MEET THE CHEF

In a highly competitive world, where larger-than-life chefs have egos to fuel, our executive chef Tony Pierce is quietly modest about his culinary talents.
However, on 22 November 2008, in front of an audience of more than 200 chefs, the Dumfries and Galloway-based talent finally got his chance to take a bow when he picked up the top prize at the Scottish Chef Awards, the biggest honour in Scottish cooking.

As someone who went to catering college as a teenager only because he was attracted by the high proportion of girls in the class, he has come a long way. Starting out as a waiter in Manchester, Tony funded his way into the profession by borrowing money from his mother's friend.

The 36-year-old then landed his first job as a commis chef in the main kitchen at the prestigious Gleneagles hotel.
It was when one of the chefs at the hotel's fine dining restaurant, Eagles, took ill that Tony was given the opportunity of promotion - two weeks before the restaurant closed.

Since then, he has worked at a string of high-profile Michelin star restaurants including Inverlochy Castle in Fort William.
But it is his work as head chef at the idyllic Knockinaam Lodge, a historic hunting lodge in Dumfries and Galloway that has held the Michelin star for 20 years, which has won him this accolade.