Radford takes Edinburgh's Blue Bar Café concept to Glasgow

Edinburgh restaurateur Andrew Radford is to open his second Blue Bar Café, in Glasgow.

He has taken a long lease on the ground floor and basement of the Lighthouse building, the former headquarters of the Glasgow Herald newspaper, that are being redeveloped to form the centrepiece of Glasgow 1999, a festival of architecture and design being held in the city.

Radford, who hopes to open the 100-seat restaurant in June, has also secured space on the fifth floor of the Lighthouse for a second restaurant, with 70 seats. Christie & Co acted as agents for Radford.

As yet unnamed, the fifth-floor restaurant will be pitched at diners paying more than the Blue Bar's £12 a head (excluding drinks) but below the £30 average at Radford's other Edinburgh restaurant, the Atrium.

Radford said he was "anxious yet confident at the same time" that he could manage the new openings in Glasgow while maintaining standards in Edinburgh. "When the new restaurant opens, it will be two years since we opened Blue. We feel we're ready. It will be down to good management and recruiting good key people."

The two new restaurants will create up to 50 jobs.