Restaurant open less than a year is third in Capital to win Michelin Star
A RESTAURANT which has been open for less than a year has become only the third in the Capital to gain a prestigious Michelin Star.
The Kitchin restaurant on the Shore was awarded the top honour today, joining near neighbour Martin Wishart and Number One at The Balmoral on the list.
Owner Tom Kitchin, 29, is also close to Michelin-starred chef Tony Borthwick’s Plumed Horse, which has just relocated from Dumfriesshire to Henderson Street.
Mr Kitchin, who trained with Michelin-starred chefs such as Pierre Koffmann, Guy Savoy and Alain Ducasse, had been widely tipped to receive the honour himself, despite only opening his restaurant in June. But he said he was shocked when Michelin named him among only 15 new recipients in the UK, taking the total up to 122.
Mr Kitchin said: “I’m still gobsmacked. I honestly didn’t think it would happen. It’s too early, we only opened in June. It’s a remarkable feat and I’m very proud of everyone.
“Getting Michelin-starred was not the objective. I wanted to cook food I like to cook, using the wonderful produce we have here in Scotland.
“I only had one meeting with Michelin. Because we are a new restaurant they came to eat here. They started with roast langoustine, stuffed courgette flowers, and mackerel tartar. I can’t remember what they had for the main course.
“After the meal they identified themselves but they didn’t talk about the food or give me any feedback.
“They asked where I source the ingredients, what’s my philosophy on food, where did I train. They even wanted to come in and look at my kitchen.
“They said there would be two or three more visits, but that they would be completely undercover.”
It has been a whirlwind few months for the chef, who married his wife Michaela in August and closed the restaurant this month to go on a belated honeymoon. The Kitchin opened again yesterday.
He recently joined celebrities Ewan McGregor, Nick Nairn and Colin and Justin in a fundraising drive to help youngsters in Rachel House.
He has contributed special dishes from The Kitchin, to a tenth anniversary recipe book which will raise money for children’s homes in Kinross, Balloch and Inverness.
“It had been pretty full on and we finally went away for a two-week break this month. Now we’re back and it’s been good finding my feet again.
“This is a great start to the new year.”
More restaurants in Britain and Ireland now have Michelin stars than ever before.
In the recent round of awards the Channel Islands did particularly well, with Guernsey boasting a Michelin-starred restaurant for only the second time.
Four London restaurants were awarded a star each, and one was awarded two stars with the upgrade of Petrus, in Belgravia.
Michelin Guide editor Derek Bulmer said: “London has done well this year.
“More and more chefs are opening in London, so there are more listed than ever.
“The Channel Islands have also done well. The area is able to support these sort of restaurants, it’s been very successful.
“The chef who was awarded the star in Guernsey this year transferred from another restaurant there, which also had a star, but closed down.”
A total of 12 establishments were stripped of their single Michelin awards.
The Waterside Inn and the Fat Duck, both in Bray, Berkshire, and Gordon Ramsay in London’s Chelsea held on to their positions as the UK’s only holders of three Michelin stars.
