AS the city emerges from lockdown, people will want to tell their stories. “The great thing about hospitality is we are the forum for that. People get together and share what is happening in their lives and how they feel,” James Rusk (inset) tells me. He’s at home with his family and we’re talking about what comes next.

Together with wife Louise, James was preparing for summer at their restaurants – Hutchesons, The Spanish Butcher and The Butchershop Grill – until the orders came to close up, turn off the lights and send 110 staff home.

James says: “You know, I always said to myself, if we work hard at some point we will be able to take four months off. I just didn’t know that I wouldn’t have any choice in the matter.”

Rusk & Rusk has now started preparing for a phased reopening. 

Glasgow Times:

“We will open The Butchershop Grill and The Spanish Butcher first,” James says.

“The city centre is going to be complicated. The Butchershop is in a much more populated part of Glasgow, it’s a neighbourhood place in the West End.”

James says Hutchesons will remain closed for now: “I’ve got two restaurants in the city centre and I can’t open both. Hutchesons relies on business travellers and a lot of different factors that we can’t see returning yet. The Spanish Butcher has the same challenges but it is a smaller property. We are going to reopen gradually and get an idea of what the future holds.”

Across town there’s a pragmatic approach to reopening with restaurant owners reiterating a “wait and see” mantra. 

There’s layers upon layers of questions and considerations. Unknown factors like footfall, how people will respond to new social distancing measures and the practicalities of serving customers in a pandemic will become clearer after the doors are open.

First they need to get going again, which is a task in itself, James explains: “There’s nothing in these places! We need to get the wheels turning with suppliers and make the changes before we even open for summer. The food and the vibe will be the same when we reopen but we’re just going to try to take things slowly and find out what customers want.”

Glasgow Times:

As we wait to discover what a night out in Glasgow looks like, James says his restaurants will be making tables available for longer so people can stay for some drinks after they’ve finished their meal. Bookings are now open at The Spanish Butcher and The Butchershop Grill.

As someone who is immersed in local hospitality, I ask James what he is looking forward to as local food and drink returns: “Both Louise and I miss the awesome steaks, lovely chips, onion rings, macaroni, scallops, prawns, padron peppers, warm bread with melted butter, a crisp glass of white wine. 

“I miss the energy of the places, what happens when the food is right, the service is right and Glasgow feels right. 

“Restaurants can make you feel great. I can’t wait to watch it happen again”.