Secret recipe that let island eatery become UK Restaurant of the Year

A SCOTS eatery has been named Restaurant of the Year in the 2018 Good Food Guide.

The Three Chimneys on Skye earned the publication’s top editors’ award, given to an establishment that has shown a marked progression or consistent excellence and innovation.

The restaurant also appears for the first time in the UK top 50, ranking 25th with a score of seven, alongside a further five Scottish restaurants.

Three Chimneys head chef Scott Davies said: ‘As chefs in the kitchen we have our heads down with the blinkers on, getting on with the job, so it was a bolt from the blue to get the call. The award celebrates our closeness to our suppliers, the seasonality of our produce, good food and great service.’

Guide editor Elizabeth Carter said: ‘It is superbly satisfying to come across a restaurant that knows just what it’s doing without seeming to try.

‘Scott Davies is evangelistic about Skye’s culinary heritage and his menus are rooted in the immediate area. This is where The Three Chimneys excels.’

Scotland has one restaurant in the guide’s top ten, six in the top 50 and 12 new entries. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Cornwall topped the list with a perfect ten, while the highest ranked Scots eatery to make the list was Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, which came eighth for its French approach to outstanding Scottish produce.

The other four Scottish restaurants in the top 50 are The Peat Inn in Fife (22) and Edinburgh’s The Kitchin (23), Castle Terrace (29) and Restaurant Martin Wishart (41).

New entries include 188 At The Torridon in Achnasheen, Wester Ross, Alchemilla in Finnieston, Glasgow, and Castlehill in Dundee.