Talk about keeping it in the family.

The staff line-up at Michelin-starred chef and Herald Magazine columnist Martin Wishart's new venture, a Glasgow branch of his successful brasserie The Honours in Edinburgh, is shaping up to be a vibrant young team of friends and colleagues who have known each other for years. From the new head chef Andrew Greenan, 27, to sous chefs Zoe Greenan and Aaron Sobey, bar manager Mateusz Baryczka and front-of-house manager Simon Duthie, long-established connections are being renewed to create a team who will work together with the aim of taking the resurgent Glasgow eating-out scene to yet another level.

The two common links between these young professionals are executive chef Paul Tamburrini, for whom all have worked at Hotel du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens and/or at The Honours; and Graham Chalmers, general manager of Malmaison Glasgow, who first met Tamburrini when he too was at One Devonshire Gardens as its head chef. Tamburrini was lured by Wishart from the famous Glasgow kitchen to move east and head up The Honours when it opened in 2011.

Don't worry if you can't keep up. The point is that The Honours Glasgow marks a significant step in Wishart's mid-market expansion plan: if this first venture with the Malmaison group works out then the idea would be to roll out further branches of The Honours in other Malmaison hotels, so long as the location and other factors are right.

Naturally, sourcing well-trained kitchen, bar and front-of-house staff is key to such an operation; far better to have your pick from in-house resources than to seek elsewhere. To this end, Wishart has been running his own training scheme for young recruits. Not only does this ensure the house style is kept; it also engenders loyalty. If there is somewhere for your carefully nurtured talent to move to and shine, it's less likely your staff will leave.

Andrew and Zoe Greenan, who married four years ago, met in the kitchen at One Devonshire Gardens in 2006; both moved with Tamburrini to Edinburgh. It's clear they've been earmarked for greater things, and have been nurtured for the past year in preparation for the move back west. They have decided to live in Glasgow, and moved back last week.

Both acknowledge this is a big step: it's the first head-chef position Andrew, 27, has held, and while Zoe, 31, remains in pastry, being in charge of this important section in a new restaurant is both daunting and thrilling. The big difference here is that they're independent of Edinburgh. Well, not quite: they jokingly call it a "devo-max" arrangement. Wishart will visit at least once a week, and Tamburrini will cook occasionally. But it will be Greenan's responsibility to manage and motivate his young staff of 12, and ensure consistency of cooking, as well as mastering the art of sourcing and doing the paperwork.

The Honours opens at a time of unprecedented activity in the Glasgow eating-out scene after years in the doldrums, although the city remains without a Michelin star while Edinburgh retains five in five restaurants. Two Glasgow newcomers - The Gannet and Ox & Finch - each received a bib gourmand in the current Michelin Guide, joining Stravaigin and bringing the total to three (and setting the city on a par with Edinburgh in the "good food at moderate price" category). The fine-dining Western Club Restaurant opened earlier this month, run by Alan Tomkins and head chef Peter Wilson; and Marco Pierre White's Steakhouse and Grill opened in the Hotel Indigo last month.

The Honours Edinburgh posted a turnover of £1.6million last year, and it will be interesting to see if Glasgow can sustain or even exceed that. Wishart, always a shrewd businessman as well as a chef, has obviously done his research. His Michelin-starred restaurant at Cameron House Loch Lomond, under head chef Graeme Cheevers, regularly attracts diners from Glasgow. There's a renewed confidence in the city, which will enjoy an extra £1.3 billion of investment and the creation of 28,000 jobs over the next two decades under the City Deal initiative for Glasgow and its neighbouring authorities funded by the UK and Scottish Governments.

Wishart says he's confident there's a market for what he does in Glasgow. "I always wanted Glasgow to be our first choice for a second The Honours, and have been looking for a site for almost two years, and in that time I have also been training up staff. There are lots of great new places opening here and we want to be part of it. We are excited to be here at last."

Asked if he was aiming for Glasgow's first Michelin star for more than a decade, he said the intention for now was to bring to the city his own style of relaxed dining. This sentiment was echoed by Marco Pierre White last week when he declared that Glasgow should stop aiming for Michelin stars because the future of dining out is casual dining - good food in a relaxed setting.

For The Honours, the old Malmaison brasserie, including two private dining rooms, has been ripped out and replaced in a contemporary £1.5m refit including a new Charvet kitchen. While it won't be a replica of the interior of The Honours Edinburgh, it does reference the colours and tones of the 15th-century Scottish regalia and crown jewels from which the brasserie takes its name. (The Honours of Scotland, which incorporate the crown, sceptre and sword of state, are on view at Edinburgh Castle - just over the hill of North Castle Street, the site of the first Honours brasserie in Edinburgh.) So expect deep clarets, golds and ermine colours on the walls, columns and lights and plush seating. Even the cut flowers will stay true to Scottish medieval hues. But there won't be tablecloths.

The menu is similar to that at the Edinburgh Honours, using the same Scottish suppliers, though to begin with it will be a little smaller.

I was surprised to be told that, in Edinburgh, the grill section of the menu is the most popular and features top quality grass-fed beef from Donald Russell, such as salt-aged shorthorn Himalayan and Black Angus sirloin, cooked on the Josper grill at 650F. Especially favoured is the 500g chateaubriand for two, with "fat boy" duck fat chips, at £69. (I say "surprised" because I assumed steak and chips to be a Glasgow thing, but I'm told the classic dish is all the rage in the smartest restaurants right across Europe.) Next up in the popularity stakes are the rabbit a la moutarde (£18.50), ox cheeks a la bordelaise (£18.95) and sauteed fillets of john dory (£19.25). The duck fat chips are a big deal, and aren't served separately on the side unless as a special favour. Apparently they're part boiled, blanched in duck fat, finished in oil, seasoned with rosemary, thyme and garlic and a "crazy salt" of espelette pepper and Maldon salt.

The Greenans say they see a difference in the Glasgow they left and the Glasgow they have returned to. They reckon Glaswegians have become more discerning, with a greater understanding of - and interest in - good food. They're itching to get started, and can't wait to tap the "energy" of the city. Here's hoping the feeling's mutual.