ScottishNews.com

From opening Mr Singh’s in 1994 to working with some of the city’s most respected chefs, welcoming generations of customers and recently being appointed Honorary Colonel of 52 Squadron, his career has stretched far beyond the restaurant.

Now, with Mr Singh’s also moving into the retail market, Satty reflects on the restaurant’s beginnings, the people who shaped his career, some memorable celebrity customers and what keeps generations of Glasgow diners coming back.

Mr Singh’s opened in 1994. What was the idea behind the restaurant?

We started in 1994, off the the back of the Colonial India on High Street in 1990. When we opened the restaurant, our plan was to serve quality Indian food with a style of service where we felt there was a window of opportunity in Glasgow.

We wanted to make the experience a bit more of a fusion of our Scottish and subcontinental heritage. We brought haggis onto the menu and staff wore kilts, but the service was a big thing for us as well.

I remember Bashir, who was our head chef at the time. I had worked with Bashir at Cafe India in 1989 and told him that if I ever opened a restaurant, I wanted him to be the chef. Before we opened, I phoned him and he came and helped us establish it.

He was one of the great chefs ever. Before that, I’d worked with a chef called Tahir Malik, who was an unbelievable chef. He could stand there cooking and create something new.

What was your philosophy when it came to looking after customers?

Our philosophy was quite simple, anybody who walked through that door at Mr Singh’s, we looked upon as if they had walked through the door of your house.

These tables were going to be the dining room tables of your house, so anybody who came in had to be treated like a guest or family member coming to the house.

That philosophy was given to me by one of my mentors, Mr Jimmy Duncan. He taught me that in 1990 when we opened the Colonial on High Street.

We used to say to staff during training, ‘Every customer or guest who comes in, treat them like your best friend’.

For me personally, I always looked at guests as if I was serving my heroes. At that time, Super Ally and Sir Kenny Dalglish were my heroes.

I’d go to a table and take orders thinking, ‘I’m serving Super Ally or Kenny Dalglish’. It changed the mindset. You’d run into the kitchen and bring them something extra, or give them extra poppadoms or spiced onions.

That’s very Punjabi hospitality. If you go to India and Pakistan, especially the Punjab region, it’s renowned for its hospitality.

What does it mean to see generations of customers coming back?

We had a fantastic team in 1994, they were like family and they still have been - we treat all the staff like family.

Now we’re seeing third and fourth generations coming through the restaurant.

Just last night, there was a young Kenny Craig at a table and I was talking about his mum and dad coming to the Colonial on High Street. Kenny was in with his kids, at this age, it’s getting a bit sentimental for us because you’re seeing third and fourth generations - it means a lot to us.

You’ve had some famous faces through the doors. Who stands out?

Every customer is famous for us. We treat everybody the same.

But when your heroes come in, people you see on television or especially football, it takes it to a different level. There’s an emotional attachment to the experience.

You’ve recently been appointed Honorary Colonel of 52 Squadron. What did that mean to you?

That was an honour.

About eight or nine years ago, we started working with the Armed Forces. I received a phone call from my friend Andy Smiley, who asked me to speak to Lowland Reserves about the Armed Forces.

We then started working with the Armed Forces Covenant. When you sign the covenant, it means you won’t discriminate against anybody from the Armed Forces or their family.

Over the last eight or nine years, we’ve worked with the Armed Forces through reserves, business networking and supporting people leaving the Armed Forces.

Then last year, I was approached about becoming Honorary Colonel of 52 Squadron, which is a reservist squadron.

The more we looked into it, the more you started to see the Commonwealth community’s contribution to the British Army.

From a Sikh perspective, around 80,000 Sikhs died in the two World Wars, that was very touching to me.

What does the role mean to you personally?

In Punjabi culture, when a family member goes to represent or defend their country, it’s a big honour.

I’ve never obviously been in the Army, but this is another way of remembering and commemorating the contribution and sacrifices that the Commonwealth community made during the wars.

It means you’re part of something where so many people made the ultimate sacrifice so you and I could have the freedoms we’ve got — freedoms we sometimes take for granted.

Finally, what do you think keeps people coming back to Mr Singh’s?

I think it’s what we teach the staff, treat everybody like your own family.

Treat all the customers like your family. It’s humility and compassion to serve customers, not just professionally, but having that guest care as the number one priority.

Making sure every table, regardless of what their needs and requirements are, is happy.

You open the door, you shut the door, and you just make sure people go away happy.

That’s probably the reason — and that’s a credit to all the staff, the team and the family.

But more importantly, it’s a credit to our patrons for giving us the opportunity, because without them, we wouldn’t be here.