Stanley Tucci brings film to St Andrews

ACTOR Stanley Tucci will present Big Night, one of his best-loved movies, on 15 April at Sands, St Andrews’ international film festival. Tucci was one of the 1996 film’s writers and directors, as well as starring in the movie. After the film is shown at the Byre Theatre, Tucci will then be interviewed on stage…

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David Yarrow mounts largest Scottish exhibition

PHOTOGRAPHER David Yarrow is preparing to mount his largest Scottish exhibition. The Watson Gallery has arranged for more than 20 of his images to be displayed at Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh on 13 April. Born in Glasgow in 1966, Yarrow’s career took off at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, when he captured images…

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Edinburgh Art Festival flits to August

THE Edinburgh Art Festival is moving to August to join the city’s other summer festivals. The UK’s biggest visual arts festival will run on 11–27 August. This summer’s programme – which will be published later in the spring – is the first to be curated by new festival director Kim McAleese. McAleese said: “The programme…

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Dry January – is it worth it?

Drinks blogger James Robertson looks at the options for “Dry January”. SOME of us do “Sober October”, some of us do “I Cannae Remember December”, and some are now two weeks into “Dry January”. I have not been successful in achieving Dry January by the way, but hats off to my wife who has stoically…

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Lord Thurso chairs Institute of Hospitality

THE Institute of Hospitality (IoH) has named Lord Thurso as its incoming chair. Lord Thurso, who has served as chairman of VisitScotland since 2016, will take over from Surinder Arora, founder and chairman of the Arora Hotel Group. The institute plans to apply for royal chartered status in the spring. Lord Thurso said: “As a…

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Vegware appoints new boss as founder steps down

PLANT-BASED packaging maker Vegware has unveiled its new top team as the Edinburgh-based company’s founder stands down. Joe Frankel launched his business in 2006 and was joined by his sister, Lucy, in 2011. The company was bought last year by American packaging giant Novolex. Now, Joe is stepping back from the firm to make way…

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St Andrew’s Day marked by kirk bells CD launch

PERTH marked St Andrew’s Day with the launch of a CD of carols featuring St John’s Kirk’s “carillon”, an instrument that controls ringing bells. St John’s Kirk in Perth has 63 bells, the largest collection in the UK. Eight were cast before the Reformation, including Perth’s oldest bell – the “Ave Maria” – which was…

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REVIEW: Eteaket Tea

Drinks blogger James Robertson pours himself a cup of Eteaket tea. I AM a self-confessed tea junkie and have been lucky enough to have visited the tea plantations in Dayuling, Taiwan, and both China’s Wuyi Mountains in Fujian and Heng Mountain in Hunan. So when Eteaket, the leaf tea company based in Edinburgh, sent me…

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Roxy’s Coffee & Tea House in Oban launches baking book

ONE of Oban’s most famous cafés has launched its first baking book, Roxy’s Cake & Bake. Donna MacCulloch, owner of Roxy’s Coffee & Tea House, said: “Over the years of running Roxy’s with my husband, Archie, I’ve had customers asking me for my recipes and telling me that if I had a book they would…

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Greywacke Wild Sauvignon

Drinks blogger James Robertson enjoys a vertical tasting of Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc. THE other day I had the privilege of attending a vertical tasting of wines from Greywacke, a winery found in Marlborough, New Zealand. Marlborough is the home for some of the best New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs around. The climate and soil structure has…

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