An Aberdeen chef is celebrating after being crowned Scottish Chef of the Year at a recent awards ceremony.
Craig Palmer, head chef at Entier-owned Wilde Thyme staved off tough competition from across Scotland to take home the top prize.
It is classed as the ‘Olympic’ gold medal for chefs at the Scottish Culinary Championships held in Glasgow earlier this month.
Having previously worked at the Number One restaurant at Edinburgh’s Balmoral Hotel, as well as a private chef in France and at four and five star hotels, it was when he joined Wilde Thyme he was given the opportunity to flourish and hone his skills.
Mr Palmer, who praised his current employers for the opportunities that they have given him, blew the judges away with the meticulous detail and vision that went into creating each of his sustainable dishes.
‘It was such an incredible honour to be recognised’
Mr Palmer said: “I still cannot believe that I have won Scottish Chef of the Year, it was such an incredible honour to be recognised and make it to the finals let alone winning.
“More than 200 hours of research, development and preparation went into creating the vision that was presented to the judges.
“When the judges announced I had won, I stood in disbelief for a few moments, but it made all my hard work over the years and leading up to the event all worthwhile.”
Scottish Chefs president and judge at the awards, Kevin MacGillivray said: “Craig was the unanimous winner between all the judges, he was simply the best on the day and it was evident in every dish he created how much preparation he had done and he clearly demonstrated his sustainability theme across each course.”
Conversation