It can't be a coincidence that the third annual Creative Mackintosh Festival, being held in Glasgow next month to celebrate the city's most famous architect, designer and artist, is twice the size it has been in years one and two.
The devastating fire at Mackintosh's most famous building, named after him and a key part of Glasgow School of Art, in May has renewed interest in his work. Visitor numbers to the buildings he designed in Scotland reportedly rose by some 60 per cent during the Commonwealth Games, and House For An Art Lover at Bellahouston Park saw an increase of 90 per cent.
The Creative Mackintosh Festival will last a month instead of the usual two weeks, and the number of events has more than doubled. Many of these will help raise funds for the restoration of the Mackintosh building.
So far so good. But there's a new addition to the programme aimed at highlighting a lesser-known dimension of the man: that he was a bon vivant. A pop-up restaurant in the music room at House For An Art Lover on October 22 will feature a £65 seven-course menu presented by Andy Temple, founder of the Glasgow-based Chef's Larder. His idea is to source top-quality ingredients that are as local to Glasgow as possible, and to present them in a minimalist way while giving the nod to the artist's internationalism with hints of France and Italy. Among the dishes will be a foraged sorrel gimlet cocktail - made with Caorunn gin and lime - with new-season Scrabster oysters and a granita of Glasgow apples; crayfish with a sweetcorn veloute with Argyll girolles; and poached Perthshire pear with caramel granita and lemon curd. All point to a contemporary approach to Scottish cooking while echoing the modernism of Mackintosh's work.
A tasting hosted by Glasgow sommelier Johnny Walker will feature wines from the south of France, where the artist and his wife Margaret travelled and worked. There's also an Italian dinner at Mackintosh's fabulous Queen's Cross church in Maryhill on October 4, featuring foods from the areas of Italy the artist visited. This will be hosted by Peppe Staiano, and covers dishes from Naples (antipasto), Palermo (aubergine and tomato stew), orvieto from Umbri, a Tuscan salsiccia e fagioli (sausage and beans), gnocchi alla Bolognese, classic chicken from Padova and a Scottish tiramisu.
At the Willow Tea Rooms near to the Art School, Anne Mulhern is having a new Mackintosh tea blend made by Glasgow tea and coffee merchants Thomson. She says demand for Mackintosh teas has more than quadrupled in the 30 years she has run the business. Mulhern has also secured the rights to the Miss Cranston's brand name, which was last used by Bradford's bakers at its Miss Cranston's Tearooms in Gordon Street. Mulhern is considering renaming it Miss Cranston's at the Willow Tea Rooms.
Miss Cranston was founded in 1878 by Catherine Cranston, for whom Mackintosh created the interiors of her four Glasgow tea rooms. For the Willow Tea Rooms in Sauchiehall Street, he designed the interior fittings as well as the exterior and internal layout of the building - a white creation studded with architectural gems, silver furniture and leaded mirror friezes. When it opened in 1904 it was a sensation.
Mulhern has also overseen a secure future for the A-listed Willow building, following its purchase for around £400,000 by the new Celia Sinclair charitable trust. A campaign will be launched to raise £900,000 by 2016 to restore it to its former glory. Thereafter it will be gifted to the city. This week, architects Simpson and Brown are due to visit for an assessment. So the Making the Willow Tea Rooms: Tea, Talk and Tour with Mackintosh event taking place throughout October will have an added patina.
Good to know that the Glasgow Style, originated by Mackintosh, now incorporates good local food as well as iconic design.
The Creative Mackintosh Festival runs during October. Visit glasgowmackintosh.com/festival
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