Oops du jour... how Scotland’s National Chef fell foul of the health inspectors
AS the first National Chef, Gary Maclean was appointed to highlight the finest ingredients and ‘champion good food across Scotland’.
But the celebrity cook’s flagship seafood restaurant has fallen foul of environmental health inspectors.
Creel Caught by Gary Maclean, in Edinburgh’s New Town, offers grilled Firth of Forth lobsters at £38 each.
But inspectors who arrived unannounced found that the running of the restaurant fell short of minimum standards and made an improvement order.
It will come as an embarrassment to Mr Maclean, 45, chosen by Ministers as the face of Scots cuisine after winning the BBC’s 2016 MasterChef: The Professionals.
There is no suggestion that food served at Creel Caught has been unsafe to eat.
It is understood that the faults related to record-keeping and oversight of processes in the kitchen.
Last night a spokesman for the restaurant admitted: ‘EHO [environmental health officers] undertook the first inspection of Creel Caught in February. It found some of the paperwork did not match its expectations.
‘Creel Caught has since changed its record-keeping and is looking forward to a revisit.’
Mr Maclean has published a book of his favourite recipes, with a second tome – Gary Maclean’s Scottish Kitchen – to be published this week.
Creel Caught opened last June in the Bonnie & Wild food hall in St James Quarter. The menu includes lobster in seaweed butter for £38. Mr Maclean has defended the prices on his menu. Speaking on the Scran podcast, he said: ‘If you want to eat sustainably, locally, customers have to start paying.’
City of Edinburgh Council confirmed officials issued an Improvement Required notice but would not say why.