The Story
So, who are the mysterious pioneers behind this fabulous addition to the local culinary scene? The Riddle’s that’s who! Stuart Riddle, along with his wife Jo, are owners of several hospitality venues, and are creating a portfolio of pubs, restaurants, and hotels.
Stuart started his career working in the kitchens of AA Rosette awarded hotels, later becoming head chef at the 2 AA Rosette Dunain Park Country House Hotel. Stuart went on to impress in various roles including, Menu Development Manager at the Spirit Group, Catering Controller at Bellhaven Pubs and Head of Food Development at Greene King. A resume such as this, has set him in good stead for running The Woodside alongside Jo – a former restaurant manager herself.
“My now wife and I had talked about having a restaurant when I was a young chef and she worked as a restaurant manager in the late 1990’s, but we didn’t feel it was realistic and wouldn’t have known where to start”.
In 2013, Stuart and Joanna started their first hospitality company and embarked on a £700,000 development of the Stirling Arms to create “The Riverside – pub, kitchen & coffee house”.
“After a successful career in the corporate world and surviving several redundancy scares and numerous restructures, we felt we would like to be masters of our own destiny. We also felt that we could do it better than the nationals. At that point, I was 36, I handed back my company car keys, and we created The Riverside”
The Riverside was heavily remodelled to offer a modern 140 cover venue while still retaining the best of its heritage features. Situated on the river in the heart of Dunblane, the new Riverside was a victory, with locals embracing the refurb.
After the success of their Riverside venture, the pair invested £1,200,000 renovating The Allan Park Hotel in 2018. Located in Stirling, it was renamed “The Allan Park – pub, restaurant & coffee house w/ rooms” and transformed into a contemporary 120 cover venue with 8 letting rooms.
In November of 2021 they took ownership of their third property, The Woodside Hotel now known simply as “The Woodside”.