An Edinburgh restaurant and bar is set to return to the city centre this month following an extensive refurbishment project.
Ricks will reopen on Frederick Street on 31 October, replacing the current venue Rabble which is scheduled to close on 19 October.
The property, operated by Montpeliers Group, is undergoing a redesign led by Malcolm Duffin Design and will also see its ten bedrooms refurbished.
The venue originally opened in 2000 across two New Town properties before being rebranded as Rabble in 2017, and will now return to its original name.
The ten bedrooms, which occupy a former warehouse and stables connected by a glazed courtyard, will close for renovation from 9 October.
During its initial period of operation in the early 2000s, the boutique hotel and cocktail bar was recognised by Condé Nast Traveller as one of the top 25 places to stay globally and placed among the world’s top 100 bars by 2008.
Sean Weeraratna, Managing Director of Montpeliers, said: “The comeback is less about reinvention and more about remembering what Ricks always was: a proper independent Edinburgh restaurant and bar with rooms. Somewhere you come for the food, stay for another drink and don’t want to leave.”
The food offering, directed by Group Executive Chef Ross Giamblanco, will focus on ingredients sourced from the British Isles.
Suppliers include John Gilmore Butchers, Cumbrae Oysters and crab from Tarbert.
The venue will open at 7.30am for breakfast, followed by a lunch menu featuring bowls, plates and sandwiches, before transitioning to an evening service.
Mr Giamblanco said: “The ethos behind the menu comes from a deep-rooted belief that, as a chef, I have a responsibility to champion seasonal, local produce. The suppliers I work with are people I’ve known for most of my career. We’re not trying to reinvent anything; we’re just trying to do it as well as it can be done.”
The drinks menu, managed by General Manager Josh Ramsay, will feature draft beers, Guinness, and a selected wine list.
Cocktail options include a modern martini infused with olive leaf and feta-washed vermouth, alongside a reimagined grasshopper cocktail made with vodka, mint liqueur, oat cream, sesame oil and dark chocolate.
Mr Ramsay said: “Ricks has always been a place that takes its offering seriously – and that’s the version of this bar I want to bring back.”
Sarah Duffin, Lead Designer at Malcolm Duffin Design, discussed the aesthetic direction of the refurbishment.
Ms Duffin said: “For us, it was about reintroducing the Ricks brand while keeping that wonderfully relaxed, informal quality that makes a place feel like an old friend. Nostalgia has been a big part of the thinking. Ricks has meant so much to Edinburgh’s social scene, with so many memories attached, and we wanted to acknowledge that history without simply looking backwards. The result is somewhere that feels familiar, not stuck in time – a place with a real sense of its own identity, where you can walk in for a drink, stay for dinner and feel completely at home.”
The original venue was named after Frederick Street, utilising a shortened version of the location often used by Edinburgh residents.
Montpeliers Group has operated within the Scottish capital’s hospitality sector for more than two decades, managing various independent venues across the city.
Mr Weeraratna added: “We want Ricks to feel contemporary and relaxed, unmistakably Edinburgh. The ambition is straightforward: we want to create a place that feels like it belongs to Edinburgh. Somewhere tourists seek out and locals return to, settle at the bar, eat well and feel at home. The ten bedrooms upstairs aren’t an afterthought – they are part of what Ricks has always been. A restaurant worth staying longer in; and now you actually can.”
