Orrin was born from Elaine Sutherland and Andy Fyfe’s desire to bring something different to the Elgin town centre in the form of fine dining.
In November 2021, the restaurant first opened its doors inside the former Beaver Travel building on South Street.
It has grown a reputation to attract customers from as far as Inverness and Aberdeen in the last three years.
The business has had to evolve though with bigger portions than the early days after receiving feedback from customers.
The restaurant quickly became a go-to spot for special occasions from birthdays to romance proposals.
Owner Elaine Sutherland feels honored the restaurant has quickly become a place for many people’s special life moments.
However, she wants the restaurant to be a spot where people can come for a meal at other points, not just for special occasions.
She highlighted the portion sizes of fresh food and two courses for £28.95.
She said: “It is not quite as fine dining as it was at the beginning, as we have bigger portions, which we found was what people wanted.
“Some feedback we had in the past is that people who had never been to Orrin said they were frightened of still being hungry when they leave.
“We have made sure people get bigger portions, as opposed to true fine dining, which is tiny portions.”
She added: “People feel special when they come. It is our plus point and our downfall as people tend to keep us for special occasions.
“We’re the same price as everybody else.
“For example, on a Wednesday night it is two courses for £28.95 and Friday and Saturday lunchtimes are the same too.
“So you’re getting a really special sort of experience for under £50 with everything cooked from fresh.
“And it’s just reminding people that don’t just come for your birthdays, come all the time.”
How did Orrin come about?
Elaine teamed up with Andy to create the restaurant after he was made redundant from Bootlegger’s Bothy in Hopeman during the pandemic.
She revealed they had looked at other spots before deciding to set up Orrin on Elgin’s South Street.
Now she is the sole owner of the business.
Elaine explained: “Andy had lost his job at the Bootleggers Bothy as he had been paid off in the middle of furlough.
“My friend Karen had asked if I knew anyone who wanted chefs and then I met Andy for a chat.
“I said I thought it would be great to do something different together.”
She added: “We explored several locations, including the former Relax shop on Lossie Wynd, but they were unsuitable as they required a huge amount of work.
“Then the former Beaver Travel building came about. It was well positioned with nice big big windows and had a nice feel to the building.
“Then it went from there and the business has done well.”
Pride in young Elgin workforce at Orrin
Elaine says she is proud of having a young workforce from Elgin at Orrin, which includes head chef Elliot Sabor.
She said: “We’ve got a young workforce, they’re charming and it is so nice to see them learn.
“Our chef is only 24 and he’s doing amazing.
“They sometimes come in quite shy and you watch them grow with confidence which is great to see.
“We’ve got a guy, Ben, he was really shy when he started but now he’s so charismatic and has just changed so much over the last few years.”
Could Orrin expand in Elgin?
Elaine would like to potentially transform the upstairs of the Elgin town centre building into a wedding venue to add to what’s already on offer at Orrin.
The space is currently empty and she believes there is a gap in the market.
She said: “Upstairs in the building is currently completely empty and in the long-term we could look at redeveloping it.
“It might be suitable to transform into a intimate venue for weddings and other small functions.
“Especially because in Elgin it is very difficult to find somewhere like that for a wedding.
“We’ve done a couple of weddings downstairs and everybody loved it.”
Orrin is moving into a new era with a new front of house manager Richard Cumming at the restaurant.
Click here to find out more about Orrin at 2-6 South Street including their menus and opening hours. The restaurant has also started hosting different food themed nights on Fridays which include live music from local acts.
Conversation