Home-cooked food is the secret to the success of Charlie's Café in Inverness
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A well-established city centre café was originally set up by an Italian family who first moved to Inverness in the 1930s.
The current owner of Charlie’s Café, Martin Peiraccini, said they moved to Scotland from Barga which he described as the “most Scottish village in Italy”.
His great grandfather had set up a chip shop in Glasgow during the 1920s and the family moved north to Wick a few years later when the area was experiencing a herring boom, and there was a demand for new cafés and shops.
Mr Peiraccini said his grandfather set up the café in a converted house on the corner of Margaret Street in September 1952, and he named it after himself.
Offering value for money snacks and meals, a warm welcome from friendly faces and good down-to-earth food. it has served customers over many generations.
The family-run business has always been a friendly meeting place for almost 70 years.
In the early days it became the place for young people to visit in Inverness and in 1957 it was the first café to have a jukebox. During the late 50s and 60s it was packed every evening until midnight.
Mr Peiraccini said they had other businesses in the city and added: “In 1944 my grandfather owned a chip shop in Grant Street and they also had a chip van as well.”
Mr Peiraccini said macaroni was one of his biggest sellers and insisted that the secret of the café’s success was that all the food was “home cooked”.
They were able to reopen on July 15, in line with government advice, and he said: “It is reduced hours at the moment – we have extended them since we reopened – and it is only six days a week as we have not opened on a Sunday yet.”
As part of the safety measures which have been put in place, they have lost around 40 per cent of the seats to allow for social distancing.
He said: “The hardest part is people not cleaning their hands when they come in – it is getting them to think differently and this is what it will be like for now.
“If they gel their hands, it means whatever they touch in the café will be clean.
“We will beat this thing – you could say it is in everybody’s hands.”
He said customers should feel confident enough to return to the city centre and added: “There’s no reason why they shouldn’t feel safe.
“We are doing all we can and following the rules. We had a strict hygiene regime anyway.”
