- 6 months ago
Celentano's & Roberta Hall-McCarronOn this episode of Scran Rosalind speaks to two of the Scran Award's winners we celebrated earlier this summer.
Anna Parker who is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Celentano's in Glasgow joins Rosalind to talk about the business and winning the Restaurant of the Year award.
Chef of the Year, Roberta Hall-McCarron who runs a number of popular and busy restaurants in Edinburgh including The Little Chartroom also joins her to talk the ups and downs of being a restaurateur. Both of these women who are leading the way in Scottish dining share what it's like to work in an industry alongside their partners as well as raising a family at the same time. They tell Rosalind about how they have seized upon opportunities to build, grow and expand and disclose the challenges that stretch them on a daily basis.
Anna Parker who is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Celentano's in Glasgow joins Rosalind to talk about the business and winning the Restaurant of the Year award.
Chef of the Year, Roberta Hall-McCarron who runs a number of popular and busy restaurants in Edinburgh including The Little Chartroom also joins her to talk the ups and downs of being a restaurateur. Both of these women who are leading the way in Scottish dining share what it's like to work in an industry alongside their partners as well as raising a family at the same time. They tell Rosalind about how they have seized upon opportunities to build, grow and expand and disclose the challenges that stretch them on a daily basis.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I'm joined by Anna Parker from Selentanos in Glasgow and Roberta Hall-McCarran from multiple
00:09businesses in Edinburgh, notably Ard, Fern, Eleanor and Little Chartroom. And we're going
00:15to talk about winning the Scran Awards because you both won the Scran Awards a few months ago.
00:20But before we get into all that, first of all, thank you very much for joining me. Hello both.
00:25Hi. Lovely to see you and thanks for coming on in this lovely sunny day. We've just been
00:32talking about how it's been such a lovely summer. Obviously, the highlight for you guys must have
00:37been winning the Scran Award. What a good point, I'd say. But before we go on to talk about that
00:47and then what it means for you guys, do you want to just tell us a little bit about yourself and
00:52your business and businesses. So Anna, I'll start with you. So you're Selentanos in Glasgow.
00:58Yes. So we have just turned four. We've been open for four years now, middle of July. It was our
01:05fourth birthday, which is exciting. We used to live in London. We moved up to open Selentanos.
01:14And yeah, it's been going well so far. I mean, it's a bit of a journey, but all restaurants are,
01:20I think. We're Italian inspired. So we don't class ourselves, neither Dean or I are Italian,
01:28so we don't class ourselves as classic Italian. But we're very much inspired by how
01:35Italy cooks, uses its produce, sets out its menu. We use, same as many restaurants these days,
01:44it's all seasonal and local produce as much as we can. The chefs make as much as they can in house. So
01:51we make our own bread and pasta, make our own cheese. We do whole lot animal butchery. We make our own
01:58liqueurs. So yeah, basically anything we can make, we will make ourselves. It's Dean and I that own it.
02:05So Dean is the chef. When we first opened, I was managing the restaurant. And then we had a little
02:12boy after two years. So I've stepped back from the floor. We've got two really good juicy managers,
02:18Emma and Hazel and I, who are amazing and run it really well. I basically do everything else that's
02:26not cooking or running the floor. So yeah, all other aspects from like social media to systems to
02:36accounts. Yeah. So what about yourself? I know you've got multiple businesses.
02:42Yes. So myself, quite similar in some ways to Anna and Dean. The businesses are run by myself and my
02:50husband, but flipped around. I'm the chef and Sean is everything from the house. And we first opened
02:58the little chart room in 2018. So, and that was in June. So we just turned seven, which is as well as
03:06like, I can't believe seven years has passed, but also, yeah, it feels like we've had it forever,
03:12but also it still feels like it was just a long time though.
03:15Oh my God. Yeah. Like, honestly, yeah. Yeah. And I mean, well, when you opened up
03:22four years ago, that must, I think that's almost a much harder time to open because it's like,
03:26you know, we're kind of during the whole pandemic and everything. So that's very incredible.
03:32But no, yeah, seven years. We opened up L&R in 2021, in December of 2021. And then Art Fern,
03:43our most latest venture was opened up last year. Um, and they're, you know, they're all in Edinburgh
03:49and it's not that big a city, but they're all very different to each other. Um, and yeah, it's been,
03:56it's been pretty, pretty busy, uh, again, sort of similar, uh, concepts of we use as much seasonal
04:03produce as possible, local, really try to support local businesses. Um, we make, again, make as much
04:08as we can in house, um, from, uh, bread to, um, we do have a pasta dish on just now actually, uh, pasta
04:18and, uh, lots of, um, whole animal butchery. Um, and yeah, same with the drinks and whatnot. Um,
04:26it's all as much as we can to give what we want to sort of give to our, you know, our guests are
04:32coming to the door, like the, you know, a real experience. Um, but also to teach the chefs that
04:38we have coming through the restaurant as well, just to train them as much as possible and make
04:41them see things from, um, that kind of, you know, beginning phase of, uh, of food. Um, and yeah,
04:50I, again, so, so many similarities here. Um, I had a little girl, uh, about, how old is she now?
04:57Three and a wee bit. Uh, so three years ago and, um, yeah, when that happened, my, I sort of had to
05:06obviously shimmy things around a wee bit and have, and life has been different since having her. Um, me
05:11and Sean balance our week out where I'll work three days and do three shifts and he'll work three days
05:18and do three services. Sorry. Um, and then we try and take one day off together. This is actually
05:23relatively new. We've, um, not had a lot of routine since we opened up hard firm. Um, hard firm was,
05:31uh, not a plan, but it was an opportunity and, um, we're very happy with how it's, it has panned out.
05:38Um, but it, it did, uh, make things a little bit more tricky. Um, but we are now starting to get into
05:44a much better routine and life is now kind of returning to normal. Um, and balance, yeah,
05:50balance is just definitely being restored. So that's fantastic. Um, and so, yeah, it's, uh,
05:56it's been, it's been busy. Um, but it's been good busy, very, very good busy.
06:00Yeah, no, it's, it's, um, it's, it's been great. I mean, you've talked about, you sort of mentioned,
06:05um, opening up five years ago, um, and, and Roberto, you said during COVID is,
06:10you know, I was going to ask the sort of challenges and opportunities and hospitality
06:14right now. Like it's been a bit of a wild ride, um, the whole time you guys have been,
06:18been doing this. I'm working for yourself. So, um, what would you say is the sort of main
06:23challenge facing you just now and the main kind of opportunity, um, Roberta?
06:28Uh, the biggest challenges right now is, I mean, it's, it's not even just our industry,
06:33it's everyone's industries. Um, it's the cost of everything. Um, it is, uh, absolute battle every day.
06:41Um, just the cost of everything that you're needing to buy in. Um, the, the cost of your,
06:48your wage bills, like just, yeah, it's like, I think the level of restaurant that we are,
06:54but even a restaurant like our firm, which is more casual and we do a much, much higher
06:59footfall, but the price, you know, the price points lower. Um, so yeah, even though I've got
07:06to like two quite different businesses, they, we still do the same level of, uh,
07:12like, you know, we're still buying in the same level of produce. We're not buying in cheaper
07:15produce. It's expensive. And it's like, we're, we're not losing money, but it's, yeah, it's,
07:23it's difficult to, um, to make any money right now. Um, and I mean, gosh, that's not why we got
07:31into restaurants, but, um, it's, we're, you're coming to sort of squeeze things a bit more,
07:36um, and look at areas where we can tighten everything. And we just, it's good because
07:43it's a bit more efficient way to run a business, but, um, there's just so much pressure on everybody
07:49to like everyone within our teams to really make sure we're getting, um, everything that we can,
07:55um, out of everything, you know, I'm not really explaining this very well, but, um, it's just,
08:02yeah, the money, money right now is, is, is the trickiest thing. Um, and we're, yeah,
08:10it's just, I guess it's, it's, it's the pandemic was a really separate thing. And it actually,
08:16like in many ways we actually managed, you know, we grew our business during that time. Um, we were
08:22very small. We, um, we didn't have that many in our team in one restaurant. Um, and so therefore
08:31we were able to do it and, uh, and it, the setup that we had and everything that we did during the
08:38pandemic worked for us. And, um, and I didn't have a family. I didn't have that commitment.
08:44So I was able to put everything into it and, um, yeah, and it, it did, it was, it was all good,
08:50but, um, this, I feel like this, the challenges that we're facing now, um, from my own, my own,
08:57um, situation and my point of view are, um, harder and more stressful than what that was,
09:05was for us. Um, and I guess that's just because there's, there's no support. Um,
09:11and it feel, it feels like everything's against you as well. So, sorry, pretty negative.
09:15Um, but we're, we're, like I say, we're still here. We're still managing.
09:25Um, when like with the costs as well, because everything, it just, everything is so expensive
09:35just now. And then obviously you pay the staff well, because they need to be able to afford all
09:42the expensive things and they're working really hard. So they deserve it. Um, but then when it's
09:47your own business, there's so many things that because it's so costly to hire someone more senior
09:56or something like that, you end up just being like, I'll just do it myself. So Dina and I end up like
10:00taking on more and more stuff because we're trying to save money to give back to the team.
10:06Um, but then especially when you've got a child, it's like trying to juggle all. So there's a lot
10:11of my day is so split. Like I leave at two or three, go and get my little boy. Once he's in bed,
10:18I go back on my laptop, like, or if Dean's off, I'm tend to be working like the same as Traversa and
10:23Sean. Like, it's just this rotation that you're both just trying to balance it to kind of like,
10:29and that's not to make a massive profit. It's literally to like stay afloat, essentially.
10:34It's really hard. The only thing I feel like, Rebecca, you kind of touched on it a bit,
10:39the only opportunity that I could maybe take out of it is that it kind of pushes you to be
10:47a bit more creative and like get the team really involved and like, right. Okay. Well,
10:52that's an issue. What can we do about it? Or if that's expensive, like certain, I don't know,
10:58even if it's a liqueur, for example, that's kind of how we started making our own things. Like
11:03we've always made our own vermouth, but then we're like, Oh, coffee liqueur, for example,
11:08it was one day it was the one we wanted was out of stock. And the next one was really expensive.
11:13And we were like, actually, why don't we just try and make it ourselves? And it just like,
11:17I don't know, it does kind of, yeah, push you to be a bit more creative, get the team really
11:21involved. So it's a bit more of a team effort, which I think, yeah, is one positive that comes out of it.
11:26Yeah, no, I totally agree. It's much more eloquent than mine.
11:31Well, you could have started it. And I mean, we think about it while you're talking.
11:36Same effort.
11:36Yeah. And so you've both mentioned your kids as well. Do you find working for yourselves and with
11:41your husbands, it's easier to get that balance of like motherhood and running your business than
11:46it would be if you were in like a, you know, a kitchen that's been run by someone else? I mean,
11:50do you find the hospitality is becoming a bit more kind of open to that? Or is it just,
11:54do you think just being on your own business is best?
11:58Um, sometimes I think it's great. And sometimes I think it's hard. It's like,
12:05I obviously have the flexibility to do my own hours. I can, yeah, essentially do what I want,
12:12as long as I'm making the business run and getting my work done. But then at the same time,
12:16you really don't have an off switch. So I try really hard not to look at my phone,
12:22but then if there's an issue, I've got Fred, my little boy, and Dean's phoning me and there's,
12:27we've got rooms as well now. So somebody's phoning me, our customer's trying to check in and they
12:31don't, blah, blah, blah. And you're, it's quite a constant battle. And as I said, I then work
12:36literally every night on my laptop, unless I'm out, which is very rare for social life.
12:43Um, but then yeah, on the flip side, sometimes, yeah, I'm like, I wouldn't have this flexibility.
12:50I couldn't just leave if I needed to. Yeah. Pros and cons. I don't know. Roberta,
12:57you're obviously quite different to your chef side, but. Um, yeah, no, honestly, like it's,
13:03it does sound very similar as well. Um, where, I mean, one thing that I guess is different,
13:10um, is that I've got myself into a place where, or we've got ourselves into a place where I'm
13:15actually not on the rota. So I do have that flexibility. Um, and that allows me to, um,
13:22um, still do those three days of work, whereas, and like I say, Sean does the opposite days.
13:29Um, and then it gives me the, the time to have with Kara as well. And also if something does happen,
13:39um, if they get ill or if, you know, suddenly it's like, you know, as we know, children get
13:44ill all the time. Um, um, and there is that flexibility to, to be able to then just jump,
13:52jump home and, and sort of like, yeah. Um, Sean is still on the rota. So that's where we don't
13:58have as much flexibility. Luckily with me, I, cause I don't do as much, um, kind of more. I do,
14:04I do have like admin days and whatnot, but not to the same extent as yourself, Anna. So when I'm home,
14:09if I'm with Kara, then that is, you know, and I am able to, um, focus a lot of my time on her.
14:15Of course, I'm in about, oh God, I think about 30 WhatsApp groups within the three restaurants,
14:20um, which is hideous. Um, and that is a, and I don't turn off notifications. So there is always
14:26that pinging. And yeah, like I say, it says it's only recently that we've really been starting to
14:32get a bit more structure. So this is kind of going from the craziness of art for an opening to just
14:38kind of plugging in the gaps. Um, so me and Sean realizing this is not a good setup for us,
14:45um, because we were barely, barely seeing each other basically. Um, and Kara wasn't going to
14:50see the two of us together, um, to now having a little bit more routine and, and it's been really
14:56good and it's not affected work either. So it's definitely the way forward. And actually we're about,
15:01the, the little chat room's about to move from being open seven days down to five days. Um,
15:07which will again make, I, well, we'll, we'll wait and see, but it should, it should make life a little
15:12bit more balanced.
15:12So Anna, you mentioned not having much of a social life, but you were both at the Scam Awards,
15:18which was a social occasion on a Monday night. Um, and you, you both won awards. Um, so, uh, Anna,
15:27uh, sorry, I'm calling Celentanos. Celentanos won, um, Scottish Chef of the Year and Roberta,
15:32you won Scottish Chef of the Year. Um, so Anna, just starting with you, how did it feel and what
15:37does it mean to let you and your teams to, to win something like an award in general, but obviously
15:42I'm big enough to spell awards. I mean, I think it's always, it's always so nice to win awards,
15:49like particularly for the team, because we're like, you've been working so hard and look,
15:55it's paid off. Like, it's just, and you feel like so proud of the team for doing that. And it really
16:00like boosts morale, especially when it has been really busy or really hard. Like if you're short
16:06staffed and they've been working really hard, like long hours, it just like boosts morale. Um,
16:14Dean and I were quite shocked, which I think you can see when we went onto stage,
16:20we were just like really happy to be included, um, in the nominations or the finalists. Um, obviously,
16:29yeah, there was, that was up against some, uh, pretty major restaurants. So we were really pleased.
16:35It's, um, yeah, I think I said earlier, it's been a bit of a journey with Chilentanos and we've,
16:40yeah, been working quite hard. So it's, yeah, very, very nice, um, for it to be recognised.
16:47And your thoughts all about yourself?
16:50Um, gosh, so much of the same. Um, I, I really, really didn't think that I was winning that award.
16:57So it was an absolute blubbering mess on the stage. Um, I think someone said to me before,
17:03are you nervous? I was like, no, because I'm not going to win. And then my name got called
17:07out and I was like, Oh God. And I think I was visibly shaking. So very, very, um, honoured,
17:14um, to have won it. Um, like Anna said, to even just be considered. Um, it's yeah,
17:21it was a really, really special moment. Um, and yeah, I'm still a bit like, God, did that happen?
17:27Um, so no, like absolutely. Yeah. Just blown away. Um, and, and as I said on the night, I,
17:36I like, I wouldn't, I wouldn't be winning that award or be where I am with, with the restaurants
17:42that I have. Um, and like, I do other stuff with the restaurants at the events. I have a
17:48partnership with the botanics. Um, I do, I do a lot of other bits and bobs and I wouldn't manage
17:52to do any of that. Right. The team that I have, um, the teams that I have, um, in my restaurants,
17:59they, they allow me to take time out from the restaurant and they allow me to spend time with my
18:05daughter and they allow me to, um, grow each restaurant as, as they have been growing. And
18:13we all create things together and we all build the menus together. Um, and, um, it's, it's so,
18:22as much as the award was for me, it's for them as well. Um, and it's just really exciting. I think
18:27it's, it's like, it's amazing that we've got this grant awards. Um, it's really exciting to really
18:31showcase what's happening in Scotland. Um, because there is a lot of talent in this country,
18:37uh, and there's like, Scotland's got so much to shout about. So it's just continuing to put us on
18:43the mat and, um, female leaders too. Um, which is obviously very important as well. Uh, and so,
18:52yeah, absolutely honored. I am, and this is absolutely no disrespect to Dean because
18:58I fully respect him as the chef, but he was obviously a finalist for chef of the year.
19:03And when I was reading it, I was like, uh, Dean Parker, blah, blah, blah. And I was like,
19:07oh, you're up against Roberta. Sorry. And he was like, oh, he was like, I mean, yeah, probably,
19:14but nice.
19:15I was like, I was like, I was literally saying, I was like, oh, okay, he's going to get it.
19:25Um, so we are, I'm going to stay impartial on this as a Pfeiffer. Um, so Glasgow versus Edinburgh,
19:40obviously like, you know, you're better your business in Edinburgh and you're in Glasgow.
19:44Um, you guys have worked not just in those cities, but what do you think the main sort of
19:50differences are? I mean, um, Roberta, you, you touched on it in terms of like, you've got the
19:55fringe in the festivals. I imagine you probably get a lot more tourists. Um, and, and do you reckon
20:01that there's a sort of difference in, in palate or cuisine or, or what people are looking for in
20:05the different cities, um, versus like the rest of Scotland as well? Or do you think this, this
20:11kind of local seasonal is very much, you know, universal within, within Scotland and what people
20:16are looking for? Um, and I'll come to you first.
20:19Um, well, I obviously have a word to name, Roberta, but I'd imagine
20:25it's a much more varied. We get, um, so summer is quite touristy for us, but other than that,
20:32it's pretty much like Glasgow that's coming to us. Um, so I'd imagine, yeah, Edinburgh is a bit more
20:41varied, but I don't know in terms of restaurants, I feel like Edinburgh is almost like a bit more
20:47grown up than us in Glasgow, like a bit more ahead because I think there's so many restaurants doing
20:54so many amazing things. Whereas in Glasgow, there are a lot of restaurants doing amazing things,
20:58but they're either not quite recognized yet or they're newer and, or there's not as many. Um,
21:05there's not as many. I think, yeah, it's, I think we're maybe like a little bit behind
21:11Edinburgh in terms of like what Glasgow offers, if that makes sense.
21:18And you came from London to Glasgow. Was that always the plan? Did you think about Edinburgh?
21:23No, I'm from Glasgow. So, um, it was actually Dean, Dean's from South Africa, but it was Dean
21:29that wanted to move back to Glasgow. I, well, I'm happy in Glasgow now, but I was very sad to leave
21:35London. Um, but I mean, it would have been like completely unaffordable to, um, open somewhere.
21:42And actually similar to Ardfern, we were always, we were thinking about children's hour opening our
21:49own restaurant and then Cathedral House became an opportunity as opposed to we seeked it out. So we,
21:55it kind of felt like at the time we can't say no to it. We just have to go. So we, I mean,
22:01we literally moved and opened the restaurant within like three weeks. It was a bit mad.
22:05Yeah. Um, yeah. So we learned a lot in that time. Um, maybe four, but it was yeah,
22:16like moving city, moving. It was quite a lot. Um, yeah, I think, yeah, we wouldn't have ever
22:23gone to Edinburgh and that's not because Dean and I quite often go to Edinburgh to eat out. If we do
22:29have a day off, we go through to Edinburgh because we love so many restaurants there. Um,
22:34and that is not because we don't have restaurants in Glasgow. It's just there's,
22:38I feel like there's such so many very variations in Edinburgh and we obviously spend all our time
22:43in Glasgow. So, uh, yeah, wouldn't have gone to Edinburgh, but not because we don't love it.
22:51And, and Roberta, what about yourself? So obviously you've free business in Edinburgh and, you know,
22:56worked different places. Um, is it very tourist heavy or, or what are you,
23:00what's your sort of view of Edinburgh as a good city? Um, it is very tourist heavy. And,
23:06and I don't know if I've felt it more this year or not. I'm not sure. It feels, um,
23:12feel like the kind of the, it is, it is much more in the summer. Um, and I feel like that kind of
23:17summer period has been a bit longer. Maybe it's because we have had such a great summer. So it's
23:22really felt like summer. Um, but we've definitely had, like, we've had a lot of Americans actually,
23:29like we've really, really noticed. Um, I haven't done like a direct comparison on last year, but it
23:34really just does feel like we've had, um, a lot, a lot more this year, which is fantastic. Um, and
23:40we still, we do still get it throughout the year. Um, especially, you know, coming around Christmas
23:44time again, you get that influx. Um, but we have also a lot of support locally, um, people coming up
23:50from other parts of the UK. Um, you know, it's not just abroad. Um, so no, it's, it's very much
23:57a mix. Um, and yeah, lots of people coming through from Glasgow. Um, so yeah, all over it, but no,
24:03I do, I do feel, I mean, I guess there's Edinburgh has always been city that you're, you know, that
24:10you're, it's very much a tourist destination. Um, so yeah, it's very normal to have a much higher
24:16percentage of, um, tourists coming than it would be from Glasgow. Um, are they looking
24:22for a certain cuisine? Um, oh, I don't answer that question.
24:29I mean, I don't feel like it's, I think you'll get, I think it's a really small percentage of
24:33people who are saying, oh, I really want to go and eat some haggis. Um, or I want to, you know,
24:38I really want to eat something that's Scottish. It does, of course we do get it. Um, but it's
24:43not, I mean, fortunately you can just go to hard fire and actually have the,
24:47the till breakfast and you can have some haggis there. Um, uh, oh no, sorry. Yeah.
24:55Sorry, we keep changing it. Um, but I don't feel like it's, um, people are seeking out our
25:03restaurants to come and eat that. Um, and I love Glasgow. I, um, I actually studied
25:12there and I always enjoy going back through, um, I've got some friends that live there as well.
25:22So, so we go there to see them probably. Um, and yeah, it's, it's, it is, it's quite funny
25:28how different Edinburgh and Glasgow are from each other. Um, I think there is an element of the food
25:34scene being quite, is really, really different. Um, the people are really different. Um, but I think
25:40that's great to have that contrast and, and yeah, yeah, I really, really enjoy, um,
25:47going through and experiencing different, yeah, just completely different vibe.
25:51The issue Dina and I have in Glasgow is that quite a lot of restaurants close on a Monday,
25:57Tuesday, as do we. So on our days off, loads of places are closed.
26:01Yeah.
26:02So many places are open. Yeah.
26:05Yeah. Um, it's, that was one of the reasons why we decided to go seven days, um, at the chart
26:13room and we're still, we're actually, we're doing, we're going to be closed on a Tuesday and Wednesday.
26:17Um, cause we looked at the data.
26:18Yeah, I feel like it kind of flips like diner days out. Um, yeah, it's a bit nice.
26:23Yeah, totally. I remember like pre-pandemic, a Sunday was like the kind of a really great day for
26:29us. Um, and then after the pandemic, loads of restaurants decided to open on Sundays.
26:35And so that kind of evened out. And now a Monday is our new, like really, it's a really, really,
26:41really good day in business. Yeah. So it's interesting how it keeps floating.
26:46Yeah. Cause even going to get a decent coffee now, a lot of coffee shops are shut Monday,
26:51Monday, Tuesday. I always forget. And I'm like, oh, there's nowhere open.
26:54Yeah. I recently moved to Beirstame, which is just slightly outside of, um, Glasgow. And there is
27:02literally no coffee shops. Well, that is not a decent coffee. I may as well make it at home. No decent
27:10coffee shops open like Monday. Just like literally none. So the days that you're, you're actually
27:16looking for one. Yeah. I have a friend who lives in Beirstame, um, and her husband, he is not like,
27:23he, I don't exactly know what he does, but, um, something, I don't know. Um, but his, his retirement
27:30plan is he is like, he loves coffee and he really wants to open up his own coffee place. So if you wait,
27:36like, I don't know when he's going to retire. If you wait, like 30 years.
27:39Yeah.
27:40Yeah.
27:43I might have died of tiredness by then.
27:47I mean, it saved me a lot on like coffee and croissants. I used to, when I lived like
27:51West End, I used to always go out and have coffee and like take Fred for a pastry. And now I'm like,
27:56oh, nowhere's open.
27:57And we'll just stay on.
27:58Well, I have my friends and there, there, there, quite a lot of them are short around
28:02about here. So you'd, you'd be saving if you were still here. You're only one this one.
28:06Or, anyway, there's this opportunity here for, for Anna.
28:09Yeah, over a coffee shop in the West End, it's only 70.
28:13I'll do that, that's her thing.
28:17Um, and, um, Anna, do you want to tell us a bit about the rooms that have just opened?
28:21Yeah, they've been open for a year now. So, um, they were, when we opened Chelentano's
28:29four years ago, they were being running, they were being run by the landlord. Um,
28:35she just kept them on. She wanted to step back a year ago. Um, so it made sense for us to take
28:42over them. Dean has been talking about it basically since we opened here. So, um, yeah, it's nice,
28:50actually. It's just additional, um, admin, but it's actually nice to offer. I didn't know how
28:57many people would actually encourage to eat and sleep here, but actually it's a lot like the amount
29:04of people that are having dinner here and staying here is increased since before we were running the
29:11room. So it was really nice to offer a customer like a full experience. Um, breakfast is made all
29:17by the chef. So it's, um, like our kind of version of the little continental breakfast. So we deliver
29:23it to the rooms, we've got little trays to make sure all rooms are set up with little tables or the
29:28trays are like, we encourage like breakfast and bed basically. So, um, it's like fresh yogurt,
29:34a seasonal compote. There's fresh fruit in their room. We make granola, um, fresh bread, cheese,
29:40butter. And there's always like a little sweet, like bait thing. So, uh, at the moment it's like
29:48an orange and polenta cake thing. So it's always kind of varies just what Dean feels like that week.
29:54Um, but yeah, it's nice actually. It's been good. Um, I was quite nervous to take it on at first. It was
30:02quite a lot. Um, but actually it feels like even the team, um, like the restaurant team,
30:10I do all the admin behind it. So they were kind of having to deal with hotel guests anyway,
30:17but they didn't necessarily know information because it was somebody else that was running
30:21them. But now it feels like all very inclusive. The team all know what's going on and guests know
30:26what's going on and they know like what we offer. Yeah. It's, it's been nice actually, surprisingly.
30:32I can say that a year later, but it's nice now. I know what I'm doing now.
30:37Um, and Roberta on the podcast, we often ask, um, other chefs when they come on some of their
30:42favorite places to eat and little chart rooms come up quite a few times. So is it quite important,
30:47um, to sort of have that appear, um, you know, I don't want to say respect, like just people coming
30:53in who are other chefs and like enjoying what you're doing. And, and Anna, probably the same question
30:57to you. Cause I'm assuming you guys will have, you know, similar, similar thing.
31:02Yeah. Oh my God. Totally. Um, it's, it's kind of, it cements what, in some ways, what you do,
31:09because there's, you know, if the people who are in your, your peers, who are wanting to eat and enjoy
31:15eating in your establishments and it just suggests that what you're doing, obviously we, we believe in
31:20what we do and we get lovely guest feedback. Um, but to have, yeah, your peers come and say
31:26wonderful things and, and enjoy it. And it's, it's, yeah, I mean, that's, that's it. That's
31:32not everything that you're after, but it really does, um, it's icing on the cake. Yeah.
31:38Yeah. It's always a nice feeling if, yeah, there's somebody that comes in that's from another
31:43restaurant, whether it's like front of house person or a chef, like manager or chefs always.
31:47Yeah. I agree. It's, you don't necessarily look for it, but then when they come in, you're like,
31:52Oh, that's a really nice feeling that they've chosen to come and eat with us and hopefully enjoy.
31:56And I mean, Dean's always had the thought of like, you need to treat hospitality well when they come
32:03in. So we always like, yeah, want to make sure any chefs or anybody, even like people that used to
32:10work for us and are now managers, other restaurants in Glasgow, when they come in, we're always like,
32:14like, Oh yeah. Like want to make sure they have the best time. Cause we just feel,
32:19yeah, really happy that they've chosen to come and eat with us. Cause obviously
32:23they enjoy food and they enjoy eating out. So it's nice to be chosen.
32:29And, um, just to sort of wrap up, do you guys have any future plans for the year?
32:33Anything happening next year that you can, can let us know, um, about Roberta come to you?
32:38You open another restaurant? No, no more restaurants. Um, no, I have had this question quite a lot
32:46recently and everyone's like, Oh, and I'm just like, no, no, sorry. Um, no plans. Um, no, no more
32:53expanding. Three is a lovely number. Um, I mean, you know, never say, never say never, but I think
33:01we would, um, it would be, it would be too much. And, and also there's so much more,
33:08like each business that we have, we have so much more to do with them and we really want to focus
33:12on them and make them into the best versions of themselves that they can be. Uh, so consolidating,
33:17I think is the plan. Um, we actually like, it's a bit separate, but, um, for myself, Sean, um,
33:24um, my, and our sommelier for, um, for Ardfern and for the chart room and our operations manager,
33:33our sommelier Finn and our operations manager, Joe, um, we all have gone into a separate business
33:38together of importing wine. Um, I buy them for John's Adams. Yeah. We supply it for John's
33:46Adams. It's really cool. Um, I think Sean might be coming through today actually. Anyway, um,
33:53I also might be wrong, but, um, so that's been obviously completely separate to the restaurants.
33:59Um, but I mean, when we started up a year ago, um, but we're now, it's been sort of, it takes time,
34:07like any business does. And this is something completely new to all of us. Um, and so now
34:12we're just kind of really trying to build, um, the portfolio that we have with regards to who we
34:20supply, but also, um, just the actual amount of wine that we have. Um, yeah, because we now have a few
34:28different, um, like kind of, um, wines that we're now buying and it's not just, I think, possibly when
34:34we perused downtown, it was maybe just one kind. I can't remember actually how many we had, but,
34:41I don't have much to do with it. I wonder if you can tell.
34:46Um, so the, one of the biggest focuses, I guess, separately to the restaurants is to
34:50really push that like further. Um, and, and yeah, and, and see where, um, where that can take us.
34:58Um, and hopefully I'll get to go on one of the trips too, because they get, they've so far been
35:04on the trips to go and taste the wine in the different countries. Um, so I'm pushing for a
35:09trip champagne.
35:11Oh, nice. That'll be good. Um, and Anna, what about yourself? You guys got any plans for the rest of the year?
35:17Um, the rest of the year we're currently trying to get our thoughts together for Christmas and make
35:23sure it's a good one. Um, yeah, we're focusing on that today, like thinking of menus and we've got
35:31quite a few private events, so we're really pushing them. We do quite a lot of them anyway. It tends to
35:36be, um, like little intimate weddings that we do, but we have quite a lot, um, had quite a lot over
35:42summer and quite a lot at the end of the year. So, uh, focusing on them and then we are working on
35:47a few bits for 2026, but not finalized anything. So I can't, not, I don't mean that it's like a big
35:55exciting reveal, but yeah, we're working up, we're thinking of 2026 and making some plans, some good plans, I'd say.
36:06Nice. Well, um, congratulations again on the awards and thank you so much for joining us. It's been
36:10lovely to chat to you guys on Scran for the first time and nice to see you as well. So thank you for having us.
36:17Yeah, thank you for having us.
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