Seumas has been at Cafe Gandolfi since 1983, a local hero of Glasgow’s ever evolving hospitality scene

National World - LocalTV

Cafe Gandolfi is a much loved fixture of Glasgow’s Merchant City.

Transcript

00:00Why do you live and breathe Katharine Dolfie, Seamus?

00:03I love her.

00:05Hello there, I'm Seamus McInnes, and I own Katharine Dolfie in the Merchant City.

00:10Well, I'd studied hotel management and studied as a chef,

00:14a 706-2 city in Guilds, and I needed a part-time job.

00:19My younger sister was going, was at Glasgow Uni, and her boyfriend at the time

00:24was a part-time waiter here, and he told me to get a job here, so I did.

00:28But they didn't need a manager, they didn't need a chef,

00:31so I was the KP, kitchen porter, and I just loved it.

00:38I loved the place anyway.

00:41And working here was just so much better than anything else I'd done.

00:46I'm here virtually every day.

00:48My children have worked for me.

00:50My brother, even, at one stage.

00:52I've got people like Stuart and Anne-Marie that have worked here for 40 years,

00:56so there's a consistency, and I think that's what it is.

00:59And it's a beautiful restaurant, and we're a one-off.

01:03In Glasgow at that time, this was the place to come to.

01:07It had a queue. We didn't take bookings.

01:10And you'd have Annie Lennox and Billy Connolly standing in a queue to come in.

01:17I just loved it. I loved the ethos of the place.

01:20It's very fair, and there's a kindness about it.

01:24No one's really allowed to use bad language.

01:27No one should ever shout.

01:29So there's a calm.

01:30Tell me a wee bit about your perception of the hospitalities in Glasgow

01:35and how it's evolved in the years that you've been here.

01:39Oh, gosh, it's changed a lot.

01:42But it's still thriving.

01:44It's just a really difficult time.

01:47Just after the pandemic and everything, it's just hard.

01:52And I think there's a lot of places that are struggling.

01:57But we've got some fantastic restaurants.

01:59Eusebi, I love.

02:01Crabshack.

02:02How do you build that relationship with your customers

02:05where they want to come back?

02:08Service is what has to be.

02:12And also because we are consistent as waiters that we're here.

02:18So you build up a relationship with people,

02:21and we encourage repeat custom as much as possible.

02:25Why do you live and breathe Catharine Dolfie Chambers?

02:29I love it.

02:31And I hope that comes across to customers and to you interviewing me.

02:38Yeah, I feel very lucky to run such a special place.

02:43And because we've been going for so long, since 1979,

02:47people have a past with us, especially if you're my age.

02:52And that's good.

02:54Even young people have because they came in as babies with their mum and dad.

02:58So it's just what I do.

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