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Inverness Restaurants


dougal

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Before today's game I decided to go for a bite to eat in the Castle Restaurant on Castle Street

Now this establishment is still my no1 favourite eatery in town and I have dined there many many times over the years

 

 

So if I ever go in there myself, how will I know you, Dougal? Will you be the one with the blue and white Santa hat with "Bah Humbug" on it? :lol:

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Funnily enough I thought it was Serafini too, He had at least two cracking daughters one blonde and the other whom I believe went to live in the USA was a dark haired beauty. That was in my BB days again we were a noisy bunch when we went in there on a Friday night. but nobody ever objected to us. I was madly in love with the blonde one but then so was everyone else. Those were the days.

 

BM I am virtually certain that the Serafinis had the West End Chip Shop opposite the Tarry Ile.

 

I've been trying to pair Inverness-Italian families with their establishments with only partial success. Can anyone help?

 

Serafinis - West End chipper.

Salvadoris - Greig St cafe.

Coffrinis - Ness Cafe.

Pagliaris - wee blue ice cream van with the Harry Lime tune.

????? - Locarno

Bernardis - shop at the bottom of Stephen's Brae.

Turrianis - ??????

????? - Rendezvous.

Guibarellis - Bught then the Hilton chippie.

 

Also, was the Locarno the one on Adacemy St that opened through into the market as well or was it the one up nearer the Phoenix? In that case, what was the "other" one? And who owned the Academy St chipper? Were the local branch of the Rizzas also active in the business in Inverness?

 

As far as I am aware, the only Italian family still in the food retailing business is the Guibarellis at Hilton because after Mike died last year the son took it over.

What a loss all these establishments are to Inverness culture and what a huge part they played in the middle years of the 20th century.

 

When I was in the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden a few years ago I came across an audio interview of I THINK Scotty Bernardi describing playing football whilst in internment on the Isle of Man during WW2. In 1940 Churchill simply said "collar the lot" and every single British resident of Italian and German extraction was interned on the spot, including, one supposes much of the Inverness Italian community who had been here for years.

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Charles there was Fox's in Tomnahurich Street, He was Foriegn, cannot guarantee  Italian, but his icecream was excellent, on a par with Morganti in Nairn which in my young days was reputed to be the best.

 

You could well be right about Serafinis, I was a regular at that chip shop too, I can remember the aroma of them but not the name. ( age does strange things to memory )

As for that lovely little blonde in Grieg Street I wasn't really interested in her surname :wink: but I certainly remember her................  Christian name Maria.

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Funnily enough I thought it was Serafini too, He had at least two cracking daughters one blonde and the other whom I believe went to live in the USA was a dark haired beauty. That was in my BB days again we were a noisy bunch when we went in there on a Friday night. but nobody ever objected to us. I was madly in love with the blonde one but then so was everyone else. Those were the days.

 

BM I am virtually certain that the Serafinis had the West End Chip Shop opposite the Tarry Ile.

 

I've been trying to pair Inverness-Italian families with their establishments with only partial success. Can anyone help?

 

Serafinis - West End chipper.

Salvadoris - Greig St cafe.

Coffrinis - Ness Cafe.

Pagliaris - wee blue ice cream van with the Harry Lime tune.

????? - Locarno

Bernardis - shop at the bottom of Stephen's Brae.

Turrianis - ??????

????? - Rendezvous.

Guibarellis - Bught then the Hilton chippie.

 

Also, was the Locarno the one on Adacemy St that opened through into the market as well or was it the one up nearer the Phoenix? In that case, what was the "other" one? And who owned the Academy St chipper? Were the local branch of the Rizzas also active in the business in Inverness?

 

As far as I am aware, the only Italian family still in the food retailing business is the Guibarellis at Hilton because after Mike died last year the son took it over.

What a loss all these establishments are to Inverness culture and what a huge part they played in the middle years of the 20th century.

 

When I was in the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden a few years ago I came across an audio interview of I THINK Scotty Bernardi describing playing football whilst in internment on the Isle of Man during WW2. In 1940 Churchill simply said "collar the lot" and every single British resident of Italian and German extraction was interned on the spot, including, one supposes much of the Inverness Italian community who had been here for years.

 

Forgot this lot:

 

The Bannermanis - various supermarket caffs, e.g. Lipton's, Coop (Montague Row), Presto's, Safeway (Academy Street--sadly missed).

 

 

When ye think about it, the Italians introduced a whole lot of junk food to town--wonder what the Sneckites did for quick foods before that?

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There was a chippie up in Castle Street, Hetty's I think it was called. Sold chips as thick as logs.

 Rumoured to have a reputation for 'goings on' never did find out the truth.

 

This doesn't help your Italian research much Charles but hopefully might just lead someone's thoughts on to your subject as this was very much at the time of the Italian / Inverness era. Trouble is there are not so many of us old Geezers left, either the big C or the whisky has taken it's toll and most of those left are memory disfunctional to some degree.

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Charles, re the question of names and connections, Bianco Turriani ran the sweet shop on Church Street, His brother Henry ran the cafe opposite the AI welders offices in Academy st, His two sons Michael and Alex, and Henry's son Renato still live in Inverness.

Bianco's shop was a wonder of confectionary of which the quality was never seen in Inverness till the Belgian chap Lucas opened the chocolate shop in the market.

Mario Bernardi ran the shops in old eastgate then at the bottom of stephens brae, Bernardi's brother also ran a hairdressers in Academy street just past the market entrance.

The Serafini's ran the Locarno cafe, their son Sergio still lives in Inverness, they also ran the cafe/carry out on harbour road/Burnett road junction.

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Charles, re the question of names and connections, Bianco Turriani ran the sweet shop on Church Street, His brother Henry ran the cafe opposite the AI welders offices in Academy st, His two sons Michael and Alex, and Henry's son Renato still live in Inverness.

Bianco's shop was a wonder of confectionary of which the quality was never seen in Inverness till the Belgian chap Lucas opened the chocolate shop in the market.

Mario Bernardi ran the shops in old eastgate then at the bottom of stephens brae, Bernardi's brother also ran a hairdressers in Academy street just past the market entrance.

The Serafini's ran the Locarno cafe, their son Sergio still lives in Inverness, they also ran the cafe/carry out on harbour road/Burnett road junction.

This is all good stuff! Renato Turriani was a Jaggie, and in fact was one of the committee members named as defenders by Martin Ross in his ultimately unsuccessful legal action against the old Jags in 1994-95. Then, as I remember, Renato was also for a short time involved with ICT and briefly looked after the catering and pie stalls.

 

And Dougie... yes the old supermarket cafes in the days when they served real food! I think Liptons was the first in the late 60s, but like yourself I had a particular preference for Safeways off Academy Street - both the cafe and the shop. For a few years I used to do both my mother's and our own family food shopping there after one of their excellent breakfasts which included an uncooked tomato since I don't like cooked ones.

I have to say that no supermarket in Inverness has since matched Safeways. Their successor Morrisons is the best of what we have, although the queues are too slow, and well ahead of Tesco and Asda, welcome though Asda is as competition for Tesco.

Similarly the Morrisons cafe is "OK", albeit a bit slow with the service, but still well ahead of Tesco and Asda which often verge on the pitiful.

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Charles, re the question of names and connections, Bianco Turriani ran the sweet shop on Church Street, His brother Henry ran the cafe opposite the AI welders offices in Academy st, His two sons Michael and Alex, and Henry's son Renato still live in Inverness.

Bianco's shop was a wonder of confectionary of which the quality was never seen in Inverness till the Belgian chap Lucas opened the chocolate shop in the market.

Mario Bernardi ran the shops in old eastgate then at the bottom of stephens brae, Bernardi's brother also ran a hairdressers in Academy street just past the market entrance.

The Serafini's ran the Locarno cafe, their son Sergio still lives in Inverness, they also ran the cafe/carry out on harbour road/Burnett road junction.

This is all good stuff! Renato Turriani was a Jaggie, and in fact was one of the committee members named as defenders by Martin Ross in his ultimately unsuccessful legal action against the old Jags in 1994-95. Then, as I remember, Renato was also for a short time involved with ICT and briefly looked after the catering and pie stalls.

 

And Dougie... yes the old supermarket cafes in the days when they served real food! I think Liptons was the first in the late 60s, but like yourself I had a particular preference for Safeways off Academy Street - both the cafe and the shop. For a few years I used to do both my mother's and our own family food shopping there after one of their excellent breakfasts which included an uncooked tomato since I don't like cooked ones.

I have to say that no supermarket in Inverness has since matched Safeways. Their successor Morrisons is the best of what we have, although the queues are too slow, and well ahead of Tesco and Asda, welcome though Asda is as competition for Tesco.

Similarly the Morrisons cafe is "OK", albeit a bit slow with the service, but still well ahead of Tesco and Asda which often verge on the pitiful.

 

 

 

I too was going to mention the Serifinis and the Locarno Cafe on Academy Street.  I also remember a  Dorandos Cafe -  where was that again?

There was also Victor and Nick Fornari's father who had a Ladies hairdressing business on Academy Street almost next door to the Locarno Cafe.

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I too was going to mention the Serifinis and the Locarno Cafe on Academy Street.  I also remember a  Dorandos Cafe -  where was that again?

There was also Victor and Nick Fornari's father who had a Ladies hairdressing business on Academy Street almost next door to the Locarno Cafe.

 

 

So was Dorando's the cafe up opposite the Phoenix? I remember Victor Fornari - he was in the year behind me in school. The hairdresser's was upstairs in between the Locarno and the corner of Queensgate. It was very popular among teenage girls in the 60s if i remember.

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The ladies hairdresser next to the Locarno was Stewarts - it was an upmarket sort of place or that was the impression it gave. I remember it had a very well done window display when Princess Margaret got married. The Maison Victoria, a gents hairdresser and tobacconist, was in between Stewarts and the Locarno.

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I too was going to mention the Serifinis and the Locarno Cafe on Academy Street.  I also remember a  Dorandos Cafe -  where was that again?

There was also Victor and Nick Fornari's father who had a Ladies hairdressing business on Academy Street almost next door to the Locarno Cafe.

 

 

So was Dorando's the cafe up opposite the Phoenix? I remember Victor Fornari - he was in the year behind me in school. The hairdresser's was upstairs in between the Locarno and the corner of Queensgate. It was very popular among teenage girls in the 60s if i remember.

 

Dorando's was opposite the Phoenix and the Locarno was  opposite the Academy st entrance to Macrae & Dick with an entrance from the market as well.  Also on Italian restaurateur's you had Charlie's in Margarets st run by Charlie Pieraccini and Charlie's chipper on Grant st where you could sit in and have your tea was run by his brother Clair.  Clair's son Martin took over the Cafe in Margarets st about 20 years ago which he had rebuilt about 10 years ago. 

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The ladies hairdresser next to the Locarno was Stewarts - it was an upmarket sort of place or that was the impression it gave. I remember it had a very well done window display when Princess Margaret got married. The Maison Victoria, a gents hairdresser and tobacconist, was in between Stewarts and the Locarno.

Off the top of my head, Princess Margaret got married in 1960 when I was just a bit too young to remember a lot of detail. But while these other establishments may well have been there (and they are definitely names I also remember) I am quite certain that by the mid-late 60s Fornaris was also inthat bit of Academy St.

And thanks IBM for adding the Pieraccinis. I had forgotten about them.

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This thread has certainly come to life in the past few days.

 

Seeing mention of Pagliari's, I'm sure their big chip shop/restaurant was down the bottom of Academy Street.  The wife of the owner had the first personalised number plate I remember seeing, EVA 11, initially on a Riley (from memory), and subsequently on an MG Magnette.

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This thread has certainly come to life in the past few days.

 

Seeing mention of Pagliari's, I'm sure their big chip shop/restaurant was down the bottom of Academy Street.  The wife of the owner had the first personalised number plate I remember seeing, EVA 11, initially on a Riley (from memory), and subsequently on an MG Magnette.

Thank you CMIB!! That has jogged my memory just perfectly! I am now also pretty sure that Pagliaris of the wee rounded blue van with the Harry Lime music fame also had their permanent base in the Academy St chip shop. I also remember EVA 11 but possibly after the days when it was a Riley or an MG.

Back in the 60s that was the best chip shop in Inverness that I was aware of although I never really tried Jojo G's at the Bught before they moved to Hilton which is currently the best in my view. In that era, Serafinis was also pretty good and you even got a decent portion for 4d.

Who ran the chipper in Wells St before it became a Chinese?

Edited by Charles Bannerman
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This thread has certainly come to life in the past few days.

 

Seeing mention of Pagliari's, I'm sure their big chip shop/restaurant was down the bottom of Academy Street.  The wife of the owner had the first personalised number plate I remember seeing, EVA 11, initially on a Riley (from memory), and subsequently on an MG Magnette.

Thank you CMIB!! That has jogged my memory just perfectly! I am now also pretty sure that Pagliaris of the wee rounded blue van with the Harry Lime music fame also had their permanent base in the Academy St chip shop. I also remember EVA 11 but possibly after the days when it was a Riley or an MG.

Back in the 60s that was the best chip shop in Inverness that I was aware of although I never really tried Jojo G's at the Bught before they moved to Hilton which is currently the best in my view. In that era, Serafinis was also pretty good and you even got a decent portion for 4d.

Who ran the chipper in Wells St before it became a Chinese?

 

I don't remember the Riley or MG a bit before my time only moving into Inverness in 1968 from Fort Augustus where Pagliaris ice cream vans were a rare treat on a Sunday!  EVA11 and I think 11EVA are on cars owned by a daughter Laura who is married to Drew Ross of Sunshine fame and live in the Crown.  

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EVA 11 - now that brings back memories of Academy Street in 1970s.  I remember the number on a white Renault 5. Apologies for straying off-topic but Inverness in those days had some notable cherished number plates.

:ponder: 

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EVA 11 - now that brings back memories of Academy Street in 1970s.  I remember the number on a white Renault 5. Apologies for straying off-topic but Inverness in those days had some notable cherished number plates.

:ponder: 

 

 

Provost Wotherspoon had ST1 and JS1. Rumour had it in the 60s that the ITV company which made The Saint wanted to buy it from him but he wouldn't sell although he gave permission for them to use it on Simon Templar's (Roger Moore's) car.

His legal firm MacAndrew and Jenkins also had the phone number Inverness 1 pre STD (Subscriber Trunk Dialling not Sexually Transmittable Disease!) and when that came in it became 30001 and then 233001 (just as The Courier evolved from 59 to 233059).

MacAndrew and Jenkins still use that number for one of their departments.

But to return to topic... I don't know if Provost Wotherspoon ever drove an ice cream van as a holiday job!!

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Sorry to be an anorak but Gilbert Ross had ST 444 on a Rover 3.5 litre; Kit Myers had JST 90 on an MGB GT V8. He ran the Inverness Stewart Plant operation and was a keen rally driver. Kit Myers was killed along with two others (one his brother) when his plane crashed near Drumnadrochit on 25 May 1974.

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Before today's game I decided to go for a bite to eat in the Castle Restaurant on Castle Street

Now this establishment is still my no1 favourite eatery in town and I have dined there many many times over the years

Delicious food, great portions, reasonably priced and always busy with hungry customers

Does anyone know when the Castle Restaurant opened in Inverness I'd guess it would have been the 1970's but my first memories were the early 80s?

Over the years many restaurants have opened and closed their doors in Inverness but the Castle Restaurant keeps out serving the lot

What memories do others have of restaurants from the great days of yore? (past or present)

Dougal

 

Brian Lipton was in my school year at the IRA and was a formidable rugby player. My pals and I watched the Beatles playing the Royal  Variety Performance in the "Castle Snack Shack" munching crisps and drinking Coca Cola, feeling really sophisticated 15 year olds!! I was madly in love with Lauara Pagliari but she was a foot taller that I was - she a sixth former and me a first former in short trousers!!!. My favourite cafe was The Mayfair at the foot of Stephens Brae. Rosie had a soft spot for us louts and used to let us sneak out without paying for a shillingly plate of fish and chips. "Mama" was still working in those days (66ish) Rosie was definitely italian but I cant remember her surname. We used to work for Mario Bernardi as shop assistants/paper boys and as soon as we got paid it went on plates of chips and cups of tea. Happy carefree times!!

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Funnily enough I thought it was Serafini too, He had at least two cracking daughters one blonde and the other whom I believe went to live in the USA was a dark haired beauty. That was in my BB days again we were a noisy bunch when we went in there on a Friday night. but nobody ever objected to us. I was madly in love with the blonde one but then so was everyone else. Those were the days.

 

BM I am virtually certain that the Serafinis had the West End Chip Shop opposite the Tarry Ile.

 

I've been trying to pair Inverness-Italian families with their establishments with only partial success. Can anyone help?

 

Serafinis - West End chipper.

Salvadoris - Greig St cafe.

Coffrinis - Ness Cafe.

Pagliaris - wee blue ice cream van with the Harry Lime tune.

????? - Locarno

Bernardis - shop at the bottom of Stephen's Brae.

Turrianis - ??????

????? - Rendezvous.

Guibarellis - Bught then the Hilton chippie.

 

Also, was the Locarno the one on Adacemy St that opened through into the market as well or was it the one up nearer the Phoenix? In that case, what was the "other" one? And who owned the Academy St chipper? Were the local branch of the Rizzas also active in the business in Inverness?

 

As far as I am aware, the only Italian family still in the food retailing business is the Guibarellis at Hilton because after Mike died last year the son took it over.

What a loss all these establishments are to Inverness culture and what a huge part they played in the middle years of the 20th century.

 

When I was in the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden a few years ago I came across an audio interview of I THINK Scotty Bernardi describing playing football whilst in internment on the Isle of Man during WW2. In 1940 Churchill simply said "collar the lot" and every single British resident of Italian and German extraction was interned on the spot, including, one supposes much of the Inverness Italian community who had been here for years.

The Academy Street chip shop was owned by Pagliaris Think the Locarno was owned by the Serafinis (had a great juke box) Mario Bernardi was certainly not interred and served as an intelligence officer in the Royal Air Force during WW2 You are forgetting Barneys on Castle Street which used to be one of the few shops open on a Sunday (Bernardis) - Hettys was another, Marios was open in Eastgate long decades before the Stephens Brae shop and had its own cafe!!  But there was also a wonderful Italian fish and chip shop in Eastgate across the road from Marios and I cannot be sure but the Washington Soda Fountain cafe at the foot of the Market Steps may have been Italian as well. The Rizzas were never shop owners and sadly never seemed to prosper, going bankrupt in the fifties.. Giorgio Guibarelli and his family lived across from us when we resided at 57 Craigton Avenue, Kessock Ferry and were primarily involved in the fish and chip van business for decades I walked into the Hilton Chip Shop a couple of years ago and expected to see "Pop" and JoJo behind the counter!!.

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Och well Glenmhor, this would have been the 60s when anoraks were very popular!

 

Aye Charles quite correct - mine was green with an imitation fur-edged hood and with a West German flag on the shoulder. Probably I'm an anorak about anoraks too !

 

:wink:

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I've been trying to pair Inverness-Italian families with their establishments with only partial success. Can anyone help?

 

Serafinis - West End chipper.

Salvadoris - Greig St cafe.

Coffrinis - Ness Cafe.

Pagliaris - wee blue ice cream van with the Harry Lime tune.

????? - Locarno

Bernardis - shop at the bottom of Stephen's Brae.

Turrianis - ??????

????? - Rendezvous.

Guibarellis - Bught then the Hilton chippie.

 

I have a Directory for 1949/50 which lists,

31 Academy Street             Renzo Serafini    Confectioner  (Locarno?)

89 Academy Street             Renato Turriani  Confectioner  (would this be Dorando's?)

99-101 Academy Street     Enrico Pagliari     Fish Restaurant

105-107 Academy Street   Enrico Pagliari     Restaurateur 

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I've been trying to pair Inverness-Italian families with their establishments with only partial success. Can anyone help?

 

Serafinis - West End chipper.

Salvadoris - Greig St cafe.

Coffrinis - Ness Cafe.

Pagliaris - wee blue ice cream van with the Harry Lime tune.

????? - Locarno

Bernardis - shop at the bottom of Stephen's Brae.

Turrianis - ??????

????? - Rendezvous.

Guibarellis - Bught then the Hilton chippie.

 

I have a Directory for 1949/50 which lists,

31 Academy Street             Renzo Serafini    Confectioner  (Locarno?)

89 Academy Street             Renato Turriani  Confectioner  (would this be Dorando's?)

99-101 Academy Street     Enrico Pagliari     Fish Restaurant

105-107 Academy Street   Enrico Pagliari     Restaurateur 

Also in the 1954/55 under Confectioners is;

Ferrari and co.  1 Ness Walk

Salvadori S        10 Greig Street

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Renzo Serafini - definitely the Locarno at 31 Academy Street.

Dorandos had a confectioners and tobacconists shop at 36 Church Street (down from Fraser's Auction Rooms). Was the man who owned this shop related to Henry who ran Dorando's Cafe at 89 Academy Street ?

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