Continuing our series of blogs covering pop-ups at the Glasgow Restaurant Festival Spiegeltent, we turn our attention to Red Onion, the West Campbell Street restaurant of chef patron John Quigley.

Previously, John combined rock ‘n’ roll with pan-rattling and he travelled the world cooking for, among others, Tina Turner, Bryan Adams, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Whitney Houston and Rod Stewart. He returned to Glasgow in the mid-Nineties and helmed the kitchens at a succession of fashionable bars and restaurants including Mojo, the ArtHouse and Quigley’s.

Along with his wife Gillian, he launched Red Onion, his first solo venture, in 2004. When not in the kitchen, John can often be found in the studios at STV where he is a regular guest chef.

John is taking over the kitchens in the Spiegeltent on Candleriggs on Sunday the 10th of April.

You can book tickets here.

The 5pm Dining blog had a chat with John about mince, sushi and sustainability.

Can you describe your food in five words?

JQ: I’ve thought hard about this and is it wholesome? Is it comfort food? Is it fusion? Basically, it’s hot, salty, sweet, sour and umami. It’s the five tastes. I think that sums up my cooking. The trick is getting the balance right.

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What has been the best moment of your career:**

JQ: The day that Billy Connolly came in and said that my Finnan haddie was ‘damn fine’, that was a good day. When I was 22, I was the youngest chef on The Good Food Guide, that was good as well. The day I opened Red Onion was probably the most memorable as it was my first solo venture having been involved with several other restaurants in partnership with other people. We put everything on the line to do it and we paid everything off two years ago. That sticks in the mind as a good day.

What is your favourite Scottish ingredient?

JQ: I was going to say mince. Mince has got to be up there. If I was going to put my cheffy hat on then I would say seafood, in particular shellfish. I use more shellfish than I do mince. Mind you, we do a good burger which we make our own mince for. We do a good pork and veal meatball. We sometimes do a meatloaf for the lunch menu. There is a 101 ways with mince.

What food did you hate as a kid but love now?

JQ: That is hard because I’ve always loved food. Every summer, all our families would go out to northern Spain and have these big, mad summer holidays. I was used to eating everything and it all being very exciting. The only thing that used to sit in the fridge was Dad’s Danish Blue cheese. As a kid, blue cheese in general is a big flavour which is hard to get your head around. Now, I love blue cheese. I wasn’t keen on cauliflower either but I realise now that that was because my granny over-boiled it. I’m not sure that there was bad food. It was just badly handled.

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If you could change one thing about the job, what would it be?**

JQ: I would like to see a more sustainable environment in kitchens in general. We do our best in terms of recycling and so on but there are always ways to improve. There are strong economic arguments for doing it. We save a lot of money by trying to run things sustainably.

I also like having a kitchen which is a nice place to work in. It’s not a dictatorship. There is no reason to get worked up.

You can have anyone in the world, alive or dead, cook for you. Who is manning the stove?

JQ: Both my grannies were great cooks but I would have to say Ma Broon. Her mince and tatties looks the best.

It’s your last meal. What is on the menu?

JQ: I’d like my Dad’s ham soup. He was a great cook and his soups were renowned across all of Uddingston. Ma Broon’s mince and tatties and Raymond Blanc’s tarte Tatin. I ate at Le Manoir about twenty years ago and that had a big influence on me. I love his approach.

Actually, I would also want a sushi course from Jiro.

I worked in Japan when I was touring and I don’t think I experienced it the way I should have. I had too many hangovers to get up and go to the fish market at dawn. I had the most memorable meals of my life in Japan but I need to go again and do it properly.

Finish this sentence: I couldn’t finish my working day without…

JQ: Caffeine; Popmaster on the Ken Bruce show and happy customers at the end of the day. I also love going to the gym. If I don’t go to the gym then I’ll go into the next service feeling really anxious.

Before kids, my split shift would have been in the pub for a game of pool and three shandies. Now, I go to the gym in the afternoon and it is full of chefs on their splits.

What is in the fridge at home?

JQ: I have a wife and kids so there is all sorts in the fridge but for me I need to have eggs and cheese. It used to be that I would get home and have a beer to mark the end of the working day. However, I stopped drinking years ago and now I like to come back and relax with a toastie or cheese sandwich.