie Holt, who explained that his experience working in Europe had inspired much of the menu’s design.
“I left Glasgow at 19 and worked in Switzerland and Italy before settling down in Ibiza when I was 22,” said Holt. “That’s definitely inspired my cooking, and this menu especially.
“The Last Bookstore offers Mediterranean small plates, so there’s lots of variety in those small plates. Each dish is European or Spanish origin, with a bit of a modern spin on them,” he said.
“One of my favourite dishes is the popeye braised mince. It’s inspired by a dish I tried in Ibiza – I went back there just for this dish, so I thought why not do my own twist for Glasgow?”
Shoppers hoping to relax and get stuck into any newly purchased books can head to the venue’s mezzanine floor, which will be kitted out with a ‘luxurious seating area’ overlooking the space below.
