Interview: BlackHorn

As a self-confessed lover – some might say addict – of the Dakota Grill (although as a vegetarian this really shouldn’t be the case), I jumped at the chance to visit the burger place and find out about the inner workings of the restaurant (okay, okay it was the promise of free stuff should I go which actually enticed me). Being a high-calibre investigative journalist, my ear to the ground at all times, I’d heard an alarming rumour, namely that the Dakota Grill was to be no more. However, I would like to urge you not to worry. The Dakota Grill is not closing, rather it is changing its name yet again and being rebranded as BlackHorn. From Butler’s Wraps to Dakota Grill to Dakota Grill serving Butler’s Wraps to BlackHorn in under a year is a load of different characters, so I went to meet the owner Justin Hughes to find out if Butler’s/Dakota/BlackHorn is in the midst of a midlife identity crisis.

We settled down, milkshakes in hand, to talk about what exactly has been happening and to unearth the process which led to this most recent incarnation. I put it to Justin that Dakota, as it was during the interview, was in a bit of a crisis and he utterly refuted this, claiming he knew exactly where he was going with the place. For him, Dakota/BlackHorn is necessary to fill a massive gap in the St Andrews market, namely the fact there ‘is not a good burger in the town’. Whilst the name may have changed, the key aim of the restaurant has not changed and good burgers, as inspired by Justin’s numerous trips to America, are at the heart of the place. It is this drive for quality, value food which defines Dakota/BlackHorn. Locality and freshness both feature heavily in the produce, meat coming from Minnicks Butchers daily and bread coming from Fisher and Donaldson.

But if the aim of the restaurant is so clear, why the almost constant name and product changes? Well, the most recent rebrand was actually outside the control of the BlackHorn team. The Dakota Hotel in Edinburgh which runs a successful Grill (see where this is going?) claimed they had the right to the name Dakota Grill in the area, and so the St Andrews restaurant would have to change. BlackHorn was chosen as the new name, and a rebrand has just finished. In terms of future plans, hopes for an alcohol licence and extended opening hours alongside the desire to get live music in suggest Justin wants to make BlackHorn a place that will offer a relaxed alternative to the bars and pubs around St Andrews. He is keen to allow BlackHorn to work alongside students and wants the venue to be used as somewhere students can exhibit art or work with as a place for live music.

Being invited down to the basement – with promises of ‘this is where the magic happens’ (oo-er) – was the most excitement I’d had all week. Under the shop front the staff grind all the meat and make them into burgers, using a special brand of spices which took forty trial runs in collaboration with Minnicks to perfect. Sacrificing all vegetarian morals – it’s all bollocks really – I moved to the kitchen where I was able to don a Dakota Grill (BlackHorn) apron and see life from the other side of the counter. I made a burger for Justin, pronounced as ‘brilliant’ and, having earned my keep, left (until returning the next evening as a customer).

So, no not an identity crisis, rather an opportunity to rebrand create by the Edinburgh legal heavyweights moving in. Hopefully BlackHorn will be here to stay.