“Very seldom are we who work in the catering industry appreciated for what we do,” says Gino Nardella, master sommelier at London hotel the Stafford. “We don’t get the awards or OBEs, and yet our contribution is great.”

Nardella is one of the subjects of photographer Peter Jackson’s latest personal project, Long Service: London. Jackson heard about a restaurant in Paris with an employee of more than 40 years standing, and thought there must be similar examples in the UK capital. Last summer, he started calling and emailing London restaurants: “If I walked past a place that looked quite old, I’d pop in.”

When he finds a willing subject – as long as they’ve worked at least 18 years in the same job – he photographs them in their place of work. So far, the project is limited to London and places that serve hot food, but Jackson may expand his brief as people keep bringing him tips. “I’ve heard some great stories about the Goring’s doorman, who has been there for more than 50 years.”

The tales of workers and their environments are often intertwined. Talking to people for the biographies that he writes to go with his portraits on his website, Jackson began to appreciate that decades in the same job brings an extra level of knowledge and skill, not just of the business but of the history and culture of the local area. “I think it all filters down and helps to create a family atmosphere in the restaurant.”

He adds that, given chefs and restaurants receive all the attention, it’s good to celebrate the often overlooked. “These people are the unsung heroes of the food industry.”

Michele Wade

‘Saturday girl’ at Maison Bertaux for 44 years

In, oh, the mid-70s some time, I saw a sign in the window of Maison Bertaux saying “Saturday girl wanted”. Madame Vignaud, the owner, was fantastic. The first thing she said to me was “Cakes are like babies, they’re not as fragile as they look,” as she piled six mille-feuilles up her arm to put in the window. The shop seemed so grand, with all the mirrors, and a bit stark, but beautiful. I’m kind of a messy person, so now it’s got all these flowers and photographs – if you spend a lot of time somewhere, you make it feel like it’s your home. But then, I used to buy flowers from my tips and put them on the tables. So I’ve been here ever since, with the same customers getting older with me.

You don’t always just serve tea, sometimes you have to have a conversation. People like to tell you things; people tell you a lot. Tea’s a very comforting thing and a tearoom should be a place to refresh and restore. Regain your powers. I like it when people talk to other people as well. Sometimes I might sit people together. Sometimes romantic, but often just to have a chat. People are very loyal to the shop. When I was in hospital up the road, all the customers came to see me. I was very lucky. It was lovely. It was like This is Your Life – This is Your Cake Life. I’m winding down here now and just helping out. I started as a Saturday girl and I’m finishing as a Saturday girl.
28 Greek St, London W1D 5DQ

Manuel de Jesus

Kitchen porter at Clarke’s for 21 years

I moved to London in 1997, from Jersey, and before that I was in Madeira where I’m from. The next year, I got the job here at Clarke’s, and I have the same one now. I’m a kitchen porter: I look after the pot wash and clean the restaurant, make sure the front outside looks perfect and help with the garden, too. I work six days a week, I have Sundays for myself – I’m sorry, I need to rest, I’m not in my 20s now. I start at half-past six and finish at four. I live a half an hour’s walk away, and I walk here every day. Sometimes I ride a bike; I’ve had four bikes stolen from outside though. I’m one of the longest-serving employees here, but there are a few who have been here longer. Dawn, the pastry chef, a little bit longer, and Jose, a commis chef, about the same. It’s gone very quickly. The restaurant is 35 years old this year. When we’re all together, we’re a kind of family. That’s very, very, very important. And I don’t like change. When you have a good job and boss who you like, you stay.
124 Kensington Church St, London W8 4BH

Gino Nardella

Master sommelier at the Stafford for 42 years

My first day was on 1 June, 1976. I had finished college in Italy and had a contract for four months, but I loved London. I started working with Keith Dougherty, master sommelier at the Stafford, and never looked back.

It was never my intention to be here all this time, but not many hotels boast the cellars that we have. The opportunities to travel, the encouragement and the freedom to express myself is unique. Any time I had other offers, when I put them on the scale, the Stafford always won.

When I started in the mid-70s there were not really any wine bars in London, and wine was an unfamiliar drink to the masses. At the beginning of the 80s London discovered not only wine but good food. People are much more knowledgeable today. I have endless conversations with our guests, and that’s what I like. Many of my colleagues tend to migrate from restaurants into the wine business. But I find that contact with people fascinating.

The hours are unsociable hours and it’s true, the family side is a little bit complicated. You need a partner who is very strong, but that’s life, I suppose. I do have a family, and it is my wife Veronique who has taken care of them really. But they grew up to be amazing young people – and you have to find a balance. This is a job like many. Yes we work at Christmas, we work when everyone else is on holiday. But you create a sort of second family here. We’re very close here, especially being a small hotel. We share our problems, not necessarily just related to work but also to outside work. There’s a brotherhood and sisterhood that exists within the walls of the Stafford. And then the clients, they’re so nice. That’s what makes the Stafford such a successful place.
16-18 St James’s Pl, London SW1A 1NJ

Delia Lees

Server at the Hard Rock Cafe for 48 years

I’m the longest-serving server in all of the Hard Rocks – in fact, the longest-serving employee in all the Hard Rocks all over the world. I started two weeks after it opened, in 1971. A boyfriend took me here for lunch on a Saturday. It was so, so trendy – like something that had fallen out of the sky. You couldn’t get hamburgers like that anywhere else – in those days McDonald’s didn’t even exist in London. I was an air freight rep, but I just couldn’t seem to save anything, and I said to this boyfriend: “Do you know, I’d like to get a job here.” He said, “You’ve never waitressed in your life”, which I hadn’t but I thought I’d ask. So, I went to the cash desk, and there was a young man there, and I said: “This looks like a very fun place and I need some extra money and I’d very much like to work here.” He asked me how old I was, and I told him I was 31 and had a day job. He told me to come along on Monday with a pair of white shoes. I didn’t know it then, but that was Peter Morton, one of the owners. They wanted all their servers to be slightly older than usual because they thought we’d be kinder. The owners had very big hearts – they’d give us interest-free loans and were very good to the staff.

So then I had a day job and a night job and it was the best thing that ever happened in my life. There were all these salad dressings I had never heard of. And BLTs, I didn’t know what that was – in those days people didn’t eat out or travel like they do now, and to go to America you had to be really wealthy.

I’ve made great friends from all the customers I’ve served; I’ve been to weddings, 18th birthdays, christenings. I met my husband here. It’s a very special place. And here I am – still. I didn’t plan to but I’m still working in my 80th year. I only do two days a week, but I love it – it gives structure to my week. I’m extremely happy and I work with lovely young people who call me auntie – but I bet they call me grandma behind my back! I’m very lucky – I still get to work in a trendy place.
150 Old Park Ln, London W1K 1QZ

Van Le and Van Tran

Front of house at Hanoi Cafe for 18 years

Van Le: We’re best friends who came to the UK together in 1980 on a refugee programme from Vietnam, via Hong Kong. I went to Wolverhampton but Van went to Newcastle. We moved to London in 1986, and lots of Vietnamese people were working in clothing factories. But in the late 90s the factories started closing down. Van’s daughter, who was working in banking, started Hanoi Cafe in 2000. There were only three Vietnamese restaurants in this street at the time. Now there are 13. People know more about Vietnamese food now, because of travelling and the media. I don’t work here every day, but Van comes in daily. Sometimes we’ll go to the market and buy herbs and vegetables. Lots of customers come to see us, they know our photos from the wall and locals see us in the street, so people come and ask for us. It’s nice to have regulars who enjoy the food, and to get to know them as people.
98 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8DP

Melissa Baker

Front of house manager at Andrew Edmunds for 25 years

I used to apologise for the fact that I was still working in a restaurant. But I don’t any more. I first worked at Andrew Edmunds when I was pregnant with my daughter, in October 1994. I did six months as a waitress and then in 1996, when she was about 16 months old, I came back full-time as a manager. I don’t think I would have worked front of house if it hadn’t been here. I was looking at ways of working back of house, in the office, book-keeping …

My daughter’s dad was also in restaurants at the time, and it really fit around our schedules. If I was working nights he would have her, or I would drop her off at his restaurant, or he would come and pick her up here. It afforded me some flexibility. You can’t take a break in the middle of lunch service, but you can start a bit later so you can do a nursery drop-off. My daughter now works with us as a runner. She claims to have worked at Andrew Edmunds since she was six, when she sat at one of the tables counting the coin bags in the petty cash tin. It has that family vibe here. Andrew is a family man; one of his daughters worked front of house, and the restaurant is being passed on to the next generation. This is a family business. No one else has stuck around quite as long as I have, though, to see the next generation coming through.
46 Lexington St, London W1F 0LP