GOOD TASTE

Flavour is always the number one priority for Gary Phillips, the head chef at Kilcamb Lodge on the stunning Ardnamurchan peninsula

Gary Phillips, head chef at Kilcamb Lodge, says he is in Ardnamurchan for keeps

How do you know when a chef is committed to his work? Well, he falls in love with the place, buys a house and gets married. And that’s exactly what Gary Phillips, the head chef at Kilcamb Lodge has done.

The 32-year-old chef from New Cumnock in Ayrshire started work at the hotel on the beautiful Ardnamurchan peninsula seven years ago and openly admits that he’s now ‘there for life’.

‘Every day I come into work and I learn something new,’ he says. ‘It’s different from other kitchens where you worry about what you are able to do and what’s booked in for that night. Here we just do it. No matter how complicated the techniques, we do it. We really get to enjoy cooking because we cook whatever we want.’

And there’s plenty of top drawer produce to cook at Kilcamb, where the menu changes

with the seasons but is always filled with local produce: venison and beef from Tigh Dhub croft, smoked fish and venison from Ardnamurchan Smokehouse, and fish from the surrounding coastline. ‘We don’t have any seafood on our regular menu,’ explains Gary. ‘We have a blackboard that changes daily depending on what out amazing supplier brings in. He has his own wee boat and picks up the best langoustines and scallops for us.’

Gary describes his style of food as traditional with a strong emphasis on flavour. ‘First of all I want to make sure that the food is really, really tasty and then make sure it looks good too.’ And with a food hero in Tom Kerridge, it’s little wonder that his priorities lie in no-nonsense, taste-good food without any of the artistic drama of frills, foams and jellies.