The restaurant will be run by a high-profile team. Alongside MacDonald this includes head chef Daniel Spurr, former sous chef at the Michelin-starred Martin Wishart restaurant in Loch Lomond, and Mario Podola, former head chef of Gallery Mess at the Saatchi Gallery.
Ox and Finch will seat 70 diners in the main restaurant area and can fit 10 more in informal seating along the bar. They also have a private dining area for hire which can accommodate up to 14 guests.
Accessible menus
The restaurant aims to offer contemporary dining in a relaxed atmosphere. Seasonal dishes are served tapas-style for sharing and the restaurant focuses on the use of high quality produce.
MacDonald said: “We wanted the menu to be food and produce focused without making it unapproachable. We serve great food that is interesting but still accessible for customers. It’s going to be a menu driven by the produce and seasonality of things, so we’ll let the quality of that great produce shine through.”
Dishes that are on offer include tartare of roe deer with hazelnuts and mustard, braised ox cheek with roast cauliflower puree and thyme and bacon gremolata, and skate wing with samphire and caper burnt butter. Desserts include Valrhona Manjari chocolate cremeux with salted popcorn, peanuts and banana ice cream.
Ox and Finch will also offer a range of craft beers sold by the bottle and on draft alongside a wine list that has been created to match the dishes served.
Kitchen buzz
The restaurant is situated on Sauchiehall Street in the bustling area of Glasgow’s Kelvingrove. The site has undergone a lengthy renovation which has seen the insides of the building changed completely.
MacDonald said: “I was looking for the ideal place for a while, but the Kelvingrove area of Glasgow appealed as it’s is obviously one of the places to be at the moment. I loved the site itself because it was a big, bright corner site with lots of potential.
“We ripped it back to the brick and gave it the full works. The restaurant is a completely different layout inside now and has a very relaxed bar atmosphere.
“The décor is very interesting, there’s a lot of different textures like raw steel, Victorian tiles and concrete tables. We took down a lot of false ceilings and walls to open it up and reveal the old cornerstone and the brick.”
The restaurant also has a modern open kitchen so customers can watch their food being prepared as they wait, which MacDonald believes will create a ‘lot of buzz’.
Ox and Finch is located at 920 Sauchiehall Street and will open in May.