La Lanterna West

A Lantern in Their Hands! 

One of my favourite books is A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich and it tells the story of Abbie an authentic pioneer who lived her life on the Nebraska Prairie.  Moving there as a new bride she survived droughts and plagues but was always determined, one day, to have great wealth in order to provide for her children.  Not only did she do this but she also carried the flag for women of her time who sacrificed their youth to help build a better country so that their children could go on and realise their dreams. 

   

In 1970 Valerio Martinolli and Antonio Fassone opened a restaurant in Glasgow and although not on the same scale as Abbie’s adventure, it was a gamble which paid off and has had unrivalled success ever since.  Today La Lanterna is one of the most successful places to dine in the City of Glasgow and they have a list of honours to prove this.  Bookable’s ‘best in Scotland’ 2017, entry into Peter Irvine’s 12^th edition of Scotland’s Best 2016 and they gained Trip Advisor’s Certificate of Excellence in 2015 to name but a few.

Today La Lanterna can be seen as the trailblazer for Italian cuisine in Glasgow and is still run by the same family.  It was taken over in 1998 by Valerio’s son Charismatic Christopher who then went into partnership with the very, Lovable Luca Conero.  Together they have maintained their reputation as one of the Finest Italian restaurants in Scotland. 

Now, wait for it, they have expanded into the West End of Glasgow.  Feelings of trepidation crept in as I made my way over to Byres Road as I had no idea how they could improve on what had been done in town, so successfully, for so long..47 years to be exact.  How could they aim to replicate the traditional feel and originality of one of my very favourite places in Glasgow?

When I arrived there was such a chic, fresh, modern vibe to the place that any comparison was out of the question.  This was a renaissance for a new audience that blew me away and is sure to be a massive success.  The clean lines, young, crisp very stylish décor was refreshing and the place sparkled with enthusiasm from both staff and customers alike.

It was great to see Luca, Christopher and the gorgeous Wee Megan there but it will be challenging because a large part of the charm of La Lanterna are its shining lights.  The staff are always very cheery, helpful and you can tell they enjoy being part of a family business which will go on and expand di nuovo; maybe even East and North.  Now I’ll need to go between both venues because there is no way I could pick one over the other and look forward to seeing all the staff at one time or another. 

And of course they have my favourite coffee!

So, welcome to the West guys and after weeks of carrying out building works and the stress involved in the refurbishment their attention to detail and willingness to move with the times will reap the rewards of another loyal following from a different clientele.  Be very careful to book because I wanted to go back with The Mary the following week and didn’t manage to get a table…on a Monday night. 

Now get your compass out and let the magnetic pull of La Lanterna draw you in because, like a magnet, it has two poles which are both fabulous but the energy is slightly different.  Poles apart in style but equally brilliant in quality.

So, like my Fabulous City of Glasgow, La Lanterna È favoloso ogni singolo giorno e ogni sera della settimana! 
  

Ci Vediamo Presto!

Me and The Mary

Mx

   

The Wee Person

The Wee Person!

So, The Mary gets in the car and looks really edgy the night.  I ask if she’s all right and she says:

“As right as I can be under the circumstances, just shut up and drive!”

Then she starts to puff like a dragon on her dummy fag and asks me ‘how come we’re no doing the normal, Monday thing’? This baffles me because, Me, The Mary and Monday are so far from normal we should start to write about it.  It might even entertain some of our long-suffering family and friends.

She then shares the fact there’s a ‘wee chib’ in her inside pocket, ‘just in case!’ WTF!  Now, me and The Mary have no carried deterrents since 1974 when I lived in the Gorbals and was being courted by a drug dealer.  He was also being courted but that was another story.  I stopped the car and asked what the f*** she was talking about.  Then she reminded me about the scene in The Godfather where Michael Corleone shot the policeman. 

Her plan was to go in first, nip to the toilet; hopefully it was one of the old-fashioned ones, with a lid, like the scene in Trainspotting where they hid the drugs. She would carefully place the bludgeon in the first cubicle.  Then if we needed it, we both knew where it was.  She then stunned me by stating, in all seriousness, it should be me who does ‘the hit’ because no one would expect it from me.  Adding:

“Your tongue's normally your weapon of mass destruction so they won’t expect it.   You usually just bore people to death”.

This had me raging and curious at the same time.  So, I asked her why she chose the 1^st cubicle. Seemingly she’d read an article in The Independent about the cleanliness of public toilets and it advised using the first one because it was normally the cleanest.  She then starts to quote some clever toiletologist: 

“Experts theorise that people tend to skip the first stall in favour of stalls further back to have a little more privacy,”

Dr. Mehmet

I was really shocked about this because I thought The Mary only read The Sun or The Daily Record.  I’m impressed with her choice of ‘rag’ and realise she’s’ not as illiterate as I thought.  I’ll need to be more careful what I say about her now as she might actually end up reading this blog or maybe Paul's book!  

When we eventually arrive at Albion Street The Mary is sweating and jumps out the car.  She's worrying me now, is very jumpy and immediately pulls out her nebuliser and starts puffing like F*** before asking why we would come to a place where we’re well known and familiar.  I explained it’s actually me who’s notorious and she had never been to Guy’s before.  That’s the reason for the secrecy and I’d warned every ‘wee person’ in her house not to say anything. 

It was a surprise!  

Apparently, she thought I’d said we were going to finally meet 'The Wee Man' which was the name of a notorious gangster, Paul Ferris.  We did meet him a few times in the 80s and I always found him to be charming and chatty but The Mary said after watching the film he had a total other side to him.  She's got a cheek to talk actually, having brought her weapon of mass confusion out with her the night.

I suggested an amnesty and she put her jemmy into the glove compartment having given it a good clean with one of my Dettol wipes.  Oh my Lord, I'll end up in the jail...again!  I can sort of explain away the knives in the boot because of the blogging/cooking thing and might just get away with the crossbow but how the f*** do I justify a tool, for which, the main purpose is to force open a door? 

The Mary's preferred Jemmy! 

We had such fun; laughing about the old days and the food reminded us of past family dinners, Christmas, Easter and Birthdays all of which ended up with someone getting arrested in my house.  Steak pie, mince and tatties, haggis, fish and chips finished off with treacle tart and bread and butter pudding were all we needed to remind us of a past life, that was both enriching and chancy in equal measures!

That’s what you get a Guy’s, real, honest food served by wonderful staff who are never too familiar but always available and friendly.  Except the very handsome Blair, to whom I am more acquainted and is my new dancing partner once a month.  On these occasion I go to meet the wonderfully cheery Stuart Churchill, have a wee dance to the music of the very talented Barbara Bryceland in The Wicked Lounge an finally go to bed being thankful for all my wonderful city has to offer, every night of the week.

Maybe one weekend The Mary will get a babysitter and come along to boogie with us.  Hopefully she’ll leave her jammies and her jemmy bar in the house though.  Think I might get her a new one for Christmas though because her other one was left in the toilet in Guy’s; just in case I ever need it.  She’s a great lassie The Mary, always looking after me.  Lastly, I love toilets and might think about becoming one of those Toiletologists; I’d be right good at it!

See you the next time.

Me and The Mary!

Mx