Stuart and Amanda Clink have enjoyed four years running The Restaurant at Kailzie Gardens, but this month they have expanded with the opening of The Larder.
The shop, in the courtyard next to The Restaurant, sells many of the ingredients used by chef Stuart, including meat from Peelham Farm, Berwickshire, cheese from Stichill Dairy and salmon from the Ettrick Valley Smokehouse.
The local couple are passionate about using Borders ingredients in their menus and the same applies to the produce available in the new shop, which also sells their freshly made bakery goods and homemade chutneys and sauces.
The conversion of the former gift shop has breathed new life into the courtyard area, and the couple have plans for even more developments, including a local beer festival and live music.
“The Larder is like an extension of The Restaurant,” said Stuart. “People can sit down and have lunch and then can go next door and get a lot of the products in the shop.”
Amanda added: “The most important thing for us is offering a really excellent standard of food but not hiking up prices in line with that.
“It is great food, it is not pretentious, it is just making the most of what we have around us, and we have amazing farmers and suppliers in this area.”
Amanda said that the lack of a farmers’ market in Peebles had also prompted them to establish The Larder.
In addition to the opening of The Larder, the couple also organised a performance on Sunday by rising music star Nina Nisbett, and sold the 250 tickets in just five days.
That success has given the pair the confidence to continue to drive forward with plans for more events in the courtyard and The Restaurant, which was also used as a wedding reception venue on Saturday.
Amanda said: “We’re keen to make the most of what we have in this wonderful location.”
Stuart added: “When we first set up here we could see that when you scratched beneath the green paint there was something special underneath.”