A new company CG2026 Ltd was registered on 16 April. The sole director is Seamus MacInnes, also a director of Cafe Gandolfi Limited.
A comment tonight on the Cafe Gandolfi Facebook page read: “Thanks everyone for your lovely messages of concern and support for Café Gandolfi. Please be reassured that the reporting of our closure is incorrect and we are working our way through this. We are open as normal and look forward to seeing you soon.”
A spokesperson for HMRC said it does not comment on individual businesses because of taxpayer confidentiality, but did say: “We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts and only file winding-up petitions once we’ve exhausted all other options, in order to protect taxpayers’ money.”
Café Gandolfi occupies a special place in Glasgow’s restaurant history.
It was opened in 1979 by photographer Iain MacKenzie in the former offices of Glasgow’s old cheese market. At that time, the Merchant City was very different from the busy restaurant and nightlife district it would later become.
Many of its historic buildings were neglected and there were few reasons for diners to venture east of the traditional city centre. MacKenzie nevertheless saw the potential of the Albion Street premises and created a cafe influenced by European food, art and design.
The restaurant’s name was inspired by Gandolfi cameras, reflecting its founder’s background in photography. It introduced Glasgow’s first cappuccino machine and helped establish a new style of informal café culture in the city. It was not unusual to see Billy Connolly, Annie Lennox or members of The Blue Nile queuing to get a table in the 1980s.
Its distinctive dining room became almost as recognisable as its food. It features heavy, hand-crafted furniture by the late Scottish sculptor and furniture maker Tim Stead, alongside photography, artwork and stained glass.
The original furniture dates from the restaurant’s opening and was among Stead’s earliest major commissions. The room also contains the stained-glass installation A Flock of Fishes by artist John Clark.
Seumas MacInnes joined Café Gandolfi in 1983, initially working as a kitchen porter. He progressed through the business, becoming manager and then a partner before eventually taking over from MacKenzie.
MacInnes brought influences from his family background in Barra to the menu. Café Gandolfi became known for treating traditional Scottish ingredients with confidence, serving dishes featuring haggis, seafood, Arbroath smokies, Cullen skink and Stornoway black pudding.
Bar Gandolfi opened in the loft above the restaurant in 2002. The former cheese store was converted by architect John MacLeod while retaining historic tiles and introducing more of Stead’s furniture.
The business later became increasingly family-run, with MacInnes joined by his twin sons and his daughter.