New bar in Hawick aiming to be glass act

The Oak Lounge in Teviot Crescent will specialise in top-quality wines, two-for-£10 cocktails, gins, beers and antipasto boards.

The business, formerly 13 Brew, is the brainchild of Ashley and Alastair Wilkie, owners of the Capon Tree Town House restaurant and hotel in Jedburgh High Street for four and a half years.

The bar will open Thursday, Friday and Saturdays in the late afternoon and early evening.

Ashley, 28, said: “We saw the opportunity in Hawick for somewhere offering a different service, cocktails, different spirits, wines, antipasto boards and cheese boards.

“We saw there was a gap in the market. We have had an unbelievable response from the people of Hawick.

“When our Facebook post first went up, we had thousands of people responding to it.

“Rhianne Miller is going to manage the Oak Lounge for us. She has worked in the Capon Tree for nearly three years.

“I think it will appeal to a wide market and all ages, those who want to have nice cocktail in a lovely atmosphere.

“It’s going to have a candle-lit lounge, and we’re going to be offering a wide range of wines, cheese boards, really nice lagers, bottled beers and we’ll be trying to support as many Scottish and local products as possible.

“We’re opening earlier than we had originally planned because we have cracked on and got the place ready a lot quicker than we had anticipated.

“Tomorrow we’ll open serving our cocktails and wines, but at the end of the month we’re going to have a proper launch.

“I’ve been in hospitality for about nine years, and at the Capon Tree I have progressed by learning how to make cocktails, gins, whiskies and wines.

“I didn’t see myself in hospitality, but I just sort of fell into it and I absolutely love my job.”