We speak to co-founder of the Gannet on its changing services.
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00:00You've worked hard to establish The Gannett, you've gone through that fashionable stage and now establishment in Glasgow.
00:10What is it it takes to keep people coming back to a restaurant like yours?
00:16The funny thing about The Gannett, you know, it's changed. It's the same name, you know, it's had the same name now for going on 11 years.
00:24But the offering keeps evolving, you know, where we tune in, we tune in to the small producers.
00:33You know, and there's always somebody new, there's always something exciting happening.
00:36You know, you've got the Den Head asparagus at the moment, the foraging community has grown exponentially since we began.
00:44You know, Gary Goldie was the only forager that I knew and he used to bring me out and, you know, show me this and that.
00:50And over the years, you know, with education and other people like Max coming on the scene and Monica Wilde teaching people,
00:57you know, that whole scene has blown up massive and you'll see bits of foraging throughout most of the restaurant menus in this city.
01:05And I think that's really exciting because you don't get that in every city.
01:08You know, that's been a nucleus that we saw grow from nothing into huge.
01:14You know, you see it all over the world, but I think in Glasgow, you've got something really special because you've got these great people at your fingertips.
01:20They're on your doorstep.
01:23Yeah, for the Gannett, you know, like I say, we keep moving, we keep changing.
01:28And a lot of that's to do with my taste.
01:30My taste doesn't stay the same.
01:32You know, way before Covid, we decided to go tasting menu only.
01:38I don't think there was a tasting menu only restaurant in the city.
01:43But that's what I wanted to do at the time.
01:45You know, I had these producers that were doing wonderful things at certain times of the year.
01:50I wanted to tell that story of, you know, what's Scotland like in August, what's Scotland like in November.
01:57But I think we've told that story.
01:59You know, so at the moment, what I like to do, you know, I like to cook what I like to eat.
02:05You know, and I want to eat the best of this and I want to eat the best of that, you know, and I want to eat within the seasons.
02:11But I don't want to have to dictate anymore.
02:15You know, because with a tasting menu, you're not just thinking of that one course in the middle of a seven course menu.
02:20You're thinking of the course before it, you're thinking of the course after it.
02:23You're thinking about how it all plays together as one evening or one lunch.
02:28You know, it all has to work symbiotically.
02:30And I want to be able to put specials back on the menu.
02:33I miss that. I miss when my seafood supplier goes, Pete, I've got this.
02:37You know, there's not 50 portions of it.
02:40There's four portions of it.
02:42You know, I want to be able to say, yes, I'll have that again.
02:45So the Gannett's going to change. It's going to be more flexibility.
02:48And, you know, I don't want to be a, you know, a birthday celebration, you know.
02:55You want to be a neighbourhood restaurant, right?
02:58Yeah, the special events in your life, you come to the Gannett.
03:00I think you should come to the Gannett anyway.
03:02You know, I want to be accessible.
03:04So you want a plate of food, you know, you don't have to pay through the nose for it.
03:09You know, you come to the Gannett, we'll look after you.
03:11We've got a beautiful restaurant. I want everybody to see it.
03:13I want everybody to walk through it.
03:15You know, I don't want people to sit down and enjoy themselves.
03:18Have a beer, have a glass of wine, you know, whatever you like.
03:21Let Kevin look after you, the wonderful team that we have there look after you.
03:25And let us look after you in the kitchen.