Haar, Dean Banks’ boutique restaurant with rooms in St Andrews, has been added to LaListe, the internationally recognised guide to the 1000 best restaurants in the world.
There are now 10 Scottish restaurants with a LaListe place – Cail Bruich, Inver, Edinbane Lodge, The Glenturret Lalique, Andrew Fairlie, The Peat Inn, Haar, The Kitchin, Number One at The Balmoral, and Martin Wishart.
Banks said: “I had no idea this was coming. It was a very very nice surprise to turn on my phone and see we were ranked one of the best restaurants on the planet.
“Haar is my baby, the first restaurant brand I created and it has grown and developed with me and with the group,” said Banks.
“The concept is you’re coming to my home as a guest for dinner with my family, as part of the family. That’s why I wanted to add rooms, and the feel of them is more like guest rooms in my home than a hotel.
“I did a lot of the work in converting those rooms to bedrooms myself, from furniture to floors to being on the roof and pretty full-on stuff,” he added. “I grew up with both my mums teaching me to do things for myself and be self-sustaining and I am very grateful for that upbringing
“I am very conscious of passing that on to my boys now which is why you’ll see Francisco working in the lobster roll shack he built himself and Felix foraging and cooking with me.”
Banks continued: “My wife Isabela is a hugely talented artist and many of her works hang in Haar, along with pieces and things like light fittings we made from foraged sea waste and old lobster creels and things.
“It’s a real family business in the proper old sense of the word, where the staff are just incredible and the greatest asset we have. It’s actually very emotional to see this latest achievement spelled out like this.”
Haar’s inclusion on LaListe closely follows the awarding of its fourth AA Rosette, making it one of the seven best places to eat in Scotland according to the AA rankings.
“Thank you to La Liste, to the AA, to everyone who sees and appreciates what we are trying to do as a group and especially at Haar, which really showcases everything I believe in and want to achieve as a chef.”
Born nearby in Arbroath, one of Banks’ goals in establishing Haar was to create a world class restaurant in Fife, and help turn St Andrews into a foodie destination.
“It’s crazy to me that St Andrews wasn’t in any way a foodie town,” he explained. “It was a student town and a holiday spot of course, a huge golf destination but it simply didn’t have the food factor.
“It makes me really proud that we led the way on that front, and now there are lots of amazing restaurants here and new ones popping up all the time.
“I welcome competition it’s a healthy thing for us and for the area. We are leading the way but we absolutely want more quality food offerings here, it helps us all and it helps the town and the economy.”
