Rogano is a Glasgow institution no wonder people don't want it to close

It’s remained steadfastly on the same site for 85 years as it rose to become Scotland’s most celebrated eatery and a place Glaswegians jostled to be seen or waited to be discovered.

Glasgow has always yearned to be Hollywood and within Rogano’s faded opulence its citizens – high and low - could play the part for a few hours at least.

Now the city’s night-time wraiths are wondering if they’ll ever again have the chance to escape here.

Since the start of lockdown its iconic front has been encased in a chipboard sarcophagus as rumours spread that it might never re-open. Their fears seemed to have been confirmed as lockdown restrictions eased but Rogano remained closed. As rumours of its impending demise swept the city last weekend Twitter turned into a condolence book as former customers expressed their sorrow and re-kindled pale memories. If Rogano goes, it seems, a piece of Glasgow’s soul goes with it.

The outpouring of affection for Rogano from Glaswegians near and far seemed extraordinary. This, for a fine dining establishment whose prices place it in the high end bracket? It’s clear though, that Rogano’s long presence in the heart of the city and in countless family folk memories have led to a sense of common ownership.

Rod Stewart is one of many global superstars who pay homage to this place when they visit Glasgow. “Whenever I’m in Glasgow for a concert or a football game,” he said “I always make a point of visiting Rogano. It feels like coming home.”

As lockdown restrictions eased and it failed to re-open news emerged that all was not well behind its rococo doors. Lynnet Leisure, owners of the restaurant were compelled to issue a statement. Managing Director Lynn Mortimer, said: “Like a number of restaurant groups we are currently going through a period of restructuring as a result of the devastating impact Covid 19 has had on business. Following completion of that programme it out our intent that Rogano, following a refurbishment, will open again at some point in 2021. We can confirm the restaurant is not for sale."

This though, will do little to quell speculation about Rogano’s future. Last month Unite, the Trade Union condemned Lynnet’s treatment of its employees as it was revealed that they had been denied trade union representation at a series of staff meetings.

Bryan Simpson of Unite Hospitality said: "The way in which Lynnet Leisure have treated their staff during this already difficult time is nothing short of disgraceful. From the outset of this sham of a consultation process, the company have made it clear that they have no intention of mitigating the mass redundancy of 240 loyal workers. They refused to even consider entirely reasonable and fully costed alternative proposals put forward by our members to avoid or at least reduce job losses.”

Yet, while the building and the name remain some of its former habitues and employees remain optimistic that it will rise once more to enchant Glasgow. Gordon Yuill, who was Manager in a golden period between 1983 and 2001 said: “I’m confident that business will return. I’ve had approaches recently from parties who’ve expressed an interest in its future. It would be sad if a serious business that 20 years ago turned over £2m annually should have to close.

People forget what Rogano is going through right now is just part of a cycle of peaks and troughs in its fortunes. Glasgow forgets how Rogano came through many hard times. When I arrived in the early 80s it had already shut the doors and for a year remained so while urgent works and the Ken McCulloch re design happened. And during one of three recessions, in 1991 I well remember the day when not a single customer came through the doors.

The attraction of Rogano for Glaswegians was that historically it was where their parents and grandparents had come not only to celebrate but to frequent. Graduation season was with students who wanted to celebrate their success where previous generations had.

There was an amazingly broad spectrum of regular clients from the big players of business, media, theatre, entertainment and lifestyle to real Glaswegians who just loved the décor and the atmosphere with the sounds of Ella and Billie in the background. Let’s not forget in the era of power tables the table 16 legend and also that Rogano was the must-do Glasgow restaurant for visitors.”

Later, these young men and women would return for the other big moments in their lives. This is where they got engaged and celebrated births and anniversaries. Later still, their friends might gather here to confer an eloquent farewell with whisky and champagne. Rogano forms an entourage for the seasons of their lives. The name ‘Rogano’ suggests its origins lie somewhere exotic but it was constructed from the first syllable of its co-founder, a Glasgow wine merchant named James Roger, and the first three letters of the word ‘anonymous’. This was how Roger’s business partner, one Mr Anderson preferred to be known. Later, another city entrepreneur, Don Grant would provide the glamour and opulence that raised it form its origins as a plain, working-man’s tavern. The oyster-bar’s famous art-deco interior. is an exact scale replica of the state-room of the Cunard liner, the Queen Mary, built in the Clyde shipyards a few miles west. Alison Watt, one of Scotland’s finest artists is aghast at the prospect of Rogano shutting its doors for good. “Rogano represents another time, another place for me,” she said. “I was a regular visitor 20 years ago when I still lived in Glasgow. To walk into its glorious Art Deco interior was to step back in time to something more glamorous. It had romance. As you pushed through the famous swing doors, you could almost sense the need for some feeling of glamour in the people who frequented it.

“Whispered conversations in the leather booths, a chilled Martini served by someone who knew how to make it, a figure in a sharp suit at the bar, who might just be William Mclvanney … the scene was set for any number of narratives. I think that desire to escape is something of a phenomenon in Glasgow. Whether it be through the art, music or literature made in this great city, or the elegant interior of a softly-lit bar.”

The restaurant also possesses what became known as the most exclusive table in Scotland. Table 16, situated at a banquette hidden from the view of anyone peering in from the main bar, also faces directly onto the only exit in Rogano: through the kitchen directly opposite. Thus it became sought-after by stars (and those who pretended to be) whenever any lurking photographers got too close. It also became a magnet for those others requiring discretion whose partner for the evening was not perhaps the one they’d been with the previous weekend.

A few years ago its oak-panelled booths featured in the opening scene of Patrick Melrose, the acclaimed Sky Atlantic drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role. Glasgow, as it’s done often on film and television, stood in for New York and Rogano seemed the perfect location to set the required atmosphere of dissolute elegance.

Professor Sir Tom Devine is another who’s enjoyed Rogano’s idiosyncratic largesse. He said: “Like so many others I was distressed at news of the apparent demise of Rogano. I stress “apparent” because such a much-loved institution, 85 years young this year, simply cannot be allowed to disappear from Glasgow.

“Everything about it is pleasing: the evocative 1930s decor; civilised yet warmly sociable milieu devoid of muzak; pleasant and courteous staff; memorable food - not simply in the main restaurant but in the cafe and lounge too - and all in the very heart of the city. And all of it accessible to any of the citizenry who decide to come through its portals. “Memories flood back for me not only of great craic with friends and colleagues but of intense discussions which sometimes yielded an idea or two for a new book or historical article. Viva Rogano!”

In an extravagant, coffee-table sized book published to mark the restaurant’s 75th birthday five years ago Rogano at last revealed some of the culinary secrets of its larder. It’s gained an appreciative global clientele, attracted by its exquisite fish menu. In this, perhaps, lies its future salvation.

Glasgow has undergone a stunning gastronomic revolution in recent years. Every other person, it seems, has become fluent in the flighty argot of classy dining. Restaurants offering the ethereal ephemera of a vegan menu have begun to flourish and high-quality street food from pop-up pantries at handsome prices travel rapidly across social media to younger and ever-more discerning palates who don’t feel the need to dress up to go out.

But the signature Rogano fare that includes its legendary fish soup, pan-seared scallops, sliced smoked Marberry salmon, langoustine en croute and half-lobster salad is constructed to transcend passing whims and fancies.

It seems unthinkable that Rogano, which is much more than just a restaurant, will not return to beguile louche Glasgow once more.