Rogano owners to sue landlord in bid to reopen

The owners of the famous Glasgow restaurant Rogano are suing their landlord so that they can reopen for the first time in four years.

The seafood restaurant - with its distinctive art deco styling - has been closed since the coronavirus pandemic.

Its owners Forthwell Ltd claim it has been unable to reopen because of damage caused by flooding on three occasions between December 2020 and January 2021.

Their lawyers want a judge to order the landlord Pontegadea to provide repairs, or pay damages of £789,000.

The restaurant had welcomed celebrities like Rod Stewart, Jude Law, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Elizabeth Taylor and Harvey Keitel since it first opened in 1935.

Forthwell’s legal team stated flooding damage to the restaurant was caused by an “insured risk” and that Pontegadea breached its obligation to maintain the Rogano and allow it to trade.

They claim it was unable to reopen because the flooding had left the building with “substantial damage”.

But lawyers for Pontegadea argued the restaurant's owners had their own insurance, and therefore the claim should be struck out.

Written judgment

In a written judgment published by the Court of Session on Thursday, Lord Braid allowed the case to proceed.

He wrote: “The issue does not turn on insurance law, nor circuity of action based on rights of subrogation, but, more straightforwardly, turns on what the parties intended, which is a matter of construction of the lease.

“While it may well be that where the parties are joint insured, they will invariably be found to have intended to preclude…a claim by either of them for breach of the term of the contract which caused the loss, that need not inexorably follow and in any event does not preclude other terms of the contract from being enforced.

“I will find the pursuer entitled to a proof before answer on those averments, notwithstanding the reservations just expressed.”

Famous visitors

The restaurant was featured in an episode of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown programme, where he shared oysters and lobster thermidor with comedian Janey Godley.

Other celebrities to have visited Rogano include Kylie Minogue, who is said to have ordered mussels when she visited and left her waiter so starstruck he could only carry one starter at a time out of fear of dropping the plates.

Keira Knightley visited every night for two weeks to eat scrambled eggs and smoked salmon while filming a drama The Jacket in Glasgow.

The case will now be heard in the Court of Session in the near future.