Michelin stars go out for two Scots eateries

TWO leading Scottish restaurants lost their coveted Michelin stars yesterday as the latest round of the prestigious eatery awards were announced.

The Plumed Horse in Edinburgh, owned by top chef Tony Borthwick, and the Champany Inn in Linlithgow both lost their stars.

Meanwhile, three other Scottish restaurants received stars: Glenapp Castle in Ayrshire, Castle Terrace in Edinburgh and high-profile chef Martin Wishart’s establishment at Loch Lomond.

Scotland now has 15 restaurants bearing at least one Michelin star, while Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles is the only establishment with two.

Ian Bruce, general manager of The Plumed Horse, said he was shocked to lose his star.

“Confusion and disappointment reigned here today,” he said. “We’re not aware of any changes we’ve made, so we don’t understand what’s changed for Michelin.”

His establishment has lost its Michelin star status before when he moved The Plumed Horse from Crossmichael near Castle Douglas to Leith in 2006, regaining it in 2009.

Anne Davidson, who co-owns the Champany Inn with her husband Clive, was sanguine about the news.

“We’ve been at the Champany for 30 years, and for 27 of those years we didn’t have a Michelin star, and we have had one for the past two years. We didn’t ask for one, it was totally unexpected when we got it after 27 years, I’m not sure why we got it, and now we don’t have it and I’m not sure why,” she said.

Castle Terrace’s award comes barely a year after it opened in the capital, and means Edinburgh continues to hold the most starred restaurants in Scotland, with five rated establishments.

Chef Dominic Jack said he was “overjoyed” at the news: “It has been an unbelievable first year and every day we learn and progress. I’ve imagined what it must feel like to hold a Michelin star since my early days working in some of the top Michelin restaurants in Paris so it’s incredibly rewarding to have received this recognition.”

The restaurant had already created a stir at the start of the year when it won a Michelin Rising Star, in addition to a series of other industry awards.

Edinburgh-born Mr Jack was trained at Telford College before spending four years at five-star hotel Gleneagles, then working in several two and three-starred establishments in Paris. He returned to Edinburgh several years ago to work with Scots chef Tom Kitchin at his Leith restaurant The Kitchin.

Yesterday’s announcement comes on the back of comments at the weekend made by Mr Wishart, who was unavailable for comment yesterday, warning that Edinburgh was becoming “saturated” with Michelin-starred restaurants and lacked sufficient fine-dining fans to sustain the high-end establishments.

Derek Marshall, chef and owner at Gamba in Glasgow, yesterday branded the continued absence of Michelin stars for Scotland’s largest city as “a bit of a joke”.

Glasgow has not received a star since Gordon Ramsay closed his Amaryllis restaurant back in 2003.

Mr Marshall stormed: “The disparity with Edinburgh is getting ridiculous – I think they just have a blind spot when it comes to great food in Glasgow”.