In 1935, as the Queen Mary took shape on the Clyde, Rogano restaurant was fitted out in the same Art Deco style as the great Cunard liner and a classic of Glasgow hospitality was created. On Friday 20th March 2020, 84 years of uninterrupted trading came to an end when the restaurant closed alongside other hospitality venues in the city for what was anticipated to be a pause, in line with government guidance at the time.
Rogano was active on social media and posting about future plans. Then between December 2020 and January 2021 Something changes. After a period of silence it became clear in court document that damage to the restaurant left it unable to reopen. The ramifications are now the subject of a protracted legal action between a Glasgow business family and Spain’s richest man.
Zara clothing chain founder Amancio Ortega, estimated to be worth £90billion, owns the building that is home to Rogano through his family investment firm, Pontegadea. Lynn and James Mortimer have operated Rogano since 2006 when they bought the restaurant for £6 million through Forthwell Ltd. Scotland’s highest civil court heard last year that “substantial damage” was caused to the restaurant due to flooding on three different occasions between December 9 2020 and January 10 2021.
Now a Supreme Court Hearing in May will decide on whether the Mortimer family should be compensated for loss of income while Rogano restaurant languishes in disrepair. You can read more about this legal tussle here.
After the Supreme Court ruling on this matter, the legal case will return to Scottish courts with a ruling expected on who is responsible for repairing and restoring the restaurant to full working order. What condition the dining room and kitchen is in, how much of the original fixtures and Art Deco details remain in place, are questions that should be answered once the judges have had their say.
Today we are taking a look back at the story of Rogano restaurant and how it became a treasured part of Glasgow hospitality.
1. Rogano
Rogano's first incarnation was as the Bodega Spanish Wine Cellar opened in 1874. Owned by James Henry Roger and his silent partner Mr Anderson (the current name comes from ROGer and ANO to represent "ANOther"), in 1935 the restaurant was bought by Donald Grant. It was under Grant that Rogano became a Glasgow modern classic. | Rogano
2. Rogano
Grant instructed that his new restaurant should be fitted in a style similar to the Cunard liner the Queen Mary, which had just been built on the Clyde by John Brown & Co of Clydebank. Stained glass and chrome, a fantasy seascape in plasterwork, mermaids and seashells, Rogano was made resplendent in walnut and burr. | Rogano
3. Rogano
The restaurant remained largely untouched from Grant's day until the early 1980s, when it was bought by Ken McCulloch, founder of Dakota Hotels and one of Scotland's most celebrated hoteliers with Malmaison and One Devonshire Gardens to his credit, alongside Allied Breweries. | Rogano
4. Rogano
Blue asbestos was found on the site, so the place was largely taken apart, creating a space for dining downstairs and halving the size of the bar on the ground floor so that there was room for more restaurant seating. The work was major, but so painstaking was the remodelling that when the restaurant reopened in 1984, customers new and old felt that nothing had really changed. | Rogano