By Paul Trainer

Copyright glasgowworld

My favourite Glasgow restaurant of the last decade is to close on Hogmanay. Chef Peter McKenna got it touch yesterday. He had made the decision to bring The Gannet to its conclusion. This is a place that has represented the idea of modern Glasgow hospitality, with a reputation that stretches far beyond the confines of the city. It’s This morning he shared the news with his customers: “It’s with mixed emotions that I write this, but it’s time to close one chapter before opening the next. We will be welcoming guests for our last service at The Gannet on New Year’s Eve, 31/12/25. The Gannet has been open for 12 successful years, and we are immensely proud of what has been achieved. Many milestones have been celebrated, and many memories made. “Together, we have built a remarkable restaurant—a true cornerstone of hospitality in Glasgow.I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to our network of producers and suppliers, without whom we wouldn’t have been able to go on this journey. “Their passion and guidance have been a constant source of inspiration. The incredible teams we’ve had the pleasure of working with who embraced our philosophy wholeheartedly and made it their own. There are far too many talented chefs and front-of-house professionals to mention. “Both Kevin and I have constantly been humbled by their enthusiasm and dedication. A huge thank you to our loyal guests, we have loved sharing our take on Scottish hospitality with you, we’ve been incredibly lucky to call many of you friends, your support has been greatly appreciated. “We can’t wait to share our exciting plans for Eleven Fifty-Five Argyle Street in the coming months but until then we are looking forward to welcoming many familiar faces between now and the end of the year, we have some incredible events lined up.” The Gannet was opened by Peter McKenna and Ivan Stein in 2013, at the time it was one of Glasgow’s first restaurants to exclusively offer a tasting menu experience. A dining destination was crafted in a vacant tenement building that had been derelict for almost a decade, before Finnieston became a byword for Glasgow’s food and drink scene. Manager Kevin Dow joined in 2014 and brought personality and precision to the dining room: “Everything is about perfecting the customer experience, making their time with us that bit more personalised”, Kevin says, “but it’s seeing customers leave with our hospitality in their eyes that makes the difference.” In May last year, Ivan Stein left the business to pursue projects in Edinburgh, The Gannet has been run by Peter and Kevin since then, with a new a la carte menu alongside set menus: “We will continue to have good value set menu for lunches and early evenings. But what I want is a comprehensive, a la carte menu individually priced so somebody can come in and they can have a bowl wild garlic soup with Maryhill cultivated mushrooms or a rack of hogget or a whole lobster” he told me in May last year as we sat having a plate of smoked duck, rhubarb, pan d’epice and savoury crumble at my favourite table by the window. A few years ago I foraged for ingredients in Mugdock Park with the staff from The Gannet. Peter was shucking oysters that would be decorated with flowers and some berries we had collected, paired with a glass of forest negroni, served in the wild. “When we started The Gannet we didn’t see anywhere that was really making that connection with farms and producers” he told me. “We want the whole team to have the same ethos so we will take them foraging or go to MacDuff butchers, bring them to the farms where we get our pork and lamb or the garderns where we get our vegetables and help out with the harvest. I think it’s important to know where the ingredients come from and to take some pride in how lucky we are to have that.” “Once you get into the herbs and fauna, understand their different characteristics, your palette starts to explode. It has really changed the way I cook. We had a bit of an open door policy at The Gannet and we’d have guys coming in with bags of sea plants, seeds and blossoms. All these natural flavours from across the country. We embrace it because it is part of what is around us.” Five years ago I published a book on Glasgow’s 100 Best Restaurants. I wrote about The Gannet, saying: “A highly-regarded leader of the Glasgow restaurant new wave, The Gannet has attracted international attention for fine dining in a modern, casual setting. “The food concept was born in the summer of 2012 on a trip to the Hebrides to source produce for their kitchen in the West End. By the end of the trip, they had met scallop divers, oyster growers, fishermen, smokers, farmers, game producers and some interesting characters. “We’ve put the time in” Peter says. “We’ve spent countless days travelling around Scotland in the the car, going to farms, visiting gamekeepers we had heard about”. Now, there isn’t a main ingredient in the restaurant that doesn’t come direct from the source. “Every two weeks we get a side of beef, for instance. I know the farm that it comes from, what its been grazing on. We have total control over the product”: “The relationships the chefs have with local producers, combined with flair in the kitchen, is the basis of their success. Some of my favourite Glasgow meals have been enjoyed at The Gannet.” That last line reflects what will be the restaurant’s legacy. What comes next for the team and for the dining room on Argyle Street will be exciting to see and important for the local food and drink scene. It’s challenging times for hospitality in the city. I sat at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in February at the Michelin ceremony as Glasgow’s civic leaders took credit for the success of Finnieston as a dining destination. It’s worth asking what they will be doing to support local businesses in the months and years ahead.