Jamie’s Italian to open in time for Edinburgh Festival

JAMIE Oliver’s new Italian restaurant in Edinburgh is to open in time for this year’s Edinburgh Festival, it has emerged.

The celebrity chef will be sharing the new-look Assembly Rooms building, on George Street, with dozens of Fringe shows during the festival.

And it has been confirmed that two of them would be comedian Stewart Lee’s new show Carpet Remnant World and the National Theatre of Scotland’s latest hit, Appointment With The Wicker Man.

New sound and light facilities, seating, bars and the restaurant are being installed in the building under plans to turn it into a year-round cultural hub.

It emerged last year that Oliver had clinched a deal with the council although it was not known when his venture would be ready.

The “Jamie’s Italian” eaterie, part of a 27-strong chain which has already opened in Glasgow’s George Square, is expected to create at least 100 jobs and accommodate 250 diners.

Business leaders and council officials hope the restaurant, which will take over the former “supper room” in the back of the building, will help revive the fortunes of Rose Street, where it will have its main entrance. The Scotsman revealed plans last month to turn Rose Street into Edinburgh’s answer to London’s Carnaby Street to help revive its fortunes.

Edinburgh City Council is spending £9.3 million on a controversial revamp of the A-listed building that previous Fringe promoters Assembly Theatre had tried to thwart.

The local authority later agreed a deal with Tommy Sheppard, owner of The Stand Comedy Club, to take over the running of the venue for the Fringe.

He has already unveiled plans to close off part off George Street to accommodate an extra venue and outdoor bars and cafes.

No other tenants for the historic landmark have been confirmed yet by the council, which closed building in the autumn of 2010 to make way for the revamp.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “Edinburgh is the place to be in August. It’s fantastic that the Assembly Rooms will be back at the heart of it all, contributing to the festival atmosphere and we’re thrilled to have such high-profile names on board.”

Mr Sheppard said: “We’re expecting thousands of people a day to come to our shows, so we’re busy putting together a programme that will make the Assembly Rooms the best venue in Edinburgh for the festival.”

Built as a place of entertainment for the well-heeled residents of the New Town in 1787, the Assembly Rooms has played host to luminaries as varied as Sir Walter Scott, Seamus Heaney, Charles Dickens and JK Rowling.

Its ballroom also hosted the grand dance during the famous visit of George IV to Edinburgh in 1822 which triggered chaotic scenes in the street outside as tens of thousands of people gathered to see the king.

It is best-known in modern times for its role as a Fringe venue, playing host to the likes of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Peter Kay and Lenny Henry when they were unknowns. It is also one of the city’s most popular venues for ceilidh dances.