Edinburgh's festival centre will get the Radford touch

Andrew Radford, owner of Edinburgh's Atrium restaurant and Blue Bar Café, has set up a joint venture with the Edinburgh Festival Society to run the catering operation at the city's new festival centre which opens this July.

It will mean a busy summer for Radford, who is also launching a new Blue Bar Café and fifth-floor restaurant in Edinburgh's Lighthouse building around June (Caterer, 21 January, page 8).

The Edinburgh centre, to be called the Hub, will contain an 80-seat café, a 160-seat summer terrace, and function facilities for 260 seated guests - or 400 standing - in the main hall, and 60 in the library.

Radford says the menu will be a simpler, snackier version of the Blue Bar's but notched down in price. Café meal prices will fall between £3 for a broth and £8.50 for a grilled rump steak, while events menus will start from £20 for a light lunch or £30 for dinners.

He said the events menu would cover both standing and seated options, as people were showing an increased interest in less-formal events where delegates can stand and mingle while eating.