For Food Sake – Brings The Restaurant Home

Fife couple, Xen and Sabrina Larg, have drawn on their wealth of experience and expertise in the Hospitality and Catering Industry to create something really special in Aberdour.

In early 2021, they started a restaurant quality, heat @ home business with meals being ordered online and delivered locally. This proved very popular, however capacity and productivity were limited from home. They started looking for premises and their ideal location became available, earlier this year, at the Shore in Aberdour. 

The Café @ Number 16, an existing café which they took over and refurbished in October, provides a selection of their heat @ home dishes in a café style menu alongside their already existing, Bistro and Mexican restaurant quality food. In addition to the Café and heat @ home dishes, they also offer outside catering and private chef services.

Xen has an impressive pedigree with part of his earlier career in Dunfermline as Head Chef with Townhouse Restaurant and St Margaret’s Hotel.  Later, moving to Edinburgh, he opened a number of Mariachi Mexican Restaurants and became Head Chef at the Tijuana Yacht Club.  Xen moved on from Mexican into contract catering with Elior UK as Head Chef for the Hibernian Football Club based across the Training Centre in Ormiston and Football Stadium in Leith, with additional event support at various Elior high volume Stadia sites including Hearts and Murrayfield. He then became Head Chef at the prestigious Strathallan School before being appointed as Head of Catering at the five-star Scone Palace both near Perth.  Meanwhile, Sabrina is a Business Development Manager at an International Law Firm experienced in providing a vast array of bespoke services and events.

The business engaged with Business Gateway Fife receiving valuable support and advice from business adviser, Karen Cassells.  Karen commented: “Sabrina and Xen have shown that their vast experience at the top of the Hospitality and Catering industry has enabled them to create a unique business model which gives them flexibility in challenging times.  We were able to secure the couple HR advice and some Expert Help with financial analysis and for website and social media development.  They also received a Net Zero Grant which allowed them to buy energy efficient equipment for the cafe.”

Sabrina added: “We are very grateful to Karen for all her support.  It really helped us focus on the aspects of the business we need to develop. The restaurant model has changed and now people want that quality dining experience at home, at a time that suits them. We are so happy to be situated at the Shore in Aberdour and look forward to developing a long and happy relationship with Aberdour’s residents and visitors.”

Whether thinking of starting a business or looking to grow or sustain an existing business, contact Business Gateway Fife on 01592 858333 for a variety of advice and support