Experience distilled at fine dining venue

A new restaurant due to open at Crieff’s The Glenturret will have the acclaimed Mark Donald as its head chef

A tattie scone with a difference and creations combining whisky and chocolate will feature on the menu at Lalique, a new fine dining restaurant in Crieff’s The Glenturret.

Critically-acclaimed Scottish chef Mark Donald has been appointed head chef at Lalique Restaurant, due to open at The Glenturret this summer.

Mark is joining The Glenturret from his position at Number 1 at the Balmoral in Edinburgh, where he retained the Michelin star until he departed earlier this year.

The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant, in the heart of Scotland’s oldest working distillery, will be the first of its kind, as no other whisky brands are home to a restaurant dedicated to fine dining.

The menu will showcase contemporary Scottish culinary innovation, which builds on a foundation of classic French gastronomy and will focus on local terroir and produce.

The restaurant will join Lalique’s hospitality establishments including Villa Rene Lalique, the two-star Michelin restaurant and hotel in Alsace, and Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, the one-star Michelin restaurant and hotel near Bordeaux.

The menu, as you would imagine, will be inventive, and will include many ingredients found in or near the distillery.

Mark’s signature playfulness can be found in dishes like tattie scone: A leavened potato bread elevated with Oscietra caviar, egg yolk “jam”, Iberico pork and tiny bittercress flowers that are found growing around the distillery.

Sourdough breads will be made daily with malted barley from the distillery and house-cultured butter.

Members of the dedicated pastry team are experimenting with chocolate and Glenturret malt whisky combinations, like the 10-Year-Old Peat Smoked Glenturret married with salted caramel and 64% Felchlin Swiss chocolate.

Mark and his team are working with the distillery on a process of extracting complex malted barley flavour which will feature, for example, in a splendid Maracaibo cake for afternoon teas.

Sense of place is also very important, with the kitchen team busy foraging along the Turret riverbank and nearby woodland.

Mark said: “Distillery manager Ian Renwick knows where all the best mushrooms are to be found – he just hasn’t told us yet!”

Mark, who has been nominated in the 2021 Best Chef Awards, added: “I’m very excited to be part of this unique and exciting culinary experience.

“The distillery has a long-standing history and great heritage – as does Lalique – so it was an exciting task to combine this with fresh, innovative ideas.

“Working closely with the local producers and suppliers has been wonderful so far. Together with my team, I feel we have managed to create a contemporary, thought-provoking menu wrapped in the genuine Scottish hospitality for which The Glenturret is renowned.”

Mark’s passion for cooking began in Glasgow, where he spent time in the kitchen at Stravaigin, one of the city’s most popular restaurants. Here, he was exposed to a world of exciting flavours thanks to their unique approach to global cuisine.

Since then he has gone on to build impeccable culinary credentials that include a formative season at Noma, at a time when it was number one on the World’s Best Restaurant list, followed by two years at the two Michelin-starred Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles.

He then moved to London, accepting a senior role at two Michelin-starred Hibiscus, before travelling to Sydney, Australia, where he spent four years as head chef at progressive restaurant Bentley.

He came home to Scotland in 2018 when he took over the kitchen at Number 1 at the Balmoral.

He retained their Michelin-starred rating until his departure.

John Laurie, The Glenturret’s managing director, added: “We are thrilled to have Mark join The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant.

“Not only is his humble and charismatic attitude a perfect fit for our close-knit team here at The Glenturret, his exceptional knowledge of Scottish produce combined with his creativity will perfectly complement both the heritage of where we have come from, and the new direction in which we are going with the restaurant.” le

We have managed to create a contemporary, thought-provoking menu wrapped in the genuine Scottish hospitality for which The Glenturret is renowned

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