HOT OFF THE PASS

hen Ka Pao, Glasgow’s Southeast Asian-inspired W restaurant from the folk behind Ox and Finch, launched in January, food lovers and critics alike pounced. It had been too long – 18 months – since Ka Pao’s successful residency at Acid Bar

(also in Glasgow), and everybody was willing its bricks-and-mortar site to open. It was this anticipation, reckons chef and owner Jonathan MacDonald, coupled with the fact that Ka Pao’s new home was a local architectural icon that contributed to the hype.

“The Botanic Gardens Garage looks a wee bit like a baby