Former Balmoral Hotel chef to head up fine dining at Glenturret
The Glenturret Lalique restaurant is billed as the first distillery fine dining establishment and is being fronted by former Number One at the Balmoral head chef Mark Donald.
Donald took up the post at the Balmoral Hotel's Michelin-starred restaurant in 2018 after a 13-year stint abroad. Before the move back to Scotland, he had been in Sydney where he was head chef at Bentley Restaurant and Bar.
Before this he worked at a number of internationally renowned Michelin-starred restaurants, including senior roles at Claude Bosi’s flagship Hibiscus restaurant in London and at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles in Perthshire.
Donald also spent time at Noma in Copenhagen – the San Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurant at that time, and left the Barmoral earlier this year.
He has been nominated as part of this year's Best Chef Awards, with the entry describing his high-flying career so far: "Mark began cooking in his hometown of Glasgow where he spent time in the kitchen of Stravaigin, then one of the city's most popular restaurants, renowned for their unique approach to global cuisine.
"Since then, he has gone on to build impeccable culinary credentials that include Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Hibiscus in Mayfair, Bentley Restaurant in Sydney and a formative season at Noma in Copenhagen.
"2018 saw his homecoming to Scotland where he took over the kitchen at Number One at The Balmoral where he retained their Michelin star until he departed in 2021.
"Mark now takes on the role of executive head chef at the Glenturret Lalique restaurant, located in the heart of Scotland's oldest working distillery in Perthshire.
"He is renowned for his creative and warm Scottish hospitality and making people laugh."
The Glenturret Lalique restaurant, which will open in the summer, will showcase contemporary Scottish dishes which will be based on a foundation of classic French gastronomy and will focus on local produce.
The restaurant will join Lalique’s establishments including Villa René Lalique, the two-star Michelin restaurant and hotel in Alsace, and Château Lafaurie-peyraguey, the one-star Michelin restaurant and hotel near Bordeaux.
Donald said: “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.”
John Laurie, The Glenturret’s managing director, added: “We are thrilled to have Mark join The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant.
"Not only are 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.”