No one has done more to celebrate the abundance of Scotland’s natural larder than Tom Kitchin. The menu at his Michelin starred Edinburgh flagship restaurant, The Kitchin, is studded with some of the country’s finest produce from Orkney scallops to Scotch beef, all prepared by one of the most technically skilled and creative chefs in the country.

Kitchin grew up in the Scottish countryside and began his career washing pots in a local pub. Catering college and an internship at Gleneagles Hotel was soon followed by jobs in some of the finest two and three Michelin starred kitchens in Europe. These included, La Tante Claire in London where he worked for Pierre Koffmann, a mentor and key influence, a year working in Paris with Guy Savoy and with Alain Ducasse at his flagship Le Louis XV in Monaco.

In 2006, Kitchen returned to Scotland to open The Kitchin with wife and business partner Michaela in a converted warehouse in Leith, Edinburgh. The stunning contemporary dining room with its steel girders, exposed stone and wood floors has a stylish rusticity and honesty about it, echoing Kitchin’s ‘From Nature to Plate’ ethos of simplicity and freshness.

That doesn’t stop Kitchin’s signature dish being something of a complex culinary tour de force – a boned and rolled pig’s head served with roasted tail of langoustine from Tobermory, crispy pig’s ear salad and gribiche cream. The Kitchin was awarded a Michelin star after just six months, making Kitchin Scotland’s youngest Michelin starred chef proprietor at just 29. The restaurant is equally renowned for seafood such as shell fish cannelloni with crab, peas and Newhaven green crab bisque as it is for game dishes like roe deer loin with chestnuts, blackberry and apple.

In 2013, Kitchin opened award-winning gastropub The Scran & Scallie (which holds a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin guide) in Edinburgh’s Stockbridge neighbourhood with chef Dominic Jack. Chef Jack is also chef proprietor at The Kitchin’s sister restaurant, Castle Terrace, which sits in an enviable location at the foot of Edinburgh Castle.

Kitchin has recently published his third cookbook, Meat and Game, following on from From Nature to Plate and Kitchin Suppers. He has become a well-known face on British television, as a guest presenter on BBC’s The One Show and having appeared numerous times on Saturday Kitchen Live as well as a mentor on The Chef’s Protégé and guest judge on MasterChef at the Chef’s Table.