Later this month, an extensive refurbishment by Edinburgh’s Montpeliers Group will restore cocktail bar and boutique hotel Ricks to the Frederick St unit currently occupied by Rabble.
First opened in 2000, Ricks was created by Montpeliers by bringing together two New Town properties – a Georgian tenement and a former warehouse – linked by a glazed courtyard, with ten bedrooms occupying the former warehouse and stables.
Ricks emerged at a moment when the city’s bar scene was beginning to earn its international reputation.
In its first year, Ricks was named by Condé Nast Traveller among the world’s 25 coolest places to stay. By 2008 it had been placed among the world’s top 100 bars.
However in 2017, still under the Montpeliers Group, the venue became Rabble.
Now, almost a decade later, Ricks is returning – with Montpeliers suggesting that while it won’t be exactly as it previously was, it would honour what it always stood for – being ‘a venue that takes what it does seriously, without taking itself too seriously’.
Rabble is scheduled to close from 19 October for the refit, employing Edinburgh-based studio Malcolm Duffin Design, with its reopening to the public as Ricks planned for 31 October.
In parallel, the site’s ten bedrooms are already closed for refurbishment, and due to reopen alongside the restaurant and bar.
Managing director of Montpeliers, Sean Weeraratna, said: “The comeback is less about reinvention and more about remembering what Ricks always was – a proper independent Edinburgh restaurant and bar with rooms. Somewhere you come for the food, stay for another drink and don’t want to leave.”
Sarah Duffin, lead designer at Malcolm Duffin Design, said: “For us, it was about reintroducing the Ricks brand while keeping that wonderfully relaxed, informal quality that makes a place feel like an old friend.
“Nostalgia has been a big part of the thinking. Ricks has meant so much to Edinburgh’s social scene, with so many memories attached, and we wanted to acknowledge that history without simply looking backwards.
“The result is somewhere that feels familiar, not stuck in time – a place with a real sense of its own identity, where you can walk in for a drink, stay for dinner and feel completely at home.”
For the new Ricks menu, group executive chef Ross Giamblanco is focussing on the straightforward belief that the British Isles produces some of the finest ingredients in the world, and a kitchen’s job is to do them justice.
John Gilmore Butchers, Cumbrae Oysters and hand-picked crab from Tarbert define what goes on the plate.
By day, the lunch menu will take the same produce, but at a different pace – promising bowls, plates and sandwiches built with the same care, at a price that is accessible to all.
For an earlier start, Ricks will be opening its doors at 7.30am for breakfast.
Giamblanco said: “The ethos behind the menu comes from a deep-rooted belief that, as a chef, I have a responsibility to champion seasonal, local produce.
“The suppliers I work with are people I’ve known for most of my career. We’re not trying to reinvent anything; we’re just trying to do it as well as it can be done.”
Under general manager Josh Ramsay, the cocktail menu will ‘span the classics, done properly’, while the draught list will be taken as seriously as the food, with a curated range of draft beers, and a wine list chosen for character over label.
Ramsay said: “Ricks has always been a place that takes its offering seriously – and that’s the version of this bar I want to bring back.
“Signature serves include the Ricks Modern Martini, a dirty martini taken somewhere unexpected, built on olive leaf-infused gin and feta-washed vermouth.
“Then there’s the Grasshopper 2.0, the classic after dinner mint chocolate cocktail reimagined with Reyka vodka, Branca Menta and oat cream, with a nutty hint of sesame oil beneath dark chocolate to bring some warmth to winter nights.”
Ramsay continued: “We want Ricks to feel contemporary and relaxed, unmistakably Edinburgh.
“Somewhere tourists seek out and locals return to, settle at the bar, eat well and feel at home. The ten bedrooms upstairs aren’t an afterthought – they are part of what Ricks has always been. A restaurant worth staying longer in; and now you actually can.”
