Member of the month June 2025: Euan MacDonald

Here at The Staff Canteen, we feature a different member every month who we think deserves to be celebrated – this month’s winner is Euan MacDonald.

As thanks for being a regular contributor to The Staff Canteen, Euan will receive a TSC mug, an item of merchandise from our online store, and be entered into our member of the year 2025 competition.

Euan works as senior chef de partie at the Horseshoe Inn in Eddleston, just outside Edinburgh, and has been a member of The Staff Canteen since December 2020.

>>> Find out more about Euan and follow him <<<

We spoke with Euan to discuss his route into hospitality and also his work with The Burnt Chef Project.

“Weirdly enough I started out in the kitchen I’m in now, 17 years ago,” Euan said.

“The Horseshoe Inn is a small, little gastropub in a small, little village, Eddleston, which is where I’m originally from.

“In between, I’ve worked in a variety of different places, from little cafés to quite big hotels, like the Sheraton, the big one in Edinburgh.

“I learned to cook from my gran. My sister had a bunch of allergies, so food in our house was particular in what we’d have, because mum wasn’t making different meals for everybody.

“Mum and I had a falling out, so I went to my gran’s for the week. I learned to cook with her, then started cooking myself and then it just snowballed from there.”

Discussing his association with hospitality charity The Burnt Chef Project, Euan added: “I'm now one of their ambassadors. I've only just started out with them and have been in that role for a couple of months now.

“Throughout my career, I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression - basically just burnout. It was another chef who pointed me in the direction of The Burnt Chef Project, for a bit of support and guidance on how to deal with stuff.

“I'm more settled now, by going back to the kitchen I originally started it in.

“Another chef and I were discussing it, because he and I left Sheraton at the same sort of time. He's gone back to the hotel he originally started out in and then he was much happier. So I kind of did the same thing and seemed to settle back down, seem more calm and see the industry more clearly now.

“It’s not all about putting all the hours in. It’s just working smarter.”

To get to know a bit more about Euan, we asked him some quick-fire questions to finish.

What is your favourite dish to cook and why?

My son and I do a lot of sweet stuff in the house. My wee one is only four, so spending time with him, teaching him the basics of cooking at such a young age is what I enjoy doing.

Name a comfort food that isn’t considered ‘cheffy’ but that you love to eat

Costco hot dogs. I go to Costco for a shop with my wee one and we always have to have a Costco hot dog!

What do you like about being a part of The Staff Canteen?

I like The Staff Canteen because it gives me ideas.

When I’m trying to create a dessert or a main dish of the day, I can see what other people are doing. Usually I would sit down and look over our veg supplier or whatever offer’s coming up, like if apples are dirt cheap or peaches or whatever they’ve got on offer, I go right, that’s my base of what I’m buying in, then spending time working out a dessert from that.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learnt as a chef?

Value your time and put your ego aside. Let your skills show what you can do, not be one of the chefs who talks a big game and doesn't have the skills to show what’s coming up.

What are your hopes and plans for the future in hospitality?

I’m back where I want to be, because I get decent time with my child as well, so it’s that balance. Now I’ve got what I wanted.