A truly unique venue, Glasgow's The butterfly and pig is flying high

The Herald Scotland

5 hours ago

'He said he was the pig, trying to catch hold of his love, the butterfly, to make her stay. Also, the restaurant is the pig, big-hearted and hungry, while the dainty and graceful Tea Room is the butterfly.'
Chef Gianni has also spread his wings since The butterfly and the pig opened its doors in 2005. Now, Michele, his wife Josephine and daughter Michela head up a small team of dedicated staff at the Bath Street venue. The couple's other daughter Adelina, who lives in Australia, has also been a huge support to the family business.
The portfolio includes adjacent nightclub The Buff Club, to which a new Basement Jazz Café has recently been added to its ground floor.
'It is an emporium,' says Michele, with a laugh. 'A one-stop shop. Gianni's original idea was for a gastro-pub, a place that served good food, good wine and beers, and was full of atmosphere.
'Music has always been part of the story at The butterfly and the pig, right from the very beginning. Gianni used to hear buskers as he walked up to Bath Street and invite the best ones in to play.'
Michele moved to Scotland from the southern Italian city of Bari more than 50 years ago.
'My cousin moved here to work in hospitality, asked me if I wanted a summer job, in Balmaha,' he explains. 'I kept coming back each summer, I loved it. And eventually, I stayed.'
The butterfly and the pig is part of Michele's Monteleone Group which also owns The Singl-end Cafes in Garnethill and the Merchant City, and The Marlborough in Shawlands (formerly The Shed nightclub.)
It fills every nook and cranny of the elegant Georgian townhouse.
Marketing manager Tamzin Young explains: 'It's an incredible building, we love it.
'Our function rooms are always in use, because private parties and weddings have been a huge growth area for us.'
Already, the team is gearing up for Christmas, with almost all weekends in December fully booked.
'I feel proud The butterfly and the pig is still here, achieving this milestone of 20 years,' says Michele. 'It has not always been easy. Our sector has changed dramatically in the last decade – Covid was almost the final nail in the coffin, for example.
'City nightlife has changed also – no longer do people go out straight from work, go for drinks, go for food, go clubbing. People eat earlier, go home earlier.
'So it has been hard, sometimes, but we have changed with the times. Our strength is our staff. They make it special.'
The butterfly and the pig is unlike any other Glasgow venue.
Visitors love the mis-matched crockery and art-filled walls, the elegant staircase spiralling up to the attic floor, and the tongue-in-cheek Italian/Scottish menu with its chatty descriptions: 'Steak pie for meat lovers everywhere, the size of Desperate Dan'; 'Sir Sirloin steak, certainly is a handsome catch for a princess'; 'well, that was like swimming upstream … hot smoked salmon salad …'
Customers include celebrities (Hollywood actor Brian Cox is a fan, for example, and TV presenter Bear Grylls has popped in) and tourists from all over the world, who are so keen to leave with a piece of the place that the team had to introduce merchandise, laughs Tamzin.
'They wanted t-shirts,' she says, laughing. 'And they love to take photos, particularly at the bottom of the staircase, looking up. That's their favourite spot.'
The romance which began The butterfly and the pig may not have had its happy ending, but this is still a love story. The people of Glasgow adore this place, and over 20 years, many have become 'part of the family', says Michele.
'They donate vintage crockery to us, and tables and chairs – one gentleman even donated a piano, which sits in our jazz café,' he adds. 'He was moving house and had no room for it, but now he says he is happy he can see it when he comes here.
'I love that people trust us with their heirlooms and their own family stories. They love us and we take care of them.'
Michele pauses. 'We love the kitsch, the funny menus, the décor – the entertainment business is supposed to be a business, yes, but it is also supposed to be fun,' he adds.
'The world can be so dull and flat sometimes. We want to keep bringing the fun to a night out in Glasgow.'
thebutterflyandthepig.com