Chef profile: Kenny Meldrum Regent Hotel, Oban
For the Regent Hotel’s new head chef, moving to Oban has been a dream come true.
Kenny Meldrum said he loves being beside the sea ... and cooking and eating its produce.
He said: ‘I grew up in Stirling and, after finishing college, I worked in Edinburgh for a few years before moving down south and eventually to Jersey in the Channel Islands where I took my first head chef’s job.
‘It was there that I found my passion for seafood and a love of being by the sea. My background and passion is modern British/European food. I was working in Manchester, where my wife is from, when an old friend put me in touch with Jimmy, the new owner of the Regent.
‘We had a chat and then I came up and saw his vision for the Regent, so here I am.’
Kenny’s background is sure to see great things happening at the Regent. He won Scottish hotel restaurant of year at the Scottish food awards in 2015 and was featured in The Oban Times for that achievement.
He has big ambitions for his new job.
‘I would like to try and make the Regent family-friendly with good. fresh cooked food.’
While fine dining is on the menu for those using the Regent, Kenny admits that at home he has simpler tastes. ‘After a night out, I like nothing more than cheesy pasta with a smoked sausage and pickled chillies,’ he confided.