Gary Maclean on opening KIN: ‘It was an obvious fit for me to do something in Edinburgh’

Gary Maclean said it felt like an “obvious fit” for him to put his name above the door of a restaurant at The Roseate Edinburgh, with KIN by Gary Maclean now open.

The 2016 MasterChef: The Professionals winner and Scotland’s first National Chef has long been championing the produce of his home country, through his various hospitality projects.

Now he has formalised that further in the shape of a restaurant in Edinburgh’s West End, something he said had been years in the making.

Speaking to The Staff Canteen about Kin and the boutique hotel The Roseate Edinburgh, Gary explained: “This has probably been in the works for about seven years.

“I’ve been doing stuff with Roseate for a long time.

“I actually started out in India. They’re a global hotel group and, through my work and through my competition stuff that I’ve done, I initially stayed there as a guest in one of the hotels in New Delhi.

“I got chatting to the chef and the staff and I just thought there was something really unique about their approach to absolutely everything.

“It didn’t matter who you met, you were met by a friendly smile and genuinely, in the middle of Delhi, I felt really at home.

“Fast forward the following year or the year after, I did some pop-ups there. I managed to spend time back of house working with the chefs and met the senior management.

“Then about three and a half years ago, they opened in Edinburgh. I’d been over a couple of times prior to even talking about a restaurant and was just building that relationship.

“That was where it came from. It was an obvious fit for me to do something in Edinburgh.”

Gary Maclean’s career background

As well as a chef, Gary is an author and educator, teaching at City of Glasgow College for almost 30 years. He has dedicated his life to the hospitality industry in one form or another.

He also runs Scottish seafood restaurant Creel Caught, inside the Bonnie & Wild food hall at the St James Quarter in Edinburgh.

“My career’s always been multifaceted,” Gary explained.

“Even when I was running companies like Buzzworks or the G1 Group back in the day, I was always in education, so I’ve always had many roles.

“I’m still at college. My Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, is at college, but I’ve always done other stuff as well.

“Food’s my hobby. It’s my complete life.

“I don’t play golf or go out drinking or anything like that, so my spare time is also my work time as well.”

He added: “My whole career has always been interconnected to education, running big restaurant groups and teaching.

“I had the cream of the crop when it came to young Glasgow chefs. Some of these guys have now got three or four rosettes, running some of the best restaurants in Scotland.

“It was one of the major talking points when starting Kin.

“The theme was easy in terms of making it supplier focused, but one of the things I did want to do was grow our own staff.

“The chefs that were already at Roseate are exceptional and I just thought there was a real missed opportunity where we could get those guys training new chefs in the industry.

“So, working with local colleges and bringing in young chefs and growing their own was a real priority for me.

“There’s a little bit of pain when you bring someone in that doesn’t know anything. But it’s very, very short term.

“I would say within weeks, you’ve got someone who’s a real asset to your business.

“I’m a firm believer that chef de parties don’t exist. It’s very, very difficult to find chefs at that level. I’ve always found, for my whole career, that bringing people in with a great attitude is much better than bringing in someone with better knowledge.

“You can mould them into their own.

“Young people today are very, very different than what I was, or anyone of my generation coming through.

“They’re much smarter. They have choices. They know they’re in demand.

“You have to look after them. You have to make sure that they’re getting weekends off and they’re getting moved around the kitchen and learning and training.

“Whereas before, when I started, you just did as you were told and that was that.”

The food and philosophy at Kin by Gary Maclean

So, what exactly can guests expect if they visit Kin by Gary Maclean? And who is the restaurant being aimed at?

“One of the big things we are trying to do is to get more locals in,” Gary said.

“That’s been happening. It’s been very well received.

“It’s a beautiful location, five minutes from Haymarket. There’s a real relaxed feel in that part of Edinburgh.

“The menu that was on before was a three-course, fixed price, tasting menu.

“That’s great on an occasion, but what I want to do is pay less homage to a plate of food and more homage to the people and the overall experience.

“Putting on an à la carte means someone can come in, if they’re on their own, and have a couple of courses and relax, and not have to go through the rigmarole of these tasting menus.

“I love going out to restaurants and getting that Michelin tasting experience, but it’s twice a year.

“We’re trying to open it up to locals that will use it on a Tuesday lunchtime. To do that, the menu had to change.”

Showcasing Scotland’s produce

The menu features classic Scottish dishes such as haggis, neeps and tatties, smoked trout, Cullen skink and cranachan cheesecake.

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Asked how he elevates such dishes, Gary said: “Certain things like haggis you can mess about with because it’s an ingredient, not technically a dish.

“It’s making sure that it’s well balanced and tasty and everything that goes with it is good.

“Things like Cullen skink, I don’t think you can mess about with it too much. It’s a four-ingredient dish.

“It goes back to produce, making sure that you get in the ultimate smoked haddock.

“Right through the whole menu it is all about suppliers and food.

“Some of the suppliers we’re using, I’ve known for 35 years. There are long-standing relationships and that’s what’s been great about doing something like this.

“Whether you’re a chef or a sommelier or a supplier or a farmer, we’re all connected in this business and we all have to really work together.

“I’m a firm believer that the superheroes of our industry are the producers and suppliers.”

Changing perceptions of Scottish food

Asked how he feels the perception of Scottish food has changed since he started out in the industry, Gary said: “I’ve seen it worldwide - there’s a massive change in people’s attitudes toward their own ingredients, their own cultural foods.

“I opened a Scottish restaurant 25 years ago when I used to work for the G1 Group.

“I used to open one or two restaurants a month. I got another site in Glasgow on Byres Road, and that was the seventh restaurant I would have had to have opened.

“I’d run out of ideas. I remember at the time thinking, why don’t we do Scottish?

“I remember going to the board and saying, I want to do a Scottish restaurant in Glasgow, being nervous about it, because we’d done everything but Scottish. Italian, French, pizza, even Indian restaurants, everything we opened.

“But I was nervous going to the board with a Scottish restaurant. I can still remember.

“It’s called The Bothy and it’s still going.

“It’s quite unbelievable to think that just 25 years ago we weren’t promoting our own food and culture.

“But I see a massive difference and I think it’s a combination of things.

“The net zero agenda means people are looking at food mileage. But I think people in general, and I see it regionally in England as well, are really embracing the food from their past and putting little twists on it.

“Nobody’s embarrassed to put it on.

“It may have been people like Tom Kerridge, who was a massive supporter of his regional food and ended up doing what read on a menu as quite simple and getting two Michelin stars.

“I see it in North America as well and Asia has always had their own food culture and they keep it.

“There’s a real trend towards that.”