Food, food glorious food

by Athole Murray Fleming

On entering Charles Mair’s new store my eyes were immediately welcomed with a shop full of so many things. The homemade focaccia bread in particular caught my attention, so I immediately ordered a big square slice for brunch. And I can confirm that it was fabulous. On display there is a great range of very healthy rice’s, pulses, pastas as well as excellent meat products too – the best little venison pies in Scotland?…you’ll need to try for yourselves.

Olives, cheeses, organic chocolate, breads, seeds, ice creams, sauces, brilliant muesli mixes…it’s all here you know! The meat for example comes from Charles own family farm, while they also use as their main supplier, Rory MacDonald in Pitlochry for their well-matured Aberdeen Angus. Everything in sourced on the basis of the highest quality, and wherever possible, as local as they can get hold of.

Charles himself is from Perth, and at the young age of 29 (Editors comment!!), decided to return home after being the restaurant manager at The Crab & Lobster establishment in Thirsk. With the aim of opening up a restaurant being perhaps a little too ambitious at this early stage, Charles decided that the local fine food store would be the ideal starting point, and how right he was.

Bridgend is not exactly the prettiest part of Perth, however the potential in this area is there for the right people, and this belief was rewarded recently when Charles Mair & Co won the Perth Civic Trust Award. A great boost for Charles and Bridgend.

In this small article, I don’t really have the space to wax on about their fantastic filled rolls, hamper service etc, etc…. because there IS SO MUCH here for all you ‘foodies’ out there.

What I will finish with is that Charles Mair is open on Sundays’ (which is great) such has been the response from, including me and the family…their now regulars!

And a future restaurant plan is still bubbling away in the background too.

So, the next time you fancy something a little bit different, pop over to Bridgend and visit Charles Mair & Co. This is a young man with a great idea and a great shop…nuff said.