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Val D'Oro Restaurant

The Val D'Oro at Glasgow Cross is a Glasgow institution. It is a fish & chip shop and restaurant which has been owned and run by the Italian Corvi family since 1938, before which it was named The Swiss Restaurant and belonged to another famous Glasgow Italian family, the Beltramis.

The interior has changed little since the 1950s, with the original small formica covered tables and booths still in place. Photos of old family members adorn the walls alongside some more famous names including Frank Sinatra.

Present owner Luigi Corvi is an opera fanatic and talented tenor. It is not unknown for him to entertain customers with a few arias between servings.

To mark the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the city in 2010, Luigi's brother-in-law David Adam was commissioned to create an artwork to hang on the exterior of the restaurant. The result is a Glasgow themed depiction of The Crucifixion, which shows Christ on the cross at Glasgow Cross, with Luigi offering a fish supper and a wee boy offering a drink from what appears to be a bottle of Irn Bru. Probably liked and despised in equal measure, the artwork bears a slight resemblance to Salvador Dali's sketchwork for Christ of St John of the Cross NS5666 : Salvador Dali sketch which can be seen on the other side of the city at Kelvingrove Museum & Art Gallery.

July 2014 update: I visited on 12th July and The Crucifiction artwork was gone, only the metal frame remained.

Reputedly the oldest fish & chip shop in Glasgow. Well worth a visit.
by Thomas Nugent

Created: Wed, 15 Jan 2014, Updated: Mon, 14 Jul 2014


4 images use this description:

NS5964 : Val D'Oro Restaurant at Glasgow Cross by Thomas Nugent
NS5964 : Glasgow Cross by Thomas Nugent
NS5964 : The Val D'Oro Restaurant by Thomas Nugent
NS5964 : The Val D'Oro Restaurant by Thomas Nugent


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