Wednesday 07th May 2008

To all regular readers of my weekly update (i.e. my mum and dad) I give my apologies for being slightly late this week. As ever, I blame the weather. Bank Holiday Monday was a roaring success, but after my shift finished I felt I was in no physical or mental condition to write a brief but wonderful internet column. So, two days on, here"s a quick rundown of the latest news and events in the UK"s number one Belgian bar and restaurant...

As mentioned, the bank holiday ran extremely smoothly, as the staff dealt with effortless style with the inevitable onslaught. I would like to thank my colleague Campbell for supplying a pack of mini sausage rolls for the besieged staff, which no doubt boosted morale and energy at a crucial point in the afternoon. Yes, it was that kind of day.

Unless you"ve been locked indoors since Sunday, you"ll most likely be aware that this week is Corona week in Glasgow. Based around Mexico"s Cinco de Mayo festival, there"s a week"s worth of events going on around the city. See below for what"s happening at Brel. I would also like to use this space to remind anyone who cares that I was the first manager in Scotland to run a Cinco de Mayo festival, back in the summer of 2005. Not that this will interest anyone, it just makes me feel slightly better about myself mentioning in. Moving on...

Corona events - Both of our gigs this week are sponsored by Corona, which is much appreciated. The Just Joans and Saint Judes Infirmary play tonight; tickets are £2 on the door. Tomorrow night we have Ben TD playing at 7.30pm. Tickets are £4 on the door, and you can visit his website here.

Also expect to see the Corona bus about town over the next few days, sheparding the Corona girls from venue to venue. What do these girls do you ask? I"ve no idea. Hang around Brel on Friday or Saturday night and I"m sure you"ll find out. For our part, the Brel staff are squeezing into Corona t-shirts for the next few days in a bid to truly embrace the spirit of Cinco de Mayo. Thanks guys. We"ve also got a few Corona goodies to give away (pens, lanyards etc), although we stopped short of the 20ft inflatable Corona bottle.

The Brel barbeque starts for 2008 this Friday night, from 5pm. It"ll continue on Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to 9pm both days, and will run until it finally becomes too cold to sit outside in October. We"ve still to finalise the menu, so you"ll have to come down to the bar yourself to see what we"re selling. What could be better than sitting in the sunshine enjoying a homemade barbeque burger and a top quality beer (or a Corona)?

On the subject of menus, Brel has found a new Head Chef to replace the departing Aaron. Steven started this week, and hopes to have a new menu launch as soon as a week on Thursday, so visit the site next week for details on that. All of our newsletter subscribers will receive an amazing special offer for the new menu, so if you haven"t signed up yet then simply enter in your details in the box on the main page of the site. The next newsletter will be sent out on Monday.

Beer/s of the week go to Roisin and Seven Giraffes. Both beers are supplied by the Williams Brothers, and I was fortunate enough this morning to be able to visit their brewery in Alloa, which was eye opening to say the least. I was even briefly allowed to stir some hops around, so naturally I take full credit for their next batch of beers released. Roisin is a Tayberry ale, so think fruit beer but actually with a beer taste, as opposed to pure sugar. Seven Giraffes is a golden beer, made with lemon zest and elderflower, and may well be the hidden gem of Brel"s "premium fridge".

And that"s all for this week. No doubt if the weather persists I"ll be seeing a fair few of you over the next week or so.
Cheers,
Jamie