Tom Kitchin

Born in Edinburgh, Kitchin attended Dollar Academy, a boarding school in Dollar, Clackmannanshire.[2] After leaving school, he studied catering at Perth College before beginning an apprenticeship at the Gleneagles Hotel, near Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross.[2][3] He has worked with Pierre Koffmann, Alain Ducasse, and Guy Savoy, all of whom have been awarded three Michelin stars.[4]

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 French techniques with seasonal Scottish ingredients, a style discussed in depth in his 2010 book From Nature to Plate.[5]

In July 2010, he opened his second restaurant, Castle Terrace, near Edinburgh Castle with chef Dominic Jack. Chef Dominic Jack owns and runs the restaurant as a sister restaurant to The Kitchin, using the same style and "nature to plate philosophy".[6] In 2010 he was voted Observer Food Monthly Cook of the Year.[5] In 2013, Kitchin and Jack opened Gastro-pub, The Scran & Scallie, in the Stockbridge area of the city.[7] A 4th Edinburgh venue, Southside Scran, opened in 2018. Despite its name, it is located in Bruntsfield rather than the city's Southside.[8] Kitchin opened his first venture outside of Edinburgh also in 2018, The Bonnie Badger, a pub in Gullane, East Lothian.[9]

In January 2020, it was found that three of Kitchin's venues were failed by hygiene inspectors in less than a year.[10][11]

He has appeared as a guest judge and mentor on MasterChef,[3][12] and has competed on the Great British Menu.[2] He hosted 2010 MasterChef winner Dhruv Baker for work experience at The Kitchin.[13]

In 2013 he appeared as one of the mentors in the series The Chef's Protege.

Tom is married to Michaela Kitchin, who previously worked with the Savoy Group,[2] and designed the interior for Kitchin's second restaurant, Castle Terrace.[14] Tom and Michaela have four children.[15]

Since Christmas 2015, Tom 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]