Kitchin and his wife Michaela opened The Kitchin in 2006 on Leith’s waterfront. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin Star in 2007, just six months after opening, making Kitchin Scotland’s youngest Michelin star chef proprietor at just 29 years old. The restaurant has retained its Michelin star every year since and has been recognised with numerous leading awards and accolades. In 2015, The Kitchin became Scotland’s only restaurant to hold 5 AA Rosettes.
Kitchin trained in some of Europe's leading kitchens, including La Tante Claire in London under Pierre Koffmann, and Guy Savoy in Paris, as well as Le Louis XV in Monaco, led by Alain Ducasse.
At the age of 29, he was awarded his first Michelin star, after The Kitchin had been in business for six months.[2] This made Kitchin the youngest Michelin star recipient in the world.[3]Albert Roux is reported to have said that Tom is the chef in Scotland most likely to win three Michelin stars.[2] His cooking style is to combine Frenchtechniques with seasonal Scottish ingredients, a style discussed in depth in his 2010 book From Nature to Plate.[5]
In July 2010, Kitchin opened a second restaurant, Castle Terrace, near Edinburgh Castle with chef Dominic Jack. Jack co-owned and ran the restaurant as a sister restaurant to The Kitchin, using the same style and "From Nature to plate" philosophy.[6] The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2011. The restaurant had to close in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.[7]
In June 2012, Kitchin received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts degree from Edinburgh Napier University for his significant contribution to Scottish food culture.[8]
In 2013, Kitchin and Jack opened Gastro-pub The Scran & Scallie in the Stockbridge area of the city.[9]
Books
Kitchin has released four cookbooks to date. ·From Nature to Plate: Seasonal Recipes from The Kitchin, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, August 2009 From Nature to Plate was Kitchin’s debut book which launched at The Edinburgh International Book Festival in August 2009. The book offers a fresh seasonal outlook with 100 of the chef’s favourite recipes, and follows his incredible journey from a young, ambitious trainee in his local country pub, to his exceptional success as Scotland’s youngest Michelin starred chef proprietor, achieving a star, aged only 29.
· Kitchin Suppers, Tom Kitchin, Quadrille Publishing, January 2012
· Tom Kitchin’s Meat & Game, Absolute Press, August 2017
· Tom Kitchin’s Fish & Shellfish, Absolute Press, August 2018
Media appearances
Kitchin has appeared as a guest presenter BBC’s The One Show as well as having appeared numerous times on Saturday Kitchen Live and MasterChef,[3][10] and a brief appearance on Channel 4's Come Dine With Me on the 5th of December 2016 as a friend of contestant Larah Bross.
In 2019, The Kitchin was featured in the BBC2 series Most Remarkable Places to Eat.[11] He's also competed on the Great British Menu.[2] and hosted 2010 MasterChef winner Dhruv Baker for work experience at The Kitchin.[12]
Awards
In 2007, The Kitchin was awarded a Michelin-star and in 2015 it became Scotland’s only restaurant to hold 5 AA Rosettes, both of which the restaurant has held onto every year since. The Kitchin's other awards include:
• The Kitchin, 1 star in the MICHELIN Guide Great Britain & Ireland 2021
• The Kitchin, 5 AA Rosettes, AA Best Restaurants 2021
• The Kitchin, Best Restaurant Outside of London, Food & Travel Awards, 2021
• The Kitchin, Best Fine Dining Restaurant, No 2, UK, Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2021
• The Kitchin, Best Fine Dining Restaurant, No 10, Europe, Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2021
• Tom Kitchin, Chef Award, The Cateys, 2020
• Tom & Michaela Kitchin, Restaurateur of the Year, The National Restaurant Awards, 2019
• Tom Kitchin, Winner of Best Chef Regularly Cooking Game, Eat Game Awards, 2019
Personal life
Kitchin is married to Michaela, and they have four children.[13] Michaela is co-founder and executive director of Kitchin Group. She previously worked with the Savoy Group,[2] and spent nearly three years at the seven-star Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai.[14]
Michaela has been instrumental in the design of each restaurant within Kitchin Group, including the group's second restaurant Castle Terrace.[15]
Community support
Since Christmas 2015, Kitchin has been a celebrity supporter of global international development charity, Mary's Meals, which has its headquarters in Scotland, by supporting its annual "One More For Christmas" campaign.[16] As part of this campaign Tom featured in a video[17] showing viewers how to make "The Most Amazing Christmas Dinner", where he demonstrates how to set a place at the virtual dinner table, which provides a year's worth of meals for a child, at a cost of just £12.20 ($19.50 / €14.50).[18] As of December 2016, Mary's Meals provides daily meals in school for 1,187,104 children[19] in 12 developing countries.[20]
Controversy
In January 2020, three of Kitchin's restaurants were failed by hygiene inspectors in less than a year.[21][22]
In July 2021, Kitchin was accused of taking thousands of pounds of staff tips.[23]
Also in July 2021, multiple ex-employees of Kitchins's restaurants have accused Kitchin of emotional and physical abuse. Including punching and kicking his staff for making mistakes, mocking them for their hairstyle or perceived weakness at being a chef.[24]
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