The boss of restaurant Six by Nico has pledged to help improve Aberdeen.
Nico Simeone, who lives in Bearsden, Glasgow, says the restaurant is committed to helping make Union Street and Aberdeen city centre “more vibrant”.
“I see everything as an opportunity,” the 35-year-old told The Press and Journal.
“See with these empty shops and venues, I see it as an opportunity for young and emerging talent. Like young chefs or businesses to get opportunities at low cost.
“The product will speak for itself and if it’s a good product, it’ll do well.
“I think there’s opportunities for people to invest, especially start-up businesses.
“There’s opportunities in Aberdeen for them to invest and get in the market and grow with it.
“If we can help make Union Street make the city centre more vibrant, and help other local businesses along the way, then it’s a win-win.”
How did Six by Nico end up in Aberdeen?
During lockdown, the introduction of Home by Nico, which delivered Six by Nico dishes to people’s own homes, helped pave the way for the Aberdeen restaurant.
“We were putting out around 6,000 boxes a week,” he says.
“But from there, we could see our popular locations where we were delivering to, so that almost planned our roadmap to open the venue.
“We had explored it before that, we just couldn’t quite find a site early on.
“But after the box distribution, that made us certain we wanted to go into that market.”
Six by Nico opened in Aberdeen in 2022.
“Aberdeen has been amazing for us,” says Nico, “genuinely.
“It kind of plateaued a wee bit, midweek was a wee bit harder. But we combatted that by introducing new concepts […] to drive that midweek trade.
“As an investment it’s been a good one for us, and I’m really happy with it overall.
“We just want to obviously try and grow it more and be more connected to local communities.”
What is next for Six by Nico in Aberdeen?
Six by Nico, says Nico, is aiming to become more of a “local business”.
“I think one of the mistakes we’ve made is we have just been focusing on the macro so much,” continues Nico.
“We have the ethos in the kitchen, we always use local suppliers.
“But we want that ethos to be everything. We want to work with local creative companies and local businesses.
“We want to be more embedded from a local perspective, and more micro in that sense.
“I plan on spending much more time in Aberdeen.
“I want to understand how we can play our part in regenerating Union Street, and help other businesses to flourish in the city centre.”
The restaurant will also be hosting a “new immersive cocktail experience” in Aberdeen from November, named Somewhere by Nico.
The cocktail nights, already launched in Glasgow and Edinburgh, will feature a series of creative cocktails.
Conversation