Chef's new restaurant looks like it has star appeal
| Published date | 18 August 2021 |
| Publication title | Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser |
The opening of the establishment in fashionable Finnieston only eight weeks ago set tongues wagging within Glasgow's vibrant fine dining scene.
Unalome may be Cheevers' ' irst solo venture, but he's certainly not going it alone.
With wise counsel from friend and former professional cookery educator, Peter Bacchetti, Graeme has successfully attracted to Unalome a cast of ones-to-watch whose names read like a who's who of Scotland's most glittering culinary stars of the future.
The time-wasters, the shoulder-shruggers and the disengaged he met as a 15-year-old at Glasgow
College of Food Technology left Graeme with a bad taste in his mouth and, consequently, his student career was short lived.
Turning what was a negative experience to his advantage, it taught him to recognise, intuitively - and without bits of paper paying testimony to academic attendance - genuine talent in aspiring head chefs and those who'll be there for the long-haul.
"I went to college for a short time, but it didn't do me any good. It was repetitive," he says.
"A lot of people in the class were just there for an easy time. They got their bursary, they'd cook something for dinner, and then they'd go home. A lot of them were there to waste their time. I had a bit more passion than that."
While of the view that colleges are getting it wrong, Graeme genuinely believes that he and others like him have an obligation to help them get it right.
He is buoyed by the fact that further education institutes such as New College Lanarkshire are engaging with regional food groups, including Lanarkshire Larder, in an effort to heighten students' awareness of the importance of locallysourced, seasonal and sustainable produce.
Cheevers wants to see Scotland adopting the US model, which requires professional cookery students to complete long-term placements in top restaurants. By making those placements available at high-end establishments like Unalome, says Graeme, those trainees who show promise will be inspired and energised, rather than daunted, by the hard-working, fast-paced environment that is a busy kitchen.
As charismatic figure Peter Bacchetti would have it, ambitious young chefs need to dance to the tune of progressive, discerning visionaries like Graeme who are genuinely interested in nurturing...
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