Andy Morrison has a certain energy about him, an exuberance that gets you completely on board before you can blink.
You could say he’s got experience with winning over a crowd, having spent 12 years doing stand up comedy.
From heckling to fierce competition, it’s safe to say that it takes a lot to phase Andy, on the surface at least.
So when he became general manager of a bar which had seen better days, and had a rep for being old fashioned, he rolled up his sleeves and got stuck in.
Glentanar Bar and Kitchen, which can be found on Holburn Street has undergone a mammoth revamp.
Now describing itself as “ludicrously dog friendly” and with live music every Friday, it has certainly been quite the turnaround.
The impressive changes go beyond cosmetic, to the team taking on the hospitality industry in the north-east.
Staying positive about Aberdeen
Instead of joining the doom and gloom chorus in talk of what has become of the Granite City, Andy decided to try and do his bit to improve things.
And in his eyes, that comes in the shape of opportunity and community.
Glentanar offers a kitchen residency, meaning fellow indy businesses can rent the kitchen for “dirt cheap” and in return, gain a platform for their offering.
The Pig’s Wings and Hungry Dogs have both enjoyed immense success following residency stints, and now Andy is taking things to the next level.
We caught up with quite possibly the most enthusiastic general bar manager in the north-east and found out why the formerly run down bar is changing people’s lives for the better.
What’s your background in hospitality?
My grandad used to own Fife Lodge in Banff, so I grew up with it.
Then I went and did stand up for about 12 years, which included writing material for other comedians.
I fell back into hospitality, when I came for an interview for this job.
The owner, Atholl Strachan, he’s not from a hospitality background.
He doesn’t have that baggage of ‘this is how it’s always done’, so it was a perfect match.
He’s incredibly supportive, and unequivocally the best boss which is super rare in hospitality.
What’s the history to Glentanar?
So it was opened as a greengrocers in 1907 and then it became a bar.
When we came in around 2017, it really needed some love.
It was so old fashioned and it had animal print wallpaper, which didn’t really go with the name.
Glentanar doesn’t really evoke the Serengeti, it was a dying breed of a bar and very male dominated.
Now women tell us they feel safe enough to sit and drink in here by themselves, and that is such a huge compliment given how things used to be.
What made you want to get involved with such a big undertaking?
The challenge of it.
Completely turning the bar around and making it friendly and nice.
I told my boss he could pay me garbage for two years, but If I turned things around …
We struck a very good deal and it has been a massive passion project.
Do you have a good team behind you?
The very best.
At our peak and prior to the pandemic, we had almost 20 staff.
People have of course since moved away or graduated university.
But our core team has remained the same for the last six years.
Tell us about your food offering
We had an amazing chef, so we started off by launching our own food.
We offered half portions to appeal to families, but they became so popular that it just wasn’t financially viable anymore.
We rebranded as a kitchen residency and got in touch with a bunch of people.
Our final choice was Pig’s Wings, their branding was young and different.
It helped them and it helped us, although they were already established.
How does the residency work?
We offer very cheap rents, and take 10% of anything sold in-house.
But the Deliveroo side of things, we don’t touch the profits made from that.
This proved massively successful for The Pig’s Wings because it opened up this side of town for them.
It also completely changed who came into the building, so we got the 30 and under bracket alongside our more regular customers.
The food was phenomenal.
Who else have you taken on?
When Covid happened, it was heartbreaking.
Once everything opened back up, we agreed that The Pig’s Wings should focus on their own restaurant.
We had a choice to make, how could we as a business be better?
We wanted to open up the kitchen to a new concept, not someone who was already established this time round.
We had so many applications, we’re perfect for chefs who can’t afford their own restaurant but they can afford our kitchen.
We met with Hungry Dog and the decision was made, their food is phenomenal.
The caveat was that you have to use local butchers, local grocers.
It was a way to actively help the local community.
So what’s next?
Our residencies always have two years, Hungry Dog stayed for just over one year.
A guy came in from the country club in Bridge of Don, tried their food and offered them an opportunity.
We said yes, go for it, because that’s the whole point.
We’re now wanting to establish contact with chefs training at Nescol (North East Scotland College), alongside business students from Aberdeen University and RGU (Robert Gordon University).
We’re offering them the chance to create a business and trial it in our kitchen.
We want to invest in young people and their passion for the job.
Are you hoping other venues might embrace this concept?
Yes, 100%.
Covid made us really change what we wanted our business to be.
We always wanted to be a community pub, and now we’re looking at ways to be better and expand beyond that.
There’s no reason for other venues not to be doing the same.
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