Lunch. Creative Diary.
There's a lot of serious aspects involved in running a creative business. Winning new clients, generating ideas, keeping an eye on cashflow, forecasting, resourcing, relationship development, studio promotion and the like. All very important I'm sure you would agree. But if we had to pick one particular aspect that we've taken extremely seriously and applied ourselves consistently to over the last 15 years that would be... lunch!
When we first started the studio, we had a little ritual that if things had gone well that week we would pop out for some tasty lunch on a Friday, so from the very start we have been dedicated to perfecting the art of the midday meal.
Back at the beginning things going well could be simple indeed. The sign-off of a design visual, a client liking an idea that was proposed, someone paying an invoice (yas!) or the occasions when we managed to pay ourselves some wages from the business. All these little things seemed huge to us, and we were careful to enjoy the small wins as they came.
And so lunch became a sign of things going well. Of tasks completed. Of progress made.
For those lunches in the first couple of years there was only ever one place that we would consider - partly because fifteen years ago in Finnieston there was not a lot of choice, but also because they did the best Thai Green Chicken Curry known to humankind. Our destination... the bold Gazelle, a great little bar that served up incredibly tasty (and spicy spicy) curry alongside a side portion of Glasgow's finest condiment, Tennent's Lager.
More than just lunch, it offered the chance to get away from our screens, reflect on the past week and think up new ideas. We also got the chance to meet up with different folk from time to time as they would join us for a bite to eat. These get togethers were often with people more experienced than ourselves who were kind enough to pass on valuable nuggets of knowledge in return for a portion of tasty food. These conversations, especially in the beginning, allowed us to make little improvements to our studio as we went along, slowly building more confidence and getting better at our creative practice. We're thankful to all the folk who listened to our many questions so patiently.
As Covid confined us to our houses, working from home the chance to catch up with people over a bite to eat was one of the things that was missed the most. We tried a few zoom lunch catch ups with folk, but seeing yourself eating on the wee reflective window was not really a pretty sight so they never felt quite the same.
Over the last year it's been great to get out and about again, grabbing some food with folk, hearing what people are up to and freeing our minds to come up with new ideas. But it's perhaps some of the glorious lunches of the past that we have been feeling nostalgic for as we look back over the years, and so here are a few highlights:
- The Jean Claude Van Ham toastie from the wee wooden shed near Glasgow Uni
- The chicken stir fry (which mysteriously seemed to be a different recipe every time) from McPhabbs a pub that we miss, it was great
- The first ever sandwich from Piece when they opened their Finnieston doors 14 years ago (we've enjoyed a load more since)
- Many solid toasted sandwiches from Tinderbox, a dependable studio favourite
- The long gone Black Rabbit on Gt Western Road with their 3 for 1 pizzas and pints of Grolsch on tap
- Another ghost pub, The Goat in Finnieston who used to do a mean burger.
- The pop up Bloc in Finnieston serving up cajun pasta for TWO POUNDS!
- A healthy salad from the nice folk at Sprig on Sauchiehall Street - one of the best lunches about
- Our current obsession, the spicy tomato soup from Bungalow Cafe at Mother India
- The mother of all lunch creations, the mighty Cheese Steak from Roast.
- And who could forget our very good friends and next door neighbours The Big Slope, who do a lot of tasty food with our favourite being the Chicken Burger and a cheeky Friday pint
As posts go, I feel like listing lunches feels pretty self indulgent. But I guess as long as lunch continues to be important to the studio it means we're still going strong and doing our thing which we hope and plan to be doing for a while to come.
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Graeme's writing this little creative diary as we celebrate running Jamhot for 15 years and look towards what the future of our creative & design studio holds. We're writing these for our own amusement, but if you do find yourself reading along then a big hello to you.