Fàilte - Welcome to the Brewery!
The few weeks have been the most excilerating, emotional and exhausting in the history of our little Brewery. Just over two weeks ago our fantastic local tradesmen, friends, family and neighbours were working around the clock to get us ready for our opening on Good Friday.
...and what a Good Friday it was!
It takes a community
When we set our opening date we knew it was going to be a rush to the finish line. In the last two months we have had tradesmen here around the clock. What once seemed like a fairly simple refurbishment project quickly turned into a major renovation. We have made changes to the layout and the look of the "Anchorage" as it will forever be known but the one thing we were sure we didn't want to change was the feel of the place. For twenty five years this restaurant has been the meeting place for people who live and work in South Harris and the thousands of visitors who pass through Leverburgh every year .
Way back in 1997 our friends and Borrisdale neighbours Finlay and Mary Ann MacQueen laid the foundations of the building and opened the first incarnation of the Anchorage. They ran the restaurant for five or six years with the help of their daughters Hannah and Patricia. They were famed for their breakfast which were served from 7.30am(!) and their leek and potato soup. The cafe was a favourite with the island football teams and local people have really fond memories of Finlay and Mary Ann's Anchorage, many of them have also worked here over the years. We are delighted to have their grandson John working with us at the Brewery.
The New Anchorage
The next chapter of the Anchorage's story began when Sally and Maurizio Lessi bought the building. Over the years they extended the building several times to provide a separate bar and an extension to the kitchen and then again in 2017 when an extra dining area was added. The Anchorage became the place to go for the freshest seafood in Harris straight from Leverburgh Pier. With Maurizio in the kitchen and Sally front of house the reputation of the restaurant grew and remained at the heart of the Leverburgh community for many years. Sadly, Sally lost Maurizio however the Lessi name remained above the door for twenty years welcoming thousands of happy customers over the years. For many people, including our family, a meal at the Anchorage was one of the highlights of our holiday in Harris and a place to celebrate the milestones of life. When Sally decided to retire from the restaurant business in October 2021 as a community we knew we were losing somewhere special.
When we started designing the new spaces we needed for squeezing the Brewery and deli into the building, we knew that we had to find a way to honour the love the former hosts had invested in the building. We have made changes so that the spaces work for us and reflect our Brewery's personality but we're conscious that Finlay and Mary Ann and Sally and Maurizio will forever be part of the fabric of the Anchorage.
New look, same atmosphere
The first major change was to turn the old "Dog Room" dining area into the new Brewery. As a nod to our old tin Brewshed our fantastic builder Kenny and his team clad the walls in wriggly tin. The mammoth job of providing enough electricity for the new brewing equipment was tasked to Shonny the electrician. Not only did he do a great job but he did it with a smile even when we were working until late at night. The capacity of the new and improved Brewshed is now doubled so we can not only make more bottled beer but also keg beer for our own taps. We have twelve taps in total one for each of our ten core beers and two for new recipes "House Lager" and "House Ale". The lager proved particularly popular on opening night - it was a full time job for Nick changing kegs!
The next job we tackled was changing the old bar into a bottleshop and deli. This is probably the biggest transformation of all and one we are very proud of because it showcases so many of the fabulous local suppliers and makers of the Hebrides. We are loving working with two local businesses to fill our bakery counter, Croft 36 from Northton and Lucy from Leverburgh and our customers are loving having somewhere to come for tea and cake. We serve our own blend of coffee, The Taproom Roast, from Uist and Hebridean blended tea from Tiree. We also stock products from lots of local producers: Salmon for Uist, Black Pudding from Stornoway (of course) Charcuterie, biscuits and Sparking water from Lewis & Mustard and Wild Eve from here in Leverburgh. One extremely large fridge is reserved for beer so in addition to our own bottled beers we stock ales from small breweries all over Scotland and our favourite beers from Belgium and Germany. We are proud to be the largest delicatessen in the South of the Long Island and the only beer bottleshop in the Outer Hebrides.
Kenny and his team also worked their magic on the largest room which we call our taproom. They have used inexpensive materials like tin and plywood and have created something wonderful. The bench seating was a labour of love for Al and Kenny while Coll took on the job of the ply walls. The skill and hours and hours of work Kenny put into the job have given us a beautiful, warm relaxing space which we will enjoy for many years to come. We should also thank Kenny's long suffering girlfriend Nadia who has barely seen him for the last few months!
Amongst the mess and chaos of the building works another local craftsman worked carefully and quietly - often starting very early in the morning to avoid the dust. Leverburgh decorator Chris Morrison was here for many weeks and must have painted meters and meters of woodwork in our signature' ink' coloured paint. Once the majority of the building work was complete we all manoeuvred around the many deliveries of furniture and equipment that started arriving daily with Picky from Woody's, the boys from Hebridean Haulage and our local posties.
At the start of February our first member of staff joined the team. Ellen grew up in Northton and went to school with our kids. Ellen is the daughter of Harris hospitality legends Croft 36 and has experience working in coffee shops and restaurants in Glasgow. When she decided to move home we were delighted to offer her a full time job. Next came our chef Craig, we advertised for a chef nationally and to our surprise found Craig in Tarbert! It was huge relief to find a great chef who was already settled on the island and wanted a permanent full time position. For the first couple of months both Ellen and Craig were amazing, rolling their sleeves up to help paint ceilings, fill skips and haul furniture. We knew instantly that we had the makings of a great little team and Ellen and Craig played a big part in the transformation we have achieved.
As we watched our countdown to opening tick away, we all worked many, many hours getting everything ready and in the last couple of days a miracle happened. One day people started arriving. Our friends, family, neighbours and even local people who had heard about how hard we were working to meet our deadline. We didn't ask them to come, but a steady stream of people arrived at our door in the last few days before opening. Some brought baking to keep us going, some cooked meals for us as they knew we weren't making it home for dinner and then on that last day they came pulling hoovers, carrying buckets and mops and with vases of freshly picked daffodils. It was truly amazing....It brings a tear to my eye as I write this but the whole community rallied round us. The place was sparkling from top to bottom, bonfires were built, furniture was unpacked and the bar and deli shelves were stacked. Some stayed until 3am and returned at 7am on the day of the opening! This might be often said but it's so true, we would never have done it without every one of the friends who helped. As the first guests arrived for the official opening one of our VIPs was holding Kenny's ladder as he put the new sign above the door. We only just made it in time but we made it!
One of the reasons we took on this project was because we love our community and we have never been so grateful for them and felt so loved in return. Thank you to you all.
NICK, ANNA, EUAN, MORAG & SPUD THE BREWERY DOG
