The owner of a Fife hospitality business has told how she turned her daydreams into a successful restaurant.
Ruth Robinson opened Dory Bistro & Gallery in Pittenweem six years ago.
Now with 20 employees, the business has become recognised as one of the 100 best local restaurants in Britain by The Good Food Guide.
After moving to the area in 27 years ago, Ruth instantly noticed a particular gap in the market for a seafood restaurant.
She answered our questions on her biggest struggles, achievements and more.
How and why did you start in business?
I have lived in Pittenweem since 1997 and for a long time there were very few places to eat.
This seemed very odd to me given that it is such a nationally important shellfish harbour and tourist area.
Why was there no seafood restaurant celebrating the amazing local catches? I used to daydream of what could be created.
At the time, I was working at the University of St Andrews as an academic but I started to think about doing something completely different.
That’s how the restaurant idea started.
How did you get to where you are today?
My partner is Malcolm Cheape, an artist, and we bought our house with ground floor commercial space in 2016.
We were incredibly lucky to be able to purchase a property right on the harbourside in Pittenweem overlooking the fishing boats.
We got planning permission in 2017 and local tradesmen completed the conversion and new build by that Christmas.
We opened the integrated restaurant and art gallery in the following March.
Who helped you?
The list is long. My partner Malcolm of course, who is also my business partner and oversees the art gallery.
Many friends have helped us from the beginning with incredible advice and support, important because neither of us had any experience of running a hospitality business.
Fife Business Gateway were helpful with advice and more recently FSB has provided support.
Our employees have contributed enormously to our success because of the wealth of experience they have added.
Three of them have been with us since the beginning: Faye Cochrane, Christina Allan and Bev Meek.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever had?
Work in front of house first and then go into the kitchen.
I wanted to be one of the chefs from the beginning but it was the right advice.
I understood much more about what was required to run a restaurant successfully by being customer-facing early on.
What is your biggest mistake?
I don’t overly dwell on mistakes as you can always learn something from them and move on.
What is your greatest achievement?
In 2023, we were recognised as one of the 100 best local restaurants in Britain by The Good Food Guide.
We were awarded that again for 2024 and the staff are thrilled. Malcolm has developed an exceptional kitchen garden which provides produce for the restaurant.
How are you managing rapidly rising costs, and how could the government help?
It is a very tricky time for hospitality and the already small profit margins are reducing even further.
Rising food and energy costs have coincided with rises in pay rates and you can’t keep putting up prices on the menu because of the cost of living crisis.
Most people probably don’t understand that while 20% of the cost of their meal goes to the government, restaurants don’t get any VAT back on the food that goes into the dishes because it is 0% VAT rated.
One thing that would help the sector would be a reduced VAT on the food items on menus.
What do you still hope to achieve?
There are no plans for expansion as one restaurant is quite enough. I do want to write a Dory cookbook with Head Chef Kevin Duncan.
What do you do to relax?
We are so lucky to live on the Fife Coastal Path so walking is easy and I love it.
I also love sea swimming with my friend Ailsa and other regulars in the old harbour in Pittenweem. That is a fantastic way to instantly relax.
What are you currently reading, listening to or glued to on TV?
I just finished John Le Carre’s Absolute Friends and am now reading Patricia Highsmith’s Tremor of Forgery.
I find it very easy to pick up these types of books late at night and read for a short time after a long day.
My partner and I have been watching the Yellowstone series with Kevin Costner recently and it was so good we watched it all twice.
What do you waste your money on?
Going out to eat with friends and buying nice bottles of wine. When you run a restaurant, and are one of the chefs, there isn’t a lot of time to spend money.
What’s the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
I bring the early morning deliveries into the restaurant. Because we live above The Dory, that is my first job every day.
Then I have a cup of tea while I input the takings from the previous day into my spreadsheets. Love a spreadsheet.
What do you drive and dream of driving?
We recently purchased a Toyota Yaris Cross. It’s a hybrid and I love it but would really like an electric car if recharging becomes easier.
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