HOME GROWN SUCCESS
Food from the gardens at Eat on the Green in Aberdeenshire
Many people may not have heard of Udny Green, but ask any self-respecting foodie and they will immediately perk up at the mention of the Aberdeenshire village which is home to Craig Wilson’s restaurant Eat on the Green.
North-east born and bred, the award-winning chef has just returned from Chelsea Flower Show, where he was the guest of Champagne house Laurent Perrier. ‘I’ve never been to Chelsea, but we’ve got a private member’s Champagne Lounge at the restaurant and Laurent Perrier are the main sponsors for the gardens at Chelsea, so we were invited down.’
That connection between food and garden is a key ingredient in Wilson’s success. ‘The garden is hugely important,’ he says. ‘My grandfather was a gardener and it’s how I got started. What excites me more than ever is trying to express my love of nature through my cooking. The garden is so influential, as is freshness and keeping it really simple. The fact that I have the beef just four miles down the road, fish being landed at Peterhead, I can pick my own vegetables, it’s idyllic. Really. Unbelievable.’
After steadily building up the restaurant for the past 11 years, business is booming. ‘We’re six weeks ahead, so it’s good, but you have to be careful what you wish for or you’ll never have enough time in the day. We’ve just refurbished the restaurant. We’ve got four private rooms, including a chef ’s table – a chef ’s table in Udny was big news when we added that – and we have the Laurent Perrier Champagne lounge in the garden. We’re trying to give people the ‘Wow!’ factor – a Saturday night experience on a Wednesday afternoon.
‘I believe in what I do and I’m true to where I come from, and that works for me. I always say, if you fill your restaurant, you silence your critics.’