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New restaurant brings family-friendly approach to fine dining - By A Journalist
Dining out with a young family can prove more of an ordeal than a pleasure. In all too many restaurants the food is inappropriate for youngsters, the management and waiting staff are hostile and make it clear they want you out as fast as possible, and baby changing facilities are dismal – or non existent.
It’s a situation which Stefano Giovanazzi is determined to remedy.
In Paperino’s West End, the Glasgow restaurant Stefano has just opened with his brother Sandro, families have the chance for an evening of fine food in a sophisticated environment, where their children are as welcome as any other diner.
“We are taking a very Italian approach to children – we believe they should eat at least as well if not better than the adults,” Stefano says.
“We felt it was very important that the restaurant cater for families. So many people struggle to find a restaurant that will cater for their entire family, and frankly when they find a place that accepts children the food may not be that good.”
To bring his family-friendly dining philosophy to reality, Stefano designed the restaurant from the ground up with the needs of parents in mind. A baby-changing suite is included, situated entirely separately from the main toilets, and including custom-built benches, a wash-basin and a comfortable chair. Bottle warming equipment and a nappy storage cupboard are also included. The room opens on to a large, lockable vestibule, meaning a parent with more than one child will be able to secure the entire area, leaving them free to attend to the baby without worrying about the other child.
Although the restaurant serves the same sophisticated Italian fare as the brothers’ original Paperino’s restaurant, on Sauchiehall Street, it has been expanded to include a high-quality children’s menu featuring a pasta selection, made-to-order pizzas, and a chicken or fish dish. For dessert there’s choice of ice cream or fresh fruit. A two-course children’s meal, with a drink, costs £4.80 and is available throughout all opening hours.
The family-oriented approach is very much in keeping with the new restaurant’s emphasis as a neighbourhood eatery. Stefano says: “I was born and brought up in the West End and I see this restaurant as part of the neighbourhood. Obviously, we hope people would visit us from anywhere in Glasgow, but this area is a real community, which I have been part of all my life.
“In the weekends in particular, this area is filled with families with young children and we very much want them all to feel welcome to visit our restaurant. I have three children so I know how important it is that a restaurant be as open and welcoming to children as possible.
“Our commitment is to relaxed family dining. When people ring at 9pm and say, can they bring their children, we say: Of course.
Paperino’s West End is at 227 Byres Road, phone 0141 334 3811
