A top chef in Glasgow was celebrating today after her restaurant became the first in the city to receive a Michelin Star in nearly 20 years.
Head chef Lorna McNee was delighted to learn that not only had her restaurant Cail Bruich received the star but also that she was now the first female chef to be awarded one in the city.
It's the first time a venue in the city has earned the coveted award after Gordon Ramsay 's Amaryllis, which was the last one to hold one, closed in 2004.
Lorna, who spent 12 years working at Gleneagles’ Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, which is Scotland’s only two-star venue, recently told the Daily Record that it was her desire to win Glasgow's first star in nearly two decades after she took over the kitchen at Cail Bruich in summer last year.
The talented chef, who appeared on the BBC’s Great British Menu in 2019 and was named 'Champion of Champions', said at the time that it would be "amazing" for Glasgow to get one.
Obviously delighted to now have realised that dream, Lorna said: "The feeling of achieving it is better than I could have ever imagined.
"The best feeling for me though, is seeing the happiness on my team members’ faces knowing that all our hard work and sacrifice has been worthwhile. It is amazing to share it with them. I’m so proud."
The only new star for Scotland, Cail Bruich now joins an illustrious list of Scottish restaurants including the likes of the Kitchin in Edinburgh, The Cellar in Anstruther and the Peat Inn in Cupar.
The newly updated list of Scottish Michelin Star restaurants (2021):
Auchterarder
Restaurant Andrew Fairlie (Two Stars)
Glasgow
Cail Bruich
Edinburgh
Number One at the Balmoral
Condita
Kitchin
Martin Wishart
Cupar
The Peat Inn
Eriska
Isle of Eriska
Anstruther
The Cellar
Isle of Skye
Loch Bay
For the first time, this year's event, known as Michelin Revelation, took place as an online-only virtual event.
Slated to originally take place in October 2020, Michelin say they decided to postpone its announcement by three months due to the impact of the current pandemic on the hospitality industry.
Speaking at the time about the postponement, the international director of Michelin guides Gwendal Poullennec said: "Moving the event to January and launching a digital-only guide gives us the time we need to be fair to restaurateurs and to ensure the consistent, expert advice our customers demand.
“Restaurants have been through challenges we previously couldn’t even have imagined – and I want to applaud chefs and owners for the passion, ingenuity and entrepreneurship they have shown this year.”
