To celebrate Father’s Day (June 20), we speak to dad and son/daughter duos about the joys and tribulations of collaborating in a food-related business.
“After 30 successful years in Iggs and Barioja, I decided to retire. However, I missed the buzz and entertaining side of being in the restaurant and had the idea to open wine and tapas bar, PIGGS.
"The timing was perfect. It would fulfill my passion and give Daniel an opportunity to learn how to conduct a business.
"The blend works well. I teach Daniel the aspects of cooking, creative presentation, knowledge of wines, and order our supplies from Spain. (I get so excited when my pallet arrives).
"Daniel brings the technology and social media side to the business, as well as his flair for making cocktails. He’s definitely got my DNA when it comes to dealing with the public.
"He has a wonderful way with our customers, while I still don’t know how to use a till or phone.
"I am a perfectionist and my drive to sustain the highest standards, I know, makes me hard to work with but at the end of the day I am extremely proud of Daniel and where we are at this point in our PIGGS journey”.
“After spending so much of my childhood as a young shy kid by the bar watching my dad and the restaurant team work together, I loved seeing that hard work and team spirit.
"To watch the chefs grinding hard, front of house team running up and down stairs and my dad entertaining every customer made me feel like hospitality was going to be my thing.
"That’s when dad became my role model but also my mentor. As many people in Edinburgh know, he is not the easiest person to be around 24/7 and is far from your normal human being.
"That being said, to watch this flamboyant Spanish man entertain a whole restaurant, making every single customer laugh and feel at home, made me want to do the same.
"Every person I know in Edinburgh speaks highly of him with so many funny stories to share and that makes me proud.
"I was also fortunate to be brought up with Iggy’s amazing Spanish cooking. We were spoiled with five course tasting menus and this was when I fell in love with the art of food.
"When the opportunity to open PIGGS together came around it was a no brainer.
"We spend every single day disagreeing, which I know happens in most family businesses, but deep down I believed that the name, concept and location of PIGGS had potential to make it a successful and popular wine bar.
"Despite my dad being semi-retired I believe we both deserve another shot at Edinburgh’s restaurant scene and right now I can’t complain one bit”.
“Caitlin has always loved creating and expressing her ideas through making things.
"When she was tiny we used homemade Play-Doh and lots of paint.
"Her favourite thing was a big box of fur balls, glitter, sequins and stick on shapes which she used to make birthday cards.
"Occasionally she and her friends would have a play in the pottery in the cellar and they all went home with a little thing made from clay.
"School came and went without much serious interest in pottery, but she did well in Nat 5 Art.
"Medicine and Dundee beckoned and it was only with lockdown that she was forced to spend a prolonged period back home. It was announced that I could teach her pottery, and I realised I had a grown-up on my hands.
"Caitlin is a very quick learner and doesn’t have to listen to what I say, as she watches what I do and copies it.
"Once the basic skills were mastered, there was no stopping her expressing her creative talent.
"She is very organised and determined and quickly built up a social media following, taking photos of the pots in inventive locations for Instagram.
"Things could only move forward. An online shop was proposed, investigated, chosen, paid for and set up in short order and stock created.
"It has been a rewarding experience teaching, working alongside and occasionally disagreeing on how work should be handled with someone who used to be a little girl, but is now my grown up colleague”.
“Potentially the one thing my dad, Adrian, regrets about teaching me pottery during lockdown is having to fight me for throwing on the wheel.
"Often I win, but for the larger and more complex pieces, he’s the one I can rely on. I still have a lot to learn.
My dad has been a great teacher. He’s very patient and has a knack of explaining things.
"Luckily we get on very well and are both happy to do our part when making our pots and mugs.
"However, there may be terse words exchanged occasionally.
"Especially when a batch of mugs that were supposed to be white, come out green (as is later revealed, he mislabelled two different buckets of glazes).
"Dad has given me room to develop my own style but he still helps me with the basics from his training as a potter 30 years ago.
"I feel very lucky to be able to carry these skills on and to always know this was something that my dad and I enjoyed together. Me starting new and him travelling back down that old path”.
