Exciting new direction for Inverness eatery as it marks 15 years
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THE popular Rendezvous Café is set to celebrate its 15th year in the Highland capital by expanding its menu choice and opening in the evening with a drinks licence.
The Church Street venue is one of the city’s best-known eateries, occupying the site of the former Northern Meeting Ballroom which played host to The Silver Beetles on May 21, 1960 – the band that soon became The Beatles.
The restaurant is adorned with pictures highlighting the building’s showbiz, music and cinema heritage. It attracts locals and visitors alike, including Beatles fans keen to walk in the footsteps of their heroes.
It is also home to The Dark Kitchen – the “eclectic food experience for take out” – which is operated by the same owner, Benny Karoci-Hadar.
To mark the 15th anniversary and onwards, from June 1 the venue will operate as an all day and evening fusion restaurant by merging the two brands’ offerings and menus giving diners the chance to enjoy takeaway inside the restaurant.
In addition to Rendezvous’s popular menu, the restaurant will now serve sharing platters of cheeses and charcuterie from 3pm-6pm with alcoholic refreshment to complement the food.
From 6pm-10pm, the Dark Kitchen Diner menu will specialise in gourmet burgers, Dutch fries, wok-fried umami noodles, ramen, fried rice bowls as well as specially designed milkshakes and desserts.
Benny said: “The aim is to create a place not only for breakfast and lunch, but also a venue where friends can meet for dinner and drinks in a beautiful fusion eatery and with a casual atmosphere of great music and friendly service.
“We decided to merge the sister brands as people tell me they love the takeaway food from The Dark Kitchen and it’s worth a proper sit-in place.
“We are keeping our popular Rendezvous menu from 8am. The main passion is to give a café diner experience in the morning and lunchtime and in the late afternoon to give a more relaxed experience, with quality drinks and deli platters with our famous eclectic twist.
“From 6pm, we move to a relaxed, casual format of fusion food from the best of The Dark Kitchen.
“Inverness is growing and evolving, locals and visitors are developing a food culture with new requests and demands alongside both traditional and eclectic food. We watch this change and adapt ourselves to it.
“The first 15 years in Inverness have been really special and I thank everyone who has visited us during this time. I’m always looking at ways to innovate and improve and I hope that merging the two sister brands’ menus will help us to continue to grow.”
