Five March to take up residency at The Acid Bar at SWG3

What’s happening? Five March is set to take up a residency at the Acid Bar within SWG3 from early September.

The Acid Bar has played host to various food and drink residencies over the years, including Cail Bruich, Ox and Finch, Tantrum Doughnuts and Julie's Kopitiam. During the lockdown restrictions, the team opened Ronnie’s bar - a huge outdoor beer garden with pop up food stalls.

What to expect: The Five March residency is titled Go Sangatsu, Sangatsu meaning March in Japanese. Like its sister restaurant, Go Sangatsu will specialise in sharing plates, taking wider inspiration from further afield. Owners of Five March Joanna Nethery and Peter Mackay - who is also the restaurant’s head chef - will take up residence in SWG3 with a focus on vibrancy, balance and an adoration of quality ingredients, showcasing a fresh take on Japanese methods.

What is Five March? The team behind Five March -Joanna Nethery and Kevin Small - opened a relaxed, fine dining restaurant on Elderslie Street in 2018. In 2020 they then opened Morning Glory, a cafe and coffee shop on Great Western Road. Their food is always seasonal and local, with options for veggies and vegans.

Artists at Acid Bar and SWG3: Known for being a home to food, music and art, Acid Bar will host Fromthestudio.art who will be showcasing a collection of work from some of Scotland’s most exciting contemporary artists. This will include a selection of painted photographs by David James Grinly being shown for the first time from his two collections: Revival and Revolt. Describing his work as ‘devotional’ David’s projects take many years to complete, as he shies away from commercial approaches to artistic production and exhibition this collection offers a rare opportunity to buy some of this reclusive artist’s work.

Joining David will be works from screen printer Thom Rees; collaborative duo Two Step (Beth Shapeero and Fraser Taylor; performance, soundscapes and digital imagery artist Michelle Hannah and intricate abstract artist Jamie Johnson.

The Acid Bar faces onto SWG3’s Yard space which features an urban arts gallery for the graffiti and street art community. The SWG3 complex, which also encapsulates a clutch of indoor and outdoor venues, rests on an ethos of creativity, as a place where food, art, music, design and nightlife collide. Now the Acid Bar is finally able to reopen its doors, the team who run the venue are delighted to announce the collaboration between SWG3 and one of the city’s most innovative restaurants.

When is the SWG3 Five March residency open? Go Sangatsu will be open from 3 September, from 5pm Thursday and Fridays, and 12pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Joanna Nethery, Co-Owner of Five March, said: “We have a real love and respect for Japanese cuisine and as we sadly lack the generations of knowledge required to pay suitable homage, we won’t be offering a traditional menu but one inspired by foods we love.

“Through this new venture, we can see what happens when we take all that we do know and smash it into the Five March style. Go Sangatsu leans towards the experimental so we can’t think of a better venue for it than the iconic Acid Bar.”

Meryl Gilbert, commercial manager at SWG3, added: “We are so excited that the Acid Bar is finally reopening.

“In the past we’ve hosted some fantastic residencies lasting anything from three months to a year with some well established names, including Ka Pao, Ox & Finch, Madlab by Cail Bruich and Julie's Kopitiam.

“Now, we're absolutely delighted to be welcoming Go Sangatsu as our first residency back after a year and a half.”