Nico Simeone doesn't appear to like talking about himself.

He's not as bombastic as you might expect of a chef with a succession of restaurants that have his name above the door.

It's not that he is particularly elusive, it's just that the Glasgow food entrepreneur seems to really tune into the conversation when discussing the dishes that his restaurants present, the team he works with and their creative process.

There's little evidence of personal myth-making or a desire to be a household name, although he's content with the spotlight tonight as he introduces the latest Six by Nico menu.

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His debut restaurant, 111 by Nico opened in 2015, bringing affordable, progressive tasting menus to Cleveden Road in Kelvinside. Two years later Six by Nico opened on Argyle Street in Finnieston. I called it the city's best new restaurant at the time while being slightly quizzical about the potential longevity of the project. A six course menu, inspired by an idea or a place, available for six weeks before the restaurant resets and starts again.

There is an appetite for this style of dining. Six by Nico currently has two locations in Glasgow, alongside Beat 6 in Dennistoun where profits go to the Beatson Cancer Charity - the neighbourhood restaurant was recently recommended by Condé Nast Traveller magazine. The rotating menu concept is now in Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, Belfast, Fitzrovia and Canary Wharf in London. They most recently opened a venue in Dublin, continuing a policy of expanding through the pandemic.

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How much of this empire building was by design?

"It all started because the unit was available in Finnieston, a chef I used to work with let me know. I spoke to John Macleod and I was able to make a deal. It just happened so fast. I knew I wanted to be in that area. We had the idea of a tasting menu that would be supported by video marketing on Facebook. The idea just evolved into what it is, it wasn't planned. We tried Edinburgh and that worked. It was really from the continuing feedback, I thought this could work in other cities."

After a sustained period of frenetic activity I wonder what keeps Nico engaged with the business.

"I have this five, 10 year vision of where I can see the company going and what we can be. Goal setting and how to achieve that, breaking it down to our team, that keeps me working. I enjoy the growth side and I still love the creativity side. Sometimes you don't realise the progress you are making when you are in it. to still be opening restaurants during Covid and investing in the warehouse, still recruiting. That's what keeps me going."

The warehouse is a kitchens and packing centre at Anniesland for Home-X, a dining box business that sprung out of lockdown, continuing to become a partner business to the restaurants, with a headquarters on Miller Street. "It's a massive, growing part of hospitality. I've got young kids, me and my wife we can't get out all the time, even for us being able to have the box experience at home with the kids is great, I do believe in the market and that it's going to keep going. The floodgate on creativity is open when it comes to dining experience in people's homes. It's a major investment but it is something we want to keep developing."

Nico's foray into the London market attracted sneers from some critics - fine dining for the Instagram generation - but has proven to be a powerhouse.

"At Canary Wharf on a Saturday we will serve 2,600 plates plus snacks. Four plates of food every minute for eleven hours."

Nico says, "we never use the term fine dining. We cook food that we enjoy creating and offer the best experience and value for money. A big part of our success has been the price. We created a bit of noise when we first opened by taking a product associated with a high price. We have made it more casual, fun and somewhere you would hopefully want to come back every six weeks and try again."

The defining rules of the concept are a challenge.

"The hard bit is you are taking something that is massively successful for six weeks, it could be an amazing thing but you are throwing it in the bin. Then you go again. The interesting thing about the newer venues is they have benefited from the successes and mistakes we made here in Glasgow. The original restaurants continue to create new themes and the newer venues are able to make their own improvements to existing menus" he says.

Nico goes off to prepare for tonight's service, a Hanoi-inspired selection of dishes that will be available until August 28. Highlights include bún riêu with Vietnamese shellfish foam, avocado, grapefruit, crispy noodles and wild rice alongside chả cá lã vọng of cod, coconut and coriander chutney, curry, bok choy and bánh da.

Capturing the emotional connection and theatre of food has been a constant thread through Six by Nico's small plates. International travel will increasingly be part of the development process and for the Hanoi menu, the team in Glasgow collected local information through connecting with Vietnamese food writers and content creators for virtual tours of markets and insights into current trends.

I ask Nico which of the menus over the past five years has been most personal to him. "It's the chippy menu that we started with. That's what my parents did, that's where I used to work as a wee boy. That's where my memory is. It's the menu that we use to launch every venue. It has changed every time we have introduced it but it sums up the concept, taking inspiration from something you wouldn't normally think about it that way."