FOR those who know the family behind Battlefield’s newest bar and restaurant, the name might not come as a surprise.

Skip’s Seafood Bar and Grill on Battlefield Road is the latest venture for the Craig family, who are known around Scotland for their Tinto Tapas restaurants.

The name of the new venue is a nod to owner Gordon Craig, who is known affectionately by his friends and family as Skip.

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Candy Craig, Gordon’s daughter and the operations manager of Skip’s, told the Glasgow Times the nickname has been with her dad since he was a young boy.

She said: “When he was younger, he got the nickname from his dad.

“His dad was in hospitality as well and used to work in restaurants for many years.

“A group of Americans had come into the restaurant and my grandad was serving them, and they had given him a skipper’s cap.

“He gave it to my dad when he was about four or five and called him Skip. The name just stuck.”

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When Candy and her family were trying to come up for a name for their new restaurant, they thought it would be great for customers to have a community eatery to affectionately call Skip’s.

She said: “We thought it would be great to hear customers say ‘let’s go to Skip’s tonight’.

“It’s a real personal touch to us as my dad is known as Skip, not Gordon, for people that know him really well.

“When you think about skip and what it means, it’s the skipper of the ship, like the boss, and me and my dad are dead close and he’s the boss of the family.”

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The family lured executive chef Chris Rouse out of retirement to design the menu and help to launch the new restaurant.

Chris, who won Italian chef of the year in 2014 and formerly ran The Black Dove in Shawlands, was approached by Gordon to return to cheffing after leaving to become a joiner just before lockdown.

He said: “I knew he was serious about what he was wanting to do.”

Chris is excited to bring his culinary passion to the community of Battlefield.

He said: “The menu is all seasonal based. We do steak and seafood, that’s the mainstay.”

“The menu is reasonably priced, it’s not town prices.

“It’s giving the quality of food at the price range within the community and not trying to do town prices, but giving, in my opinion, a better product.

“We use all the best suppliers. We use locally sourced products as well.

“We open from breakfast right through to desserts and everything is homemade, right down to the croissants.”

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Skip’s is also welcome to customers who just want to come in for a drink.

Jeremy Moulin, a mixologist from France that trained under espresso martini inventor Dick Bradsel, has been brought on board as the inhouse drinks specialist.

Chris said: “He’s the best cocktail mixologist that I’ve seen.

“We work together with food and specials pairings, and he will come to the table to provide customers with recommendations.”

The team behind the venture hopes to open more around Scotland in the future.

He added: “This is the first of a couple of this brand and we’ve already started to work on the next one, which will be a bigger one in Largs on the seafront.”

Skip’s Seafood Bar and Grill is family friendly and has a pre-theatre menu available. It is open from Sunday to Thursday from 9am to 12am, and Friday and Saturday from 9am until 1am.