Convincing Sean Connery to eat sushi, teaching Ewan McGregor how to be a chef and tailoring a menu to Jennifer Aniston strict Atkin’s diet are just some of the challenges Guy Cowan has faced in his career.
The Glasgow chef spent 25 years cooking for Hollywood A listers with his on location catering company Reel Food before opening Guy’s restaurant in the Merchant City.
One of the most recognised characters in Glasgow’s dining scene, we couldn’t wait to question Guy about the twists and turns of his fascinating career.
Starting, of course, with the celebrity anecdotes.
Unfortunately Guy was much too professional to spill any dirt.
][1]Hollywood stars
“They were all very nice,” he said, about the most famous people he has worked with.
“Generally the bigger the star the less bother they were.”
“I tended to find the people who caused bother were the ones on the rise who didn’t know how to handle the power they had or the people who were failing and bitter with life.”
“But the really big stars with great. Mick Jagger was brilliant. I worked with him on a movie for eight weeks and you couldn’t have met a nicer guy.”
[https://www.youtube.com/embed/IqQhZyeG11k?feature=oembed]
“I worked with Cameron Diaz on a movie called The Holiday. She was great. In her rider the only thing she requested for her winnebago was an ashtray whereas someone else had the thickness of the bible with daft stuff.”
“Jennifer Aniston was also fantastic.”
Sean Connery
According to Guy it’s often the people around the celebrities who make the diva demands, as he discovered when he catered for Sean Connery on the set on Entrapment.
“Entrapment was filmed in Mull and on the first morning, Sean Connery’s PA came in and told me the only thing he eats is a green salad with a blue cheese dressing.”
“I said “fine.” So lunchtime came, it was a beautiful day, and we had the green salad with the blue cheese dressing ready.”
[https://www.youtube.com/embed/4ystkFlQuZs?feature=oembed]
“Sean Connery’s wife came up and put away this huge bowl of spaghetti with wild mushrooms for herself. Because it was such a nice day we were sitting on picnic tables outside the castle in Mull. I saw her spoon feeding him a forkful of the spaghetti and he turned, bounded over to the kitchen, and he asked for a large plate of spaghetti for himself.”
“The next morning his rather humble PA came in and wanted to know what was on the menu that day.”
“I told her what was on the menu, at that point I was rolling some sushi, so I cut some, put it on a plate and said “Do you want to take some in to his caravan?” She said, “Oh, he doesn’t eat sushi,” so I said, “Well, take it in for Mrs Connery. So she took it away and came back two minutes later rather red faced and said “They would like a large plate of sushi.” That was quite typical of someone else telling you what so and so likes.”
Mick Jagger
“Another example was Rachel Weisz when I worked on The Constant Gardener. I had worked with her many years ago on STV and I remembered her sitting on a wall eating her lunch. This time was a bit different – we had to email menus a month before the film to her people in Germany for approval.”
“On the first day Rachel came up to say hello, said she remembered me, blah blah blah and I said “Did you get the menus?” She looked at me and said “what menus?”
“On the first night of a movie called Bent with Mick Jagger he appeared with a conveyor of vehicles and I thought this is going to be a nightmare because there will be so many people that any messages will have to go through. For the first meal that’s how it was but he came to me later that night and said “Look, will you come down and tell me everyday what’s for lunch and I’ll tell you what I want.” And it worked very well after that.”
Guy’s restaurant
Guy’s career in the food industry began, in his own words, “when I eventually got expelled from school for the third time and obviously wasn’t going to be an academic.”
Grandson of famous Glasgow grocer John Curly, he worked for the family business before opening his own deli, Guy’s, in Byres Road.
Twenty five years at Reel Food followed before he opened his eponymous restaurant Guy’s restaurant in the Merchant City’s Candleriggs.
][2]The restaurant quickly won critics and Glaswegians over with its quirky decor and eclectic menu.
It hit the headlines in 2011 when Ewan McGregor worked in the kitchen to prepare for his role as a chef in the movie Perfect Sense.
“Guy’s reflects my eating and cooking which is why it’s such a diverse menu,” Guy said. “It’s notjust an Italian restaurant or a grill, it is just dishes I eat in the course of a month which are all on one menu.”
“It’s very difficult for me to pick a favourite dish because every single dish that is on the menu is there because I eat it. I suppose if there is one thing I would pick, if i was being executed tomorrow, it would probably be the spaghetti with the meat sauce. But then I would wonder, why didn’t I pick the sushi? Or the homemade ice cream? It’s all very very good and great value for money.”
Merchant City
Guy’s latest venture “Wee Guy’s” cafe on Cochrane Street, a five minute walk away from his restaurant, serves a selection of soups, sandwiches and snacks in a casual environment.
So why has he chosen to open both his restaurants in the Merchant City?
“When I opened Guy’s restaurant it was the alternative to the West End and at the time it was a much cheaper alternative, although I’m not too sure it’s the same now.”
“I’ve yet to see any trouble in the Merchant City which is not something you can say if you walk down Ashton Lane on a busy Saturday night.”
‘The West End is kind of, oh for god’s sake forgive me, kind of up its own backside a wee bit. We call a spade a spade down here. Everyone is really friendly and accomodating. It has the lovely architecture of old Glasgow, some lovely bars and lovely restaurants. I just like the vibe of it. People tend to have a smile on their face.”
Guy’s future
So from deli’s to film sets to restaurants – what’s next for Guy?
“I guess, I’m kind of at an age where it would be nice if someone else would take the reins a bit, which does happen because I have a great team.
“It would be nice to think I could do the occasional parties with people. Not, what can you do for £9.95 per head, but for people who want to spend good money for fabulous food.
“But in an ideal world I would have a little beach hut in south of France or Italy or somewhere and I would just do some pastas, lobsters, steaks, and ice cream for six months of the year. And for the other six months, I would do absolutely nothing.”
Watch our full interview with Guy in the video below
[https://www.youtube.com/embed/wS81oOwj-UY?feature=oembed]
Enjoy two courses from the pre-theatre menu for £12.95 plus a glass of wine at Guy’s when booking on 5pm.