Celentano's

Should You Book Celentano's?

If you're weighing up where to spend £££ on Italian food in Glasgow, Celentano's sits in a different category from the obvious Merchant City trattorias. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand (retained in both 2024 and 2025), charges £££ prices, and delivers cooking that borrows from Italian tradition without being bound by it. The honest comparison isn't with your local pasta spot — it's closer to what Cail Bruich does for Modern Cuisine, but at a lower price point and with a more relaxed room. If you want technically precise food with Scottish produce at the centre and a bill that won't require a spreadsheet, book this.

What to Expect as a First-Timer

The room is the first thing to settle. Celentano's occupied a turreted 19th-century sandstone building on Cathedral Square — a former hotel , with a multi-level open-plan dining room that felt informal despite its handsome shell. A black and white tiled floor, rustic fittings, and a heated garden terrace overlooking the Glasgow Necropolis completed the picture. That specific address closed at the end of 2025, and the restaurant is relaunching at Arthouse Glasgow in April 2026. The new address changes the surroundings; the cooking and kitchen team are following Dean Parker across.

Parker's approach is worth understanding before you arrive, because the menu will surprise you if you come in expecting conventional Italian. Kombucha and kimchi appear alongside classic coppa and carpaccio. Pasta is the spine of the menu, but it's likely to arrive with ingredients , cod cheek, kombu butter, surf clams , that wouldn't feature in a Roman trattoria. The kitchen works with small, sustainable producers and operates on a zero-waste ethos, which shapes both what's on the menu and how individual cuts and by-products get used. Loch Etive trout tail baked on the bone with whey butter is a signature example: straightforwardly cooked, but using a part of the fish most kitchens discard. Expect technical precision applied to unpretentious ingredients.

The beef fat potato strati , listed in Michelin's own notes on the restaurant , is worth ordering as a side if available. The menu format is flexible and mix-and-match, which gives you freedom but does require a bit of thought: ordering too few dishes leaves you underwhelmed; over-ordering can be a mistake. As a first-timer, lean toward the pasta courses, one protein, and at least one side. The drinks list includes homemade vermouth, limoncello, coffee liqueur, and kombucha , the house negroni made with that vermouth is a reasonable way to start.

Group Dining and Private Experience

Celentano's does not position itself as a formal private dining venue in the traditional sense, but the flexible menu format works well for small groups. The mix-and-match approach lets a table of four or five share across courses without everyone committing to the same structure. For groups interested in a more considered experience , a birthday dinner, a professional gathering, a special occasion , the informal but lively room works in your favour: it's convivial without being stiff. The Arthouse Glasgow relocation in April 2026 may introduce more defined group-booking infrastructure, but confirmed details are not yet available.

For larger private dining in Glasgow, Unalome by Graeme Cheevers is the comparison point: it has a Michelin star, a more formal service structure, and clearer private room options. If the occasion demands a private room with full table service, Unalome is the better call. If you want something with more energy and a kitchen doing more interesting things with the brief, Celentano's is the answer , assuming you're comfortable with an informal room.

Practical Details

How Celentano's Fits Glasgow's Dining Scene

Glasgow's £££ bracket has become genuinely competitive, and Celentano's holds a clear position in it. Below, a quick rundown of where it sits against its closest peers. For a broader view, see our full Glasgow restaurants guide. You can also explore hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences across the city.

For Italian cooking at a comparable technical level outside the UK, the reference points shift considerably , 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong and cenci in Kyoto show what happens when Italian technique meets a different culinary geography, which is loosely the same creative conversation Parker is having in Glasgow. Closer to home, venues like CORE by Clare Smyth, The Fat Duck, L'Enclume, Moor Hall, Gidleigh Park, and Hand and Flowers set the broader benchmark for serious cooking in the UK , Celentano's plays a different game in terms of formality and price, but the Bib Gourmand signals that the quality conversation is not far off.

Also worth knowing about in the neighbourhood: Big Counter, Brett, and Café Gandolfi are all viable alternatives depending on what you're after.