My Favourite Room

My favourite room probably sounds really off the wall. It’s Dino’s Café, which sits on the seafront at Helensburgh, on the west coast of Scotland. Back in 1957, I was an 18-year-old mechanic at my father’s Dumbuck Garage in nearby Dumbarton. At the time, we all knew Dino’s Radio Café. Karl and Fiona Giarchi, who have now run it for nearly four decades, are proudly celebrating its centenary this year: it was established in 1923.

When it first opened, cafés could not sell alcohol, so most had a piano or a band to attract custom. But that needed an expensive entertainment licence, and musicians had to be paid. The two Italians who founded ‘my’ café couldn’t afford either, so they installed what was then a new-fangled and rare radio. The place became an instant hit. By the ’50s, it had a jukebox, and for teenagers it had become Helensburgh central.

Back then I played a lot of golf with a friend, Jim MacPherson. Jim and his girlfriend, Irene Fraser, fixed me up with a blind date, so we could all to go out in a Jaguar Mark II saloon I’d borrowed from our garage. We were going to drive up to Garelochhead, then Loch Lomond, and back – a nice run. 

Jim and Irene had arranged for us to meet this date, Patricia Singleton, in Dino’s Café. We walked in and Jim introduced us: “Jackie’s going to take us for a run in his Jaguar.” She just looked me up and down, and said: “Oh no he’s not!”. And that was that. I was crushed, really disappointed. 

Jim and I then walked across to where Irene had taken a seat in an open booth in an alcove with another girl she knew, named Helen McGregor, the local baker’s daughter. Dino’s did great Italian ice-cream – it still does. You could have a ‘single-nugget’ ice-cream or a ‘double-nugget’, with either one or two little biscuity nougat things – I preferred the single-nugget. Anyway, we sat and talked, and then I asked Helen if she’d like to come along for the ride. And she did. We talked some more – something clicked… we got married in 1962, and have been together ever since.

So that’s why Dino’s Café – formerly Dino’s Radio Café – is my favourite room. I still drop by for a single-nugget ice-cream whenever I’m nearby.

And I even still remember what was playing constantly on its jukebox that day: Pat Boone’s latest hit ‘Love Letters in the Sand’.

Dino’s Café, 31 West Clyde Street, Helensburgh (01436 674667).

Sir Jackie Stewart set up the charity Race Against Dementia to fund research after Helen was diagnosed with the disease. Any donation is most welcome.