This article appears as part of the Food Matters newsletter.
There are certain moments from my time in journalism so far that I’m quite sure will remain stuck in my brain forever.
This of course includes incredible highs, but unfortunately, it’s the memories rooted in embarrassment that are destined to linger the longest.
Most of these can be traced directly back to nerve-fuelled video live streams in my early days.
There was the city centre protest where I received a stern telling off from a police officer for focusing on my phone instead of traffic. On camera.
A whisky launch filmed solely with audio coming through a pair of headphones buried in my backpack as I struggled to figure out why comments were hounding me to “SPEAK UP”.
And, perhaps worst of all, a new restaurant opening where one viewer on the wind-up suggested I ask if the pork used for their gyros was halal.
Obviously, it was not, but I’ll give you one guess who fielded the question in front of hundreds of people watching at home?
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One of the few live videos that did go to plan was a World Pasta Day celebration at La Pastina in Glasgow’s West End, largely due to the talent of chef and owner John Traynor who carried the entire 10 minutes with a live dough-making demonstration.
He was admittedly the perfect candidate, with a deli that had become known for producing fresh pasta in all manner of shapes and sizes with an array of homemade sauces to boot.
Years later the La Pastina continues to thrive, but has done away with its bountiful deli counters, and instead focuses solely on serving some of the best sandwiches in Glasgow alongside salads, cakes and coffee.
“La Pastina has been the biggest learning curve of my whole career,” Traynor said having just finished another day of staff training last week, “the truth of it is, if we didn’t evolve, we wouldn’t be there anymore, and we definitely wouldn’t be looking to open a second unit.”
The second unit in question is a new venture that’s due to open next month in the former home of Morning Glory on Great Western Road.
The chef is keeping the cards close to his chest when it comes to the finer details surrounding Serendipity but has said that the brunch spot will enjoy a separate identity from La Pastina, with a menu that’s led by seasonality and therefore everchanging.
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He said: “The changes at La Pastina came about because we were constantly thinking about what was happening on the street, what our demographic was and what our customers wanted.
“It’s the only way to survive these days and we’ll be taking that mentality with us to Serendipity.
“We’re going in with an open mind and a great team.
“We might not get it 100% right straight away, but we’ll always try our best.”
It’s a measured approach that’s served them well so far, but after hearing a little more of what we can expect when Serendipity opens, I’d argue that they’ll do just fine.
Although you’ll have to excuse me for not pitching the idea of an opening day live stream.
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