At around 2.55pm on Thursday 26 February, the first dish was served before the first service at Eleven Fifty Five, Finnieston’s newest restaurant. Smoked and glazed chicken wings sitting below a colourful and zingy collection of carrot, green beans and tarragon with a shallot dressing. “Deceptively simple” chef-owner Peter McKenna declared, before disappearing back into the kitchen. It was two hours before the new project from the team who made The Gannet one of the city’s favourite restaurants for over a decade. They were preparing for a new chapter. It starts with the first dish that leaves the pass in the kitchen, then keeps going.
It’s worth remembering that The Gannet opened in what had been a derelict tenement building on a moribund stretch of Argyle Street that was only beginning to show signs of life. Finnieston and the surrounding streets have seen a remarkable renaissance in the last 15 years with independent hospitality businesses creating a new approach to Glasgow hospitality. Eleven Fifty Five moves forward with a new outlook to maintain that momentum.
Start with oysters served with a Vietnamese dressing. Tear off a chunk of the milk bread, baked inhouse, and lather it in butter. Enjoy an XMuse vodka martini with an olive. Order beef tartare with caramalised bone marrow, parsley and sourdough crisps. Follow with braised lamb, crisp sweetbreads and poached spring vegetables. For dessert, a praline, caramel and dark chocolate bar with Guinness ice cream. Afterwards, an Irish coffee with Kinahans Irish Whiskey. That should give you an idea of the direction this new restaurant is going.
1155 Argyle St, Finnieston G3 8TB

1. Eleven Fifty Five
You get to a stage in your life where you've been to a lot of fine dining restaurants, you've been to some of the best restaurants in the world, and that's brilliant and there’s memories to cherish. We've done our own take on Scottish fine dining for a long, long time, over a decade, and it wasn't the restaurants that I was gravitating towards” Chef Peter McKenna tells me. | Paul Trainer

2. Eleven Fifty Five
“Yes, I still love fine dining, but it just wasn't fitting me in where I am at the moment, or Kevin, for that matter. So myself and Kevin would go down to London or we're going over to Paris, the type of places we were going to, yes, great food has to be great food as non-negotiable, but the atmosphere, the vibe, the service, the fun, because at the end of the day, it's a night out. It's a day out. You want to have fun." | Paul Trainer

3. Eleven Fifty Five
“For me, if you're sitting over this beautifully crafted plate of food, but you're all very quiet and you're taking it all very serious, it's not really where we're at. We want to have fun. We want to go out and enjoy ourselves, and we want our food and our service to reflect that.” | Paul Trainer

4. Eleven Fifty Five
“To me this feels like a natural evolution - we have stripped back then built up the restaurant and food offering creating a space and menu that will draw you back time and time again. Good honest hospitality with no gimmicks, just great produce cooked with care and respect and a drinks list that is second to none. I can't wait to share Eleven Fifty Five with our guests.” | Supplied
