Too many chefs spoil the capital, says Wishart

However, one of the country’s most distinguished chefs has warned that Scotland’s capital is at risk of becoming “saturated” with Michelin-starred dining venues.

Martin Wishart, the current AA UK Chef’s Chef of the Year, believes there are not enough fine diners in Edinburgh to sustain any more high-quality restaurants.

The protege of Michel Roux and Marco Pierre White, whose eponymous Leith restaurant earned the city its first Michelin star, claims the standard of meals served in Edinburgh has gone from execrable to international class in little more than a decade.

But the London and US-trained chef feels Auld Reekie is not big enough to accommodate further high-end dining establishments.

His comments come just days before the latest edition of the Michelin Guide, the influential bon viveur’s bible, is due to published.

Wishart, who in July opened his brasserie The Honours in central Edinburgh, said: “I don’t mean to be disrespectful to the restaurateurs at the time, but when I came back to Edinburgh in 1999 the food was shit.

“Now we have five Michelin-starred restaurants.

“My understanding is that they are doing rather well, but it’s approaching saturation point.

“There are only so many visitors to the city who want to eat in Michelin-starred restaurants for lunch or dinner.”

The chef, who also operates a cooking school, and a restaurant at Cameron House on the shores of Loch Lomond, believes further expansion of the fine dining market would prove damaging rather than productive.

He said: “Because of the competition the weaker ones will struggle.

“If you stretch it further than six or maybe seven Michelin restaurants, with the population of Edinburgh and even with visitors coming in, you will find that some of them will slow down.”

However, Tom Kitchin, who owns The Kitchin in Leith and writes for Spectrum Magazine, disagreed with his rival’s assessment, suggesting that Michelin-starred restaurants raise the bar for eateries and pubs across the city.

He said: “If you look at all the Michelin-starred restaurants here, every single one is absolutely different, and the personality of the chef shines through each of the restaurants. If we were all the same it would be boring, but we’re not. So, saturated, I wouldn’t agree.

“By having the number of restaurants we do, you raise the standard of all the pubs, all the little cafes.”

Kitchin added: “Scottish people have something fantastic here and we should embrace it.

“If it got to the point were there are a few more Michelin-star restaurants here, I don’t think that would be a bad thing at all. Perhaps can get rid of this horrific deep-friend Mars bar reputation people joke about.”

Dominic Jack, the chef patron at fine-dining venue Castle Terrace, which opened in the city last year, also disagreed with Wishart’s stance.

Jack, who has already received a Michelin “rising star”, said: “By creating a hub of good restaurants you actually drive people into the city.

“We already get customers who specifically travel to Edinburgh to eat because of its growing reputation as a food destination.”

He added: “One of the reasons I left the city when I was 18 was that there was nowhere to go and work.

“I’m delighted that Edinburgh is now widely recognised as Britain’s second city in terms of quality dining and I want that to continue.”

Malcolm Duck, chairman of the Edinburgh Restaurateurs Association, claimed many businesses are already struggling to keep their heads above water.

The owner of Ducks, at Kilspindie in Aberlady, said: “Edinburgh is probably one of the hardest markets there is and I think there probably are too many Michelin-starred restaurants in the city.

“The guys just underneath that level are already suffering enormously. A lot of big names and good restaurants, like Gary Rhodes, The Atrium and Jacksons have come and gone in recent years.”

The former Royal Marine responded in an equally frank fashion to Wishart’s observations about the city’s culinary progress, stating: “I don’t agree that ten years, or so, ago the standard was crap.

“There were good restaurants, but they just weren’t given the appreciation they deserved. There is still a lot of crap around and I would say there is a pronounced division between crap and very good restaurants in Edinburgh. There is not a lot of room in the middle.”

Edinburgh currently has five Michelin-starred venues: Number One at the Balmoral Hotel, Martin Wishart in Leith, The Kitchin, run by Tom Kitchin, Tony Borthwick’s Plumed Horse and Paul Kitching’s 21212 restaurant in Royal Terrace.

In addition, the latest Michelin Guide gave a Bib Gourmand, the award for good food at moderate prices, to Hanover Street restaurant The Dogs.

Outside of London, only Birmingham comes even close to matching the Scottish capital, with three Michelin-starred venues.

Last month Wishart revealed plans to explore opening a second branch of The Honours in Glasgow, which currently does not have a single Michelin star, stating: “Glasgow is a great city and it’s got some great dining people, great suppliers and good restaurants.”

While the quality of Scottish cuisine has improved immeasurably in recent years, he believes restaurateurs now need to focus on eliminating surly service. He said: “Poor service is a bugbear of mine. The hospitality industry should focus on service, as well as quality of food. In Scotland we could provide much better training for front-of-house staff. It’s an area we can improve on dramatically.”