With just weeks to go until the inaugural Dundee Food Festival, an acclaimed Scottish chef and former MasterChef finalist is confident the event will showcase an exciting new wave of talent within the city’s food and drink scene. Dean Banks, originally from Arbroath, operates a string of restaurants and bars across the country from the seafood-focused Dulse in Edinburgh to Dune in St Andrews, where sharing boards and cocktails steal the show. His first foray into the city of Dundee came late last year, with Temple Lane’s success already proving that the city is hungry (or thirsty) for independent venues that prioritise local producers and high-quality ingredients.
Pictured: Chef Dean Banks is just one of many taking part in this year's Dundee Food Festival (Image: Supplied) READ MORE: Dundee festival lineup includes V&A food market and free activities “People do seem to think of Dundee as a city that’s all about pies, pies and more pies,” he said ahead of the food festival’s launch on Saturday, July 6. “Don’t get me wrong, they do a good pie and I love taking time to sit and eat one in the Square. “But it means Dundee is not really known as a foodie destination like Glasgow or Edinburgh.
” This may have been the case before, but the tide is slowly turning for Dundee as attractions like the V&A museum and an increasingly vibrant programme of cultural events continue to tempt visitors away from the central belt. And while the past few years have been far from.
