Latest news with #StuartRalston
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
I saw what Gordon Ramsay had and thought 'I want that'
Stuart Ralston was destined for a culinary dad was a chef, his mum was a chef and his brothers went into the business was necessity that took him into his first kitchen at 13 "so he could afford his own trainers".But it was hard work that led him to his first Michelin star, bagged in February at the age of with four renowned restaurants in Edinburgh, the Glenrothes-born chef who cut his teeth in New York under Gordon Ramsay has come a long way. Ralston's housing estate upbringing couldn't be further away from the upmarket fine dining establishments he finds himself in told the BBC Scotland's Scotcast: "If you come from a background where potentially you didn't have much and you wanted to get more, it gives you a certain chip on your shoulder or a resilience that you can really battle through a lot of hard times.""The business is a hard business to be in and it takes people who are really determined not to fail and I think that's the common thing that I always see with a lot people in our industry."Ralston was the victim of two knife assaults in his youth."In primary I was slashed with a pair of scissors from my ear to the bottom of my mouth after an argument with someone."And in high school I got slashed on my leg with a box cutter with someone just walking through the hallways."So, you know, I didn't grow up in the most affluent of areas, it was a dog-eat-dog world. But I think getting out of that just made me determined to not be part of that culture. Ralston worked his way through the ranks in his late teens and early 20s and then chanced his arm by asking celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay for job at his New York restaurant."I'd done a trial in London for him that I thought I'd messed up really badly, but I still got offered the job because I had an attitude. I really cared about my career and trying to be something and I think they saw that."I got an opportunity that not many people did. There was maybe only eight British guys taken out to America. "I was 23 years old and I didn't know anybody."He doesn't recognise the angry, potty-mouthed Gordon Ramsay that made his mark on TV shows. But he did soak up the work ethic and skills on display around him."I didn't really see what people see on TV as much. It was definitely tough, and he was definitely passionate about what we were doing."I worked more so with the head chefs that had been with him for a long time."After two years, scraping chewing gum off tables, prepping vegetables and setting up the staff canteen led to kitchen training and running every section of Ramsay's restaurant at the London spent five years in New York, rising to head chef status and then spent a stint back in the UK before a time at the Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados. Fast forward to 2025 and he is halfway through his most successful year. He has four Edinburgh restaurants - Aizle, Noto, Tipo and Lyla, for which he was awarded his first Michelin star in says his kitchens run differently to those days in the early 2000s and that the culture has changed."It was rough, really rough," he admitted."When I was started out, you're working all the hours. The conditions were tough. "I've seen fights, I've see people getting burned, I have seen things being thrown at people. I have seen people being kicked out of kitchens for mistakes. "But mostly, I would say, I don't think there's many kitchens that would run like that nowadays." For someone who dreamed of owning his own restaurant from a young age, Stuart Ralston has realised his says he grew into who he is and changed his perspective when he saw what was possible, learning from the best people around him. He said: "Take Gordon for example, look what he's done in his life. I saw him and I wanted a bit of that."
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Where to eat in Edinburgh according to top Scottish chef
If you find yourself in Edinburgh, there's a good chance of bumping into me at any of the places listed below! Lyla 3 Royal Terrace I went to Lyla with my wife to celebrate her birthday, and everything was perfect from the get-go. I actually used to work in the building when it was 21212 under Paul Kitching which made seeing how Stuart Ralston has put his own stamp on the place even more impressive. On top of that, the food was just incredible, and they're not afraid to try something a bit different, like Sake on the wine pairing menu, to elevate the experience. To me, this place is the pinnacle of fine dining in Edinburgh at the moment. Dishoom 3A St Andrew Square Out of all the spots on this list, I'd say I visit Dishoom the most often. I love a curry, and because of the relaxed atmosphere here, it's a great place for business meetings. You walk past the kitchen and get the smells of food cooking and incense sticks burning, which take me right back to my time spent in India. The vegetarian dishes, like fried okra and Bombay potatoes, are some of my favourite things to order. No matter what time of day you go, it's always packed out, which goes to show how well they've managed to hit the nail on the head with what they offer. Skua 49 St Stephen Street I find it so interesting that Tomás Gormley has a background in fine dining, Michelin-style cooking, but seems to favour a menu of dishes that people really want to eat at Skua. There's his fried chicken and great cocktails, and the restaurant itself has a dark, almost speakeasy style vibe. The food is a lot more refined than some of the other places on the list, but not overly fancy. For the quality of what you're getting, the prices are really reasonable. The Palmerston 1 Palmerston Place On the last list of my favourite places to eat in Fife, I included the Kinneuchar Inn, and I find there are a lot of similarities between it and The Palmerston. They use such great produce, and it's all very rustic. It's the kind of place you can go in and be served a beautiful slice of game terrine on a really vintage-looking plate alongside big chunks of sourdough and a swipe of butter. Their pies are cooked in dishes that look like something you would pull from the cupboard at your great-grandmother's house, but they taste so good. The best one I've tried was a chicken pie a while back. The whole thing felt so traditional and nostalgic. If you want to stop by for breakfast, they make all of their pastries downstairs and line them up on the counter to choose from. It's a brilliant all-day dining spot. Dulse 17 Queensferry Street You might accuse me of being biased here, but our Dulse restaurant really is one of my favourite places to eat in Edinburgh. I take my family there a lot because my son loves seafood from octopus to lobster or crab, and some of my happiest memories have been made with him at the restaurant. It's laid back and there's no fuss, you can show up wearing whatever you want and just enjoy yourself. Yes, I own it, but who doesn't love amazing seafood cooked in a simple yet delicious way? Timberyard 10 Lady Lawson Street Dining at Timberyard is this brilliant experience that starts with walking through big, heavy doors. It's such a grand welcome into a space that's lovely and light during the day, then candlelit and moody at night. There are big chunky tables, and the interiors feel like they've been stripped back to the bare bones; it's almost like being in an art gallery or something. But it's not pretentious at all, and the food is all about getting the best out of high-quality seasonal produce. The wine list is also almost the same size as the Yellow Pages, which I love because you always know you're going to finish your meal having discovered something new. Brass Monkey 362 Leith Walk I first discovered Brass Monkey when we were opening Dulse in Leith. I always like to have a restaurant nearby that I can nip into for lunch or a pint when a shift is finished, and found myself ending up here time and time again. It's so bloody cheap, and everything is made fresh. The Korean chicken strips in gouchouchang are my go-to, or the big bowl of bratwurst sausage chopped up and served with Dijon mustard. In the wintertime time they put on an open fire, and it's dog-friendly, which is something I always appreciate. What more could you ask for? Basement Gelato 31 Queensferry Street Basement Gelato opened up across the road from us in Leith just over a year ago. I remember going over to show support during their first week, ordering a pistachio gelato, and just thinking, 'wow, this is unbelievable.' The guy who owns it works his arse off to make this proper Italian gelato as well as milkshakes and crumbles in the colder months. If you asked me what my two favourite ice cream parlours in the world are, the answer would be Janetta's in St Andrews and this place. I'm such a big fan that you'll actually find some of the brown butter flavour on the dessert menu at Dulse.
Times
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
11 of the best restaurants in Edinburgh
Once upon a time, Scotland was famous for being the country that exported its finest ingredients abroad while its inhabitants subsisted on a diet of deep-fried Mars bars washed down with Irn-Bru. Not any longer. Scottish chefs are raiding a natural larder of arguably the world's best fish, seafood and wild game and transforming it into a cuisine that is both distinctly Caledonian and creatively contemporary. Nowhere is this showcased more exuberantly than in the Scottish capital, named as the UK's most exciting food destination in 2025 by the Good Food Guide. True, the city's most ambitious chefs are perhaps overly fond of fine dining and tasting menus — Edinburgh has more Michelin stars than any other city in Scotland — but each month seems to bring an ever-more exciting choice of casual options too. And if you want to escape the crowds, neighbourhood-focused food scenes in Leith, Stockbridge and Marchmont offer an alternative to the big names in the city centre's Old Town and New Town. This article contains affiliate links, which may earn us revenue £££ | BOOK AHEAD | Best for seafood-leaning fine dining Stuart Ralston already had three critically acclaimed Edinburgh restaurants to his name — Aizle, Noto and Tipo — when he opened Lyla in autumn 2023. This 28-seat dining room has cemented his reputation as the city's foremost chef and restaurateur, with the Michelin star to prove it. Ten-course suppers of the freshest Scottish fish begin over canapés in an upstairs drawing room where you can see the raw produce (fish and the meat used in one of the courses) in the dry-ageing rooms; the finished product might include a luxurious plate of N25 caviar with wild bream, black radish and sea buckthorn. It sounds super formal, but friendly staff ensure the whole experience feels relaxed, while the location in a Georgian house with views over the Edinburgh skyline to the Firth of Forth sets the scene. £ | BOOK AHEAD | BAR | Best for a banging brunch from a star chef A venue that has a hash brown as its signature dish is worth a morning of anyone's time but there's more to this Leith café-cum-bar than posh potatoes. Owner Roberta Hall-McCarron (above) is one of Edinburgh's most talented chefs, having represented Scotland in the Great British Menu, where she reached the finals and won the fish course. Ardfern finds her in more casual mode compared with her special-occasion restaurant The Little Chartroom next door, but still with the same focus on ace ingredients: even the sausages and bacon in the fry-up are homemade. That hash brown comes as a pair of crunchy cuboids piled with pecorino cheese and dolloped with roast onion ketchup, and you can come back and have it again on the concise evening menu too. ££ | Best for seasonal Scottish ingredients The grand proportions of bank conversions always seem to make light and airy dining rooms but the cooking at this restaurant close to Haymarket railway station would merit attention even if the bistro-style setting were not so convivial. Many Edinburgh chefs champion Scottish ingredients but few do it as convincingly as those at the Palmerston, where whole animals are butchered in-house and relationships with farmers and fishermen are cherished. The Palmerston is also that rare thing in Edinburgh: a destination restaurant where one can have three heartily portioned courses instead of ten tiny ones. The weekday set lunch, meanwhile, is the stuff of local legend, sending out two or three courses for £21 and £24 respectively. Here earlier in the day? The bakery makes dreamy breakfast pastries to eat in or take away. ££ | BOOK AHEAD | BAR | Best for small-plate suppers and late-night libations Small is beautiful at Skua, where a snappy menu of a dozen seasonal small plates is cooked up in a tiny kitchen. The restaurant might be short on space but not on ambition, with each perfectly balanced dish delivering a wallop of big, bold flavour — as you would expect from a place owned by hotshot chef Tomás Gormley, who also has casual fine-diner Cardinal nearby. Try his fried chicken with fermented peach hot sauce and follow with doughnuts erupting with smoked cheese and guanciale (cured pork cheek). The kitchen closes at 10pm but the bar mixes nightcaps such as the crème brûlée (a nuanced mix of oloroso sherry and white chocolate) for a couple of hours after. Who needs pudding? Walk-in space is limited, so best to book ahead. ££ | BOOK AHEAD | Best for candlelit meals à deux If all the new Nordic and Scandi-chic restraint that's emblematic of Edinburgh's contemporary dining scene begins to pale, embrace your inner maximalist and sense of gothic romance at this gloriously OTT restaurant with sumptuous suites at the summit of the Royal Mile. True, the location by the gates of Edinburgh Castle makes the Witchery catnip for tourists, but the 16th-century dining room provides eye-popping fireworks to equal the city's famous Tattoo, from tapestries and oak panelling to flames flickering in tall brass candlesticks. The cooking, thankfully, is simpler than the surroundings and at its best in Scottish ingredients handled with a light touch — a tartare of aged Scotch beef rather than haggis with pineapple chutney, say. Accompaniments such as duck fat crumpets will make you grateful that the walk home is downhill — if you're not bedding down in one of the opulent rooms upstairs, that • Read our full guide to Scotland• Best hotels in Edinburgh ££ | Best for plant-forward modern classics Janet Henderson opened her trailblazing New Town address in 1962; by the time it closed during the pandemic, it was the UK's longest-established vegetarian restaurant. Her grandson Barrie revived the family name one year later in new digs on the other side of town, but this is no exercise in nostalgia: Henderson junior has an MBA in hospitality and has updated the menus for 21st-century tastes in clean-lined, contemporary surrounds. So while there are still signatures like lentil lasagne and vegan haggis, the old-time classics have been joined by jackfruit tostada and miso aubergine. Organic ingredients are used wherever possible, and lots of the menu is either vegan or has the option to be. £ | Best for next-level sandwiches 'Big hot sandwiches' (their words) of deep-filled focaccia are the house speciality at Alby's, ranging from the relatively healthy — pan-fried mackerel with dill aïoli and matchstick chips, say — to the anything but. Still, it's hard to feel guilty about eating a sweet-and-sour chicken sandwich when the battered chook slathered in sesame and Chiu Chow chilli mayo tastes so damn good, plus the doorstop sarnies clock in around the £13 mark, which feels good value when you consider the scale. Veggie alternatives such as fried courgette with garlicky skordalia dip are similarly sledgehammer-subtle on the flavour front. In the unlikely event you're still hungry, sides like corn ribs with chimichurri won't inflict too much damage on the modest bill. There's another equally cheerful Alby's in Southside, but only the Leith original takes bookings. ££ | BOOK AHEAD | BAR | Best for natural wines and ingredients-led simplicity It's a game of two halves at Montrose, the Radford family's follow-up to their smash-hit Timberyard in the Old Town. Upstairs is closer in spirit to its Michelin-starred sibling, where diners at seven white-clothed tables are treated to a four-course menu showcasing wild and wonderful Scottish ingredients prepared with the sort of simplicity that lets the natural flavour do the talking: aged mallard with morels, wild garlic, grains and amontillado sherry, say. There are vegan and vegetarian menus, too. Downstairs, though, is more fun, a wine bar where on-trend small plates such as Korean fried quail with kimchi and pickled turnip are matched to a well-curated drinks list featuring not only low-intervention wines but also fermented soft drinks like kombucha. £££ | BOOK AHEAD | Best for Edinburgh's most intriguing tasting menu In a city not short on myths and legends, American chef Rodney Wages has his own compelling story to tell. So smitten was he by the Scottish capital when he visited on holiday that he closed his Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco, re-located his family to Edinburgh and opened a new version in a Georgian townhouse in Stockbridge, complete with bold Victor Reyes artworks transported from California. The gamble paid off: Michelin awarded Avery a star nine months after opening. The tasting menu is scrawled in handwritten block capitals with terse descriptions on stiff parchment paper; 'haggis' turns out to be the offal of a barley-fed pigeon served with whisky sauce and cherries. There is, of course, Californian wine, but just as much of a focus on saké, champagne and non-alcoholic cocktails. ££ | BOOK AHEAD | BAR | Best for family-friendly cheffy thrills Even if you didn't know that this gastropub was owned by celebrity chef Tom Kitchin, the rustic-chic decor and homemade vegetable chips on each table would be the first signs that this is not two pints of lager and a packet of crisps territory. The chefs here follow the same nature-to-plate ethos as the Michelin-starred The Kitchin in Leith. For grown-ups that means classic pub grub based on superior ingredients from fish and steak pies to Highland wagyu burgers, Islay oysters and Orkney scallops. Children get their own 'scallies' menu with sausage and mash and macaroni cheese, finishing with build-you-own sundaes and the whole lot washed down with milkshakes. If the play area doesn't do the trick, burn off any excess energy with a stroll around the nearby Royal Botanic Garden. ££ | Best for lip-smacking sushi Glasgow may have the more notable reputation for the strength of its Indian and Chinese dining scene, but when it comes to Japanese, Edinburgh wins hands down. The city's sushi cognoscenti reckon the raw fish is better sourced and more expertly sliced at this serene restaurant in the shadow of the castle than at anywhere else in the Scottish capital. Two chefs work in an open kitchen preparing a menu split into five sections: sushi, tempura, teppan, classics and specials; if the choice feels overwhelming, simply order one dish from each. Not everything is raw, the likes of tuna and scallop have their flavour amplified by a quick flash on the grill; and not everything is fishy, arguably the best thing of all is the grilled aubergine flecked with sweet miso sauce. • Discover our full guide to the UK• Best UK pubs with rooms• Best Michelin-starred restaurants with rooms
