Menuwatch: Gloriosa, Glasgow

Rosie Healey’s “holiday food” brings a welcome ray of sunshine to Glasgow. Rosie Conroy pays a visit

Rosie Healey’s road to restaurateur wasn’t paved with culinary school stepping stones. Instead, when she graduated – with no experience of a professional kitchen – she wrote to Yotam Ottolenghi asking to work for him. A few weeks later she was doing a trial at his Islington restaurant – a shift that resulted in a three-year tenure.

“Ottolenghi doesn’t do traditional cookery, instead I learned to hone my own judgement,” Healey says. Eventually, the opportunity arose for her to head home and start her own business in Glasgow, which would eventually be Gloriosa, a cosy neighbourhood spot where she serves “food you’d want to eat on holiday.”

It’s an approach that’s undeniably working, with a seven-day schedule and a team of 15 chefs helping her serve 900 covers a week. Things blew up further last year in a review by Jay Rayner for The Observer in which the critic described Healey’s rosemary-studded focaccia as the best he’s ever had and professed himself her “devoted groupie”.

But it’s not just critics who are honoured at Gloriosa – Healey wants every guest to feel looked after, and her food, she says, is an expression of that. “It’s so important to me to care for the food, because you’re then caring for the person who’s getting it,” she says. Healey cites olive oil and lemon as her favourite ingredients, adding: “Dishes have to have salt, acid and olive oil.” Proof of this is seen in dishes such as radicchio with lentils, vinaigrette and mixed herbs.

“It’s really important that there are loads of vegetarian dishes too, because I love cooking with vegetables. I’ll always have those dishes, plus pasta and a couple of meat or fish dishes, and I stick to that pattern. People get upset if there’s no pasta, but I hate it, it’s so boring.” She may not be fond, but as one of the biggest sellers, Healey admits she couldn’t remove it. This month’s pasta creation combines peeled cherry tomatoes (“because you’d never do that at home”), mussels, squid, white wine and dill, finished generously with olive oil and lemon for grassiness and bright acidity.

In another dish, a rigatoni is mixed with borlotti beans to create a velvety, starchy texture. The beans are cooked with the same peeled cherry tomatoes, spinach, olive oil and Parmesan, then finished with a fresh parsley sauce.

When it comes to the development of her recipes, Healey works with her sous chef Jordan, but says “it’s organic, sometimes decided on the day”, which is a nice idea in theory, but does it allow for consistency?

“Because we were so busy at the end of last year, the menu didn’t change for two months, which is really unusual, but everyone was doing it so well that it was amazing,” says Healey.

“I realised I’d missed a trick by constantly changing it because people need time to perfect a dish and by then I’ve taken it off the menu. I want to try and have more regular dishes for longer because it will improve the food.”

It feels like consistency might be a near-impossible task for Healey, whose close relationship with local growers often dictates the produce the team have on any given day. “There’s a man called Andrew,” she explains, “who sends me a catalogue at the start of the year and allows me to pick what he’ll grow for us. It’s heaven, but I never know what I’m going to get.” Healey says her favourite time of year is summer, when Andrew’s produce is in full flow and she plans to bring back old favourites such as a salad of peas, lettuce and mint layered with lemon zest and olive oil.

While the sun still escapes us, the Gloriosa team are using up the last of the winter ingredients: “We have a delicious raw cauliflower salad on the menu made from tiny florts, roasted leeks, tarragon, lamb’s lettuce and walnuts, all dressed in an anchovy and red wine vinegar dressing,” she says. There’s also roasted hake with horta, Greek wilted greens soaked in olive oil, dill and onions. “Traditionally you eat them at room temperature, but we serve them warm,” she adds.

When asked about her next steps, the chef says she’d love to create something new, but not to the detriment of what she has. Eventually, maybe, there will be a Gloriosa in Edinburgh, but for now she’s happy with her position as one of her home town’s most celebrated chefs.

From the menu

• Taramasalata and radishes £7
• Pork, apricot and pistachio terrine with pickled onions £10
• Carottes râpées and an egg mayonnaise £8
• Braised violet artichokes with Pecorino £12
• Radicchio, lentils, vinaigrette and mixed herbs £9.50
• Spaghetti, pork, pancetta and red wine ragu with Parmesan £16
• Coley, chickpeas, marinated peppers and aioli £24
• Choux bun, vanilla ice-cream, cream and chocolate sauce £9
• Rhubarb and almond clafoutis with almond ice-cream £14

1321 Argyle Street, Glasgow G3 8TL

www.gloriosaglasgow.com