In the mood

Stephen Kenny and David Tracey think they've cracked it - opening a younger, trendier restaurant and bar in the centre of Glasgow. In fact, Strata opened on Queen Street to some serious praise this summer.

"Super-stylish" declared the Guardian in the restaurant's first month of trading, which is all the more satisfying because it is Kenny and Tracey's first restaurant.

"You don't have to watch yourself here," laughs Tracey. "It bridges the gap between the Rogano-style of place and a simple café."

The name, Strata, sets the theme. A huge dark grey wall on one side is painted with isobars and arrows, and a 40ft aluminium lighting rig supports dozens of pendant lights. Two Glasgow designers, One Foot Taller and Timorous Beasties, teamed up for the job.

"The brief was to create something fresh, funky and a little bit different," says Tracey. "Beyond that, we gave them free rein."

The room is divided into four different areas - or moods, as Tracey likes to call them. A light, airy café is up at the front, with a noisy bar and a "restauranty" mezzanine ("but no tablecloths") further back. A more "laid-back, chilled-out" dining area is located underneath. There are 100 covers in all, with head chef Stuart Brough keeping customers satisfied.

Brough, who lists the Turnberry Hotel and the nearby Malmaison hotel among his past employers, heads a brigade of five chefs that includes ScottMcGee and Ian McFarlane, his left- and right-hand men. Scottish produce is Brough's thing, particularly wild mushrooms - "some I've never even heard of" - which head straight for his wild mushroom and pecorino risotto (£3.55).

His love for quality fish surfaces in another risotto - a finnan haddock variation with a chive and saffron cream (£5.75) served as one of 10 main choices - and a best-selling basil-marinated monkfish with sun-dried tomato mash and Vermouth dill cream (£10.95). Lime and stem ginger-flavoured scallops with a mango and coconut salad (£3.95) is a top-seller among nine starters.

The pasta (there are four choices) goes well too. "It's all home-made," says Brough, who uses 1kg of strong flour to nine size-four whole eggs and three tablespoons of olive oil for the Italian staple. He makes tagliatelle, linguine, ravioli and papardelle.

The most popular pudding - there are five, plus a cheese platter - is a pineapple tatin with lavender ice-cream (£3.45), but a lemon and ginger sponge with a vanilla anglaise is a favourite (£3.25), as is hot chocolate fondue with a selection of soft fruits (£3.25).

Brough changes the menu every three months, but some dishes have been left on - such as the scallops and the monkfish, and the honey and sage chargrilled pork chops with apple mash and Calvados sauce (£8.45). Average spend per head is a modest £11 (without drinks), but Brough reckons he does well over 1,000 covers a week. n

Strata, 45 Queen Street, Glasgow, 0141-221 1888

One of London's most sought-after private members' clubs opened a branch in Glasgow last August. Transformed from just Groucho to Groucho Saint Jude's, the Scottish version, unlike its southern cousin, is open to everyone, seven days a week, for lunch and dinner.

Groucho Saint Jude's is in Glasgow's Bath Street, in a Victorian townhouse that did time as a hotel, among other things. It has been transformed by a Groucho owner, designer Tchaik Chassay, with a little help from his designer wife, Melissa North.

Former Groucho chef Martin Teplitzky has been brought in as head chef at the 60-seat Glasgow establishment and, being Australian, has introduced plenty of Antipodean-style fusion references to the menu.

Cracked whole brown crab is poached in Champagne with ginger, garlic, lime leaves, chilli and coconut (£17.50); king prawns are wrapped in filo pastry with ginger and spring onions, then deep-fried and served with leeks and a chilli jam (£14.50); and a top-selling dish of red snapper is deep-fried whole, with soya, chilli, spring onions and deep-fried limes (£14.50). There's more ginger and garlic in the chargrilled Scottish lobster, finished with a lick of Cognac (£29.50).

There are meat dishes in the 80-cover (weekend evenings) eaterie - such as a grilled duck breast "served pink" with savoy cabbage, cassis and redcurrants (£14.50); and a few vegetarian options - such as the top-selling butternut pumpkin risotto with caramelised onions, shaved parmesan and preserved lemon (£9.50).

But Teplitzky, who heads an eight-strong kitchen brigade, likes cooking seafood. "That's what I like best, and I cook what I like, and what I want to eat," he says, also claiming that he has no major influences on his cooking - human, written or otherwise. "I do keep a copy of Larousse's Gastronomique by my side," he confesses. "It's my bible."

The menu is split into small and large portions, indicated by two price bands. Two-thirds of the dishes are available in both sizes - for example, the lobster (£15.50 small) and the king prawns (£7.50 small) mentioned above. Average spend is about £40 with drink.

The nucleus of Groucho Saint Jude's, the bar, also offers flexible dining, with smaller versions of the main restaurant menu, plus some "seafood specials", such as scallops grilled on the half shell with capers, lemon, brown butter and parsley (£1.75). "You can have one or 10, it doesn't matter," says Teplitzky. n

Groucho Saint Jude's, 190 Bath Street,Glasgow, G2 4HG, 0141-352 8800