The fact that the famous fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes chose to eat at the Aberdeen Art Gallery Cafes’ for four days in a row while she was visiting the city says it all really.
From freshly made scones and melt-in-the-mouth brownies to hearty soups and homemade quiches, it’s no wonder that the designer – who has dressed the likes of Princess Diana and Barbra Streisand – clearly savoured the mouthwatering morsels on offer at the iconic local landmark.
Attracting a wonderfully eclectic crowd, just like the incredible art collections on display, the cafes’ – one on the ground floor and one upstairs – are at the beating heart of the bustling city.
Right at the centre of the cafe action is Sean Clementson, the general manager of Elior, the catering company which runs the cafe on behalf of Aberdeen City Council.
Ahead of Aberdeen Restaurant Week from Monday January 16 to Sunday January 29, Sean chatted to Society about the delicious deals they have on offer and why he feels lucky to work in such an iconic setting.
Tell us about your tasty offerings for Aberdeen Restaurant Week?
We’re going to be doing a £10 meal deal so customers can choose any of the quiches that we do – smoked salmon, goat’s cheese and cannelloni – as well as a hot drink and a slice of loaf cake for afterwards.
The loaf cakes we have includes lemon drizzle, banana loaf or cherry madeira. We ran a similar deal last year and it was very popular so we thought we’d go with that again.
It’s a great opportunity for us to get extra people in who haven’t visited the gallery before. January is always a long month so if you can get a little bit of a bargain then it’s always a good thing.
What other tasty dishes are on the menu?
We’ve got soup that is made freshly every day. The French onion soup always goes down really well. You can always tell when it’s going to be a good soup day when it’s cold and frosty outside.
Another big seller is the haddock which we get fresh from Peterhead Harbour. So people can chose to have a whole battered haddock or you can have a half portion which is a couple of battered goujons.
We also have a selection of sandwich fillings so you choose what bread you want to have including focaccia, ciabatta as well as gluten free wraps and bread. With the sandwich fillings there’s a lot of vegan options as well to give people a lot of choice.
Do you source your food locally?
We try and source our food as locally as we can. For example our cheese comes from Cambus O’ May Cheese in Ballater. So we try and stick as local as we can.
For those with a sweet tooth, what cakes are popular?
We’ve got an in-house baker called Krysztoff who creates all the cakes that you see in the cafe. The only things he doesn’t do is the pre-packaged gluten free options and the croissants and pastries.
The scones are so good that Krysztoff makes two kilos of scones a day and we very rarely have any left at the end of the day.
We’ve also got a selection of homemade cakes including the toffee cake which always sells really well as does the chocolate fudge cake. He also makes chocolate raspberry brownies and cupcakes – he can turn his hand to anything.
What about afternoon tea?
Yes people can enjoy an afternoon tea accompanies by either tea, coffee or prosecco.
Do you have a children’s menu?
Instead of having a children’s menu we’ve got a small plates menu so it’s great for older people who come in who don’t want a huge lunch as they can have a smaller portion of fish and chips or macaroni for half the price of the normal menu and that’s really popular.
It’s great as a lot of people wouldn’t necessarily go and pick something off a children’s menu as they might feel embarrassed so it makes it more open to everyone.
Can you tell us about the two cafes’ in the gallery?
We’ve got two cafes’, one on the ground floor and one on the top floor which is purely for coffees and cakes.
Does the menu change regularly?
We run the cafe on behalf of Aberdeen City Council so we have meetings with them regularly to see what sort of offering they want to give people and we go off and create menus round that. We try and keep our food suppliers as local as possible.
Have any celebrities dined in the cafes?
The fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes came in for her lunch every day when she was up at the art gallery last year for an exhibition.
She was only supposed to be visiting for a few days but due to the bad weather she stayed for about four days and ate in the cafes’ every day.
She was quite happy to chat to lots of the customers who were wanting photos, she was great. The comedian Harry Hill also visited when he was up doing a show. We’re not far from the theatre so we do get the stars in.
What is it like to work in such an iconic venue?
It’s a lovely place to work and you get to meet a lot of very different people. With the exhibitions changing quite regularly it’s great as it gives you something different to look at. Recently there was a collection of old Viking jewellery which was amazing.
Do people visit the cafe from all over the world?
Yes with the new cruise ships coming in towards Aberdeen we did see a lot of American tourists coming through the doors during the summer. It does seem to bring a lot of new people in which is something Aberdeen needs.
Have you always worked in the hospitality industry?
I’ve done a few jobs over the years but I did start off in pubs and clubs and then spent quite a few years working for insurance companies. I came back across to the hospitality industry when I was made redundant a couple of years back.
How do you cope when the café gets super busy?
I tend to take things in my stride when we’re really busy, I don’t get stressed out. We just have a bit of fun and keep going. We’re lucky that we’ve got a close knit team.
For more information about the Aberdeen Art Gallery cafe’s check out the website aberdeencity.gov or phone 0300 020 0293.
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