Rock steady

A handsome young Latin barman hugs her; a beautiful, olive-skinned waitress air-kisses her; and a couple of American customers grin awkwardly as they watch.

"Aren't they wonderful? You can't buy that kind of warmth, you know," says Rita Gilligan MBE as she surveys her staff at London's Hard Rock Café.

Queen bee, mother figure, senior staff member, Gilligan's official title is cultural attaché. This means she travels the globe, waving the Hard Rock flag and delivering talks to new staff members about the group's philosophy and core spirit.

The brand has colonised 38 countries, which means that, each year, Gilligan spends up to three months jet-setting and spreading the word. Brimming with charisma and warm energy, she is ideal for the job. This year she has a particular spring in her step, as 14 June marked exactly 30 years since the opening of the first Hard Rock Café.

The restaurant was the creation of two young Americans in London who craved ice-cold beer and hamburgers, USA-style. So they opened their informal diner on Old Park Lane on the site of a former Rolls-Royce showroom. When recruiting staff, they advertised in London's Evening Standard for matronly waitresses aged 30-55 with strong personalities. They were keen to re-create the homely feel of a US diner.

With 16 years behind her as a waitress in various fine-dining venues, Gilligan started work there at 30, the youngest on the payroll. Her memories of that time are vivid.

"The people walking past outside were dressed in mink coats or carrying walking canes - and in here," she recalls, "there were hippies with flowers in their hair and torn jeans eating burgers and drinking bottles of beer. There were plastic tablecloths and bare wooden floors. It was such fun - it seemed like the first classless restaurant in London."

Gilligan is a central character in the Hard Rock Café story. She even has one of the menu items named after her - Lovely Rita's Pot Roast (£7.95), oven-roasted beef with onions, celery, carrots and mushrooms covered with rich brown gravy.

In 1998 she was appointed MBE for services to tourism, and the then culture secretary, Chris Smith, came to the restaurant to present the accolade.

"I remember thinking, ‘Why would the Queen want to give me an MBE?' I was sure there'd been a mistake," she says. "When I got it, I wanted to share it with all the others here. It's theirs as much as mine."

On its anniversary day last week, the restaurant relived 14 June 1971, reverting to its first-ever menu, complete with the original prices. The classic charbroiled country burger was just 50p, a serving of barbecue chicken retailed for 80p, while the café's classic hot fudge sundae sold for 40p.

FACTS:

Hard Rock Café (UK)

150 Old Park Lane, London W1K 1QZ

Tel: 020 7629 0382

Web site: www.hardrock.com

Founded: 1971

Original founders: Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton

Current owners: the Rank Group

President and chief operating officer: Peter Beaudrault

Number of cafés worldwide: 104, of which 56 are company-owned. The rest are franchises

Cafés in the UK: London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast

Seats: London's Hard Rock Café seats 270 across two floors