Edinburgh attracts its fourth Michelin-starred chef
Michelin-starred chef Paul Kitching is moving to the Scottish capital and plans to open a hotel-restaurant in the New Town this coming December.
Mr Kitching, whose experimental cuisine has made him one of the UK’s most talked-about chefs, will be leaving the Manchester-based restaurant Juniper to establish himself alongside Edinburgh’s current Michelin starred restaurants the Balmoral, Martin Wishart and the Kitchin.
Speaking to The Journal, the chef said that he has visited Edinburgh a number of times, and has always been impressed by the city’s diverse choice of restaurants.
“Wishart’s restaurant is fantastic and Jeff Bland at the Balmoral is also a great chef,” he said.
Born near Newcastle, Mr Kitching began his career as a kitchen porter and quickly rose to success, combining his creative flair with training in French haute cuisine.
He said: “I was not only interested by the cooking but learning how a kitchen is run. I liked the discipline of a kitchen brigade: the shiny kitchen, the knives and the crisp white clothes of the kitchen staff.”
When asked about his own kitchen staff, he said: “They are young and fresh. We like our staff to be open-minded people and not set in their ways.”
Food critics have described Mr Kitching’s style as “improvisational and breathtaking” and have used phrases such as “an epicurean’s wet dream” to describe Juniper, crediting its menu as being “at the vanguard of culinary adventurism.”
Juniper’s eclectic menu has combined an array flavours and ingredients over the years, ranging from marshmallow in frothy pea soup to smoked salmon with vanilla ice-cream. His toothpaste-and-mouthwash dessert using egg whites, strawberry coulis, Crème de Menthe and Andrew's Liver Salts was so popular that it stayed on the menu for six months.
“I was inspired by looking at people’s teeth” he joked. “We served it on toothbrushes bought at Sainsbury’s for something like 15 pence each.”
Despite holding onto a Michelin star for 11 years at Juniper and being rated UK's 20th finest restaurant in the Good Food Guide for two consecutive years, Mr Kitching wants to return to his classical roots of French cuisine and hopes that a career move will lead to a second star.
He told The Journal: “We are going to strike a happy medium and also adjust to the type of building that we cook in.”
The new restaurant-hotel will be named Hotel Angela after the chef’s mother, and whilst the location is still uncertain, Mr Kitching and his staff are searching for spacious Georgian property on Royal Terrace, Queen Street or Charlotte Square, which could accommodate a 35-cover restaurant and a six to eight-bedroom boutique hotel.
Mr Kitching expressed both his trepidation and enthusiasm about moving to Scotland. He lists the Film House as a favourite haunt and his love of Edinburgh-brewed Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer which the chef compares to “drinking a salty toffee apple.”
Praising the city, he said: “Edinburgh takes my breath away; for me there is nothing like it.”
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