Graeme Cheevers chooses Glasgow for solo debut

In the city's trendy Finnieston area, Unalome is taking over the site of The Sisters restaurant following owner Jacqueline O’Donnell’s retirement.

Cheevers was overseeing the kitchen at Isle of Eriska - a Relais & Châteaux hotel on the Scottish island of the same name - when it won a Michelin star.

Prior to that, he headed the pass at Martin Wishart’s Michelin-starred Loch Lomond restaurant. 

He hopes to achieve the same accolade at Unalome. “We’re hitting the ground running and have high hopes to achieve Glasgow’s first Michelin star since 2004 within our first year,” he says. “To follow the successes of Andrew Fairlie or Gordon Ramsay in Glasgow would be incredible. I can’t wait to get started.”

The site is undergoing a £350,000 refurbishment and is slated to launch by February 2021, dependant on Scottish government restrictions.

Unalome takes its name from a Buddhist symbol that represents the path each person takes in life. Cheevers says it was chosen to signify something 'new and completely different for Glasgow’s food scene'.

Serving modern European cuisine, the 60-cover restaurant’s menu will change weekly.  

“There is nowhere else I would rather launch my own restaurant than in my home city of Glasgow,” he adds. “It is scary going solo, but I feel like I’m now at a point in my career where I’m ready and I have the confidence and experience to take it forward and make it a success.”