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     International Starters or IS was founded in April 2000 and is situated at Commercial Quay which is in the heart of Leith, Edinburgh. The restaurant has been a success, remaining busy and vibrant for the last 8 years. We are now confident enough with our product and have bought an old Hotel in Aviemore which we have converted and made into an International Starters, Restaurant with Rooms which will be opening in June 2008.

     The company is owned by 2 brothers, Fraser and Myself - Jamie Coyle, who were brought up in the hotel industry in the Highlands of Scotland. Our Parents, Jim and Helen Coyle owned The Balavil Hotel in Newtonmore for 20 years. This is where we were sent to work at an extremely young age, learning the tricks of the trade and eventually giving us enough experience.

     To aviod arguments and creating unnecessary tension over the years, we split the running of the restaurant, in two. Fraser handling front of house and accounts and Jamie dealing with the kitchen and most prominently our product, the dishes.

     One of our families main interests has always been extensive travelling, visiting all the countries featured on our menu, picking up ideas along the way. The actual concept for the restaurant came from, Helen Coyle who always had a million ideas and thought of herself as somewhat of an entrepenaur. However her most solid brainstorming session with Jim, founded the idea for International Starters. As a family we always shared our food with one another so we could sample a taste of more dishes. We were particulary enticed by the starters as they seemed to be the best part of the meal.

     Branching out was always on the cards but we decided to wait until we were one hundred percent happy with our product before doing so. Fraser recently married his long term girfriend, Karen who was keen to become a member of our team. They both deperately wanted to move to Newtonmore for a quieter life in the Highlands therefore Aviemore was the perfect location for our second restaurant. They have moved up North and are currently working on the finishing touches of International Starters, Aviemore, along with Jim and Helen. I'm staying in Edinburgh but will be highly involved in the initial set up. We are sure this project will be as successful as the first and we have the added bonus of having rooms, which will be available from June 2008.

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