Darren has been a chef for almost 20 years and a writer for as long as he can remember. Creating BODA has provided the perfect outlet for combining the two, with exciting partnerships emerging with other creatives.
He lives in Arbroath, Scotland with his young family and runs the Tailend St Andrews & Tailend Dundee with his wife & family.

“BODA was created to combine my two passions, writing and cooking. Our goal is to inspire creativity and promote good health, both for the mind and body! For every book sold, Tailend Restaurant St Andrews will donate a kids meal to a school, charity or club” - Darren Spink

What a summer! To everyone who has supported us this summer – Thank You! Tailend is almost back to normal after a difficult year, and we have been thrilled to welcome back both regular customers and new faces. Tourism in St. Andrews this year has not been what it once was, but we are grateful to everyone who did manage to visit and step through our doors. Ever-changing Covid measures have meant queues down the street and restricted availability in our restaurant, but we have tried our best to accommodate and give everyone the best possible Tailend experience.


Goodbye and hello …
Sadly, we have said goodbye to a number of long-serving staff members over the past few months. Ross and Liam from our kitchen staff, Lisa from our takeaway and Eirean, Karolina, Morven, and Dana from our restaurant have all moved on and left big shoes to fill! However, we have been delighted to welcome several new staff members who have settled in well and put in a huge amount of effort to keep up with demand throughout summer. Anyone who has visited us before will know how hard our staff work and how chaotic our restaurant and takeaway can often be, so we are extremely grateful for everyone’s efforts!


Change is coming …
We have put several new items on our menu this year and you have all been loving them! Monkfish Satay, Mussels in Chilli Sauce and our delicious Hot Smoked Salmon and Tabouli Salad have all been firm favourites over the summer months. Sometimes, you just cannot beat the classics, our Haddock and Chips and Tiger Prawns have been flying out of the kitchen every day and we love that you love them! All our fish is sourced locally and is super fresh, we get deliveries from our fish house in Arbroath daily so that we can continue to offer the best quality produce to our customers. We also have some exciting new winter menu items coming soon, along with some returning favourites. We love to change things up at Tailend – regular customers may have noticed our new chairs, tables, and specials board in our restaurant as well as our brand-new fish counter! As well as new menu items, we will be redesigning our Eden Mill x Tailend Gin Menu. Eden Mills’s new Premium Gin Range will be fully stocked and served in our restaurant with Fever Tree tonic and fresh fruit pairings. Keep an eye out for more Tailend newness, and even a new look for our staff.


Sweet treats …
We have been trying out some new cocktails and desserts over the past few months. These have been mostly courtesy of our restaurant supervisor Marc, who is also keeping an eye on our socials. Let us know what your favourite dessert specials have been – he might even be able to bring them back! Our new cocktails have also been an absolute HIT! From French Martini’s to Bloody Monkfish (our take on the classic Bloody Mary), all our customers have been loving pairing their classic fish and chips with something a bit different. In our Dundee store, the cocktails have also been going down a treat. We have been offering an Eden Mill Love Gin Berry Explosion in pitchers in our brand-new Beer Garden to see off the summer sun. Speaking of the Beer Garden – we are so grateful for all the support in the opening of this area and look forward to seeing more friendly faces here over the next few months (weather permitting!). As it gets colder, and Dundee’s Christmas celebrations get into full swing, we might even look to offer some hot treats out here – so keep an eye out and join us during the festivities!


Stay safe …
Of course, Covid-19 is still present in the community. Thank you to everyone who has visited us during this crazy time and to all our wonderful customers who are remaining vigilant against this virus! As per Scottish Government guidelines, we are still requiring the use of face coverings in both of our restaurants and takeaways. We ask that you wear these any time you are not seated in our premises. Without the impact of social distancing, we can welcome so many more of you to our business which has been amazing! Our staff are still taking all necessary precautions and we hope that you feel safe and cared for during each visit. Just let us know if there is anything you feel we could do better – we love to hear your feedback!


Bye for now …
Finally, this week we are saying goodbye (and good luck!) to our business owners Jess and Darren for a little while as they welcome their second baby! We know our regular customers will be asking for them while they are away – but we promise it won’t be for too long!

Is this what summer feels like? In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve still been able to feed you all of our tasty take-away treats, we've created new fresh fish items available for collection & delivery, BBQ ready seafood & shellfish, and in an exciting couple of weeks ahead, our restaurant should be opening to keep your TAILEND cravings in order! 
Be sure to check out Facebook pages for up to date information on opening, COVID-19 operating procedures we will have in place and how to book your table — certainly not the summer we anticipated but we are grateful for your ongoing support for our family run businesses! 

On behalf of Darren, myself & the TAILEND family....
We would like to thank you all for your support & your patience during these uncertain times. 
We know service hasn't been as quick as usual but we are trying to operate w minimal staff and customers in store - thank you for following our procedures! 

Did Someone Say Instagram worthy?
We’ve been so happy to see all your at home cooking creations using out fresh fish, shellfish & BBQ ready seafood too! Keep tagging us in your posts @tailendstandrews or @tailenddundee and we will repost! This pic and the gallery below were all taken by our bestie @nibblesonmars who did a wee blog on our products...think she loved them! How beautiful are her pics!!! 

We launched our BBQ ready seafood
The very talented Caroline Trotter took some beautiful photos of our new range of products  - yum yum! Click to check out the full range available! ​

WE ARE ALSO OFFERING A FRESH FISH & READY MEALS SERVICE TOO! 
FOR ST ANDREWS CHECK OUT THE LINK BELOW TO SEE WHATS AVAILABLE IN YOUR AREA
FOR DUNDEE CHECK OUT THE ZIPPYD APP - DELIVERY & COLLECTION AVAILABLE WED-SAT!

** TAILEND ST ANDREWS & LUVIANS BOTTLE SHOP *SEAFOOD & CHABLIS DINNER**
We are so excited to be doing another event with our pals Luvians Bottleshop - St Andrews!
Join us for an evening of delicious white wines & with some fantastic Scottish seafood.
"Chablis is perhaps one of the world's most famous wine sub-regions, and its renown has helped popularise unoaked styles of Chardonnay worldwide in the past decade. From a climate almost too cold to grow grapes come the hardiest and most long-lived white wines, reminiscent of stones and green hay, a match made in heaven for all kinds of shellfish and seafood" Archie McDiarmid
The evening will begin with canapés paired with standard Chablis wine, followed by three seafood courses created to pair with each of our Grand Cru wines. Dessert and Champagne to finish.
Tickets are £55 and can be purchased from the St Andrews Bottleshop, over the phone at
​01334 477752, or via Eventbrite on the link provided.

Photo Credit: THE FINE FOOD DINING SOCIETY OF ST ANDREWS 

Hamish McHamish (1999 – 11 September 2014) was a ginger cat that lived in the University town of St Andrews, on the East Coast of Fife in Scotland. He came to national and international fame after the book entitled Hamish McHamish of St Andrews: Cool Cat About Town was published. Hamish built up a following on social media, with a dedicated Facebook page and Twitter account set up by fans.
The Hamish Foundation (SCO45383) is a charitable organisation set up by 3 friends who have a love of St Andrews and who felt that Hamish was well loved by the towns people and visitors alike and that it would be suitable to raise funds in his name for the good of the town. The charity aims to raise money for projects St Andrews particularly focussed on young people.
The charity has already donated funds to Home Start, TCCL amongst others and has funded projects such as Santa's grotto in partnership with Starbucks and Fife Council and Family app trails with Global Treasure Trails. Recently supported the Kelpie Maquette Installation with Tourism St Andrews. The charity recently raised and donated £2000 towards the Winter lighting in St Andrews.  Thankyou to everybody who donated
In 2018 we  supported Tourism St Andrews in their campaign to raise funds for Beach Wheelchairs for the West Sands beach.  This project has been hugely successful and we continue to support this project and other initiatives to continue to make the town more accessible.  


TEXT COPIED FROM HAMISH FOUNDATION WEBSITE