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