Here’s to a taste of success in west too

EDINBURGH has an enviable and now internationally benchmarked reputation for restaurants that offer both quality and variety and it is my fervent hope that we will see more achieve high recognition. I can think of one that has tempted my partner and me to travel all the way from Michelin starless Glasgow almost monthly for the last year for consistently superb (and reasonably priced) lunches and amazing dinners, and which deserves to shine as not just a rising star but as a star risen fully in the firmament – and we hope that Michelin will have this week heaped even more recognition on our capital city.

What does Martin Wishart (News, 2 October) propose? Are good chefs and their teams to pack up their knives and whisks and move elsewhere? Well, I would not object if they moved to the starless city in the west. If Martin Wishart is right that Edinburgh can sustain no more quality restaurants then the sensible chef with an eye for business and profit will, of her own account, set up elsewhere. Or does chef Wishart expect Michelin to now draw a line at Edinburgh until a starred establishment fails or moves. No organisation purporting to unbiased assessment and reporting would countenance that.

However, Mr Wishart has a point about the amount of cash that is spare at present and he will have a far better understanding of the current financial worries of the restaurant trade than I. Restaurateurs might, however, reflect on some of the reasons that put customers off spending in their premises: the often unreasonable mark-up on alcohol and even bottled water and the “discretionary” service charge that some restaurants indulge in and that seems to creep ever upwards despite the service in some not improving in proportion or at all.

The restaurant business is fraught with difficulties and it is hard work I would never contemplate. It is not the decor that matters and nor does it draw in the punters: we come for a chef with talent, innovation and skill, supported by a team that serves the customer with attention, skill and knowledge and who charges a reasonable amount that recognises all the effort and quality that has gone into the meal. And that deserves all the recognition she or he can get irrespective of where that restaurant is.

Meantime, let’s also hope Glasgow will attract such chefs soon (with apologies to all those here already doing a good job).

Alan Rodger, Kelvingrove, Glasgow