340 miles
Shetland
Rope-grown mussels
Grown on ropes in clean, cold voes and shipped overnight from Lerwick. They reach the kitchen less than 36 hours out of the water.
About Ember & Oak
Our story, our suppliers
A Glasgow restaurant built on a simple idea: buy the best of Scotland from people we know, and cook it over real fire. No gas, no shortcuts, no food we would not travel for.
How we got here
From a back garden to Merchant City
2016
A fire in the back garden
Our head chef starts cooking for friends in a Southside garden over a homemade oak grill. The waiting list for Saturday suppers runs to three months.
2019
Pop-ups at the Barras
A trailer, a grill and a queue down the market. We learn which Scottish producers will pick up the phone at five in the morning.
2022
Cooper's Wynd
We take on an old Merchant City warehouse, strip it back to the sandstone, and build the kitchen around one hearth with no gas line.
Today
Sixty-four seats and a counter
Lunch, dinner and a Sunday roast that sells out most weeks, still cooked over the same kind of fire we started with.
The fire
Scottish oak, seasoned for two years
Our wood comes from managed Scottish woodland, felled for thinning and seasoned for two years so it burns clean and hot. The fire is lit at 7am and rakes down to a bed of embers by service.
- Only thinned or fallen timber from Scottish estates with woodland management plans.
- Split by hand and stacked to season, so it never smokes the food bitter.
- Ash goes back to a community garden in the East End.
Scottish producers
The people behind the plates
We buy direct wherever we can. These are the regions that fill our menu every week.
- 270 miles
Orkney
Grass-fed beef
Native-breed cattle raised slowly on island pasture. We buy whole sides, dry age them for 35 days and use every cut, from tomahawk to tartare.
- 120 miles
Isle of Mull
Clothbound cheddar
Raw-milk cheddar with a sharp, grassy bite. It goes on the flatbreads, the baked potatoes and the cheeseboard.
- 60 miles
Loch Fyne
Langoustines and scallops
Creel-caught langoustines and hand-dived scallops from Argyll, landed in the morning and on the grill by dinner.
- 65 miles
Perthshire
Raspberries and venison
Soft fruit from the Tay valley for the cranachan, and wild venison from estates that manage their herds for the hillside's sake.
- 35 miles
Ayrshire
Pork and early potatoes
Outdoor-reared pork and sandy-soil potatoes from farms south of the city, close enough that we visit in person.
What we stand for
Three promises
01
Whole animals, whole harvests
We buy whole sides of Orkney beef and use every cut, so nothing good is wasted.
02
Fair, paid on time
Small producers are paid within seven days. It is the reason they call us first.
03
Fair pay in the kitchen
Everyone on our team is paid well above minimum wage, and every tip is shared across front of house and kitchen.
Come and taste the story
Lunch from Wednesday, dinner from Tuesday and our Sunday roast, all a short walk from George Square.