Galldachd na h-Alba Brewery
Driving into Lockerbie in the van this morning felt a little different. Bentley the Basset and El Poco the Street dog from Nerja on the Costa Del Sol were in their usual positions in the back on the mattress that we shared last winter in Spain. They didn’t bark too much as I exited the M74 and drove past the rubble of what used to be the school I left in 1982.
The squash courts and the ice rink remain much the same; without the space invaders but full of many instant memories of a miss-spent youth.
We drove down through the busy high street, today packed with cylists heading up to Moffat on the back road. Down past the railway station where I first alighted in Lockerbie in 1975 with my mother and my big brother Alex, some three months before my 10th birthday.
Well Street is narrow and there is a dead end where I park up the van and walk through the vennel to the solicitors, Henderson and MacKay, next to the Kings Arms Hotel where I played pool and drank a pint of lager with my dad on my 18th birthday.
I am jovial and joke with the lady in reception that Tom my solicitor has booked his six shares in the brewery which is yet an empty shell.
With two keys for the door and my camera, Bentley and El Poco bark at this folly.
Tomorrow can be a day for planning; today is just a day for dreaming.
We have 73 chefs out working which is 5 more than last year.
Relief has been very busy with 31 chefs booked last week and so far, another 25 this week.
Adverts have been piling in also as have permanent jobs solely for Chefs In Scotland to look for.
If you are interested in any positions please email over your CV to recruitment@chefsinscotland.co.uk
Out just now is:
Sean Abernethy at the Links Hotel in Montrose
David Bedo at Dores Inn near Inverness
Dale Paton was at Springkell and is now back at Auchen Castle both Dumfriesshire
David Dickson is at The Royal Hotel in Keith
Peter Mallia is in Dumfries at the Easterbrook Hall
John Taylor is still at the Wheatsheaf Hotel and getting on very well.
Stuart Agnew is just finishing at the Victoria Hotel in Bute
Marthius Mwina and Leslie Kehoe have both taken seasonal positions at The Glen Nevis Restaurant
Barry Owen has joined the relief circuit and is on his 1st job at Woll Golf Club in Selkirk and going to his second in Perthshire next week.
Piotr Miga is back at Go Glasgow Urban Hotel
Don Craig is at Tigh and Eilean Hotel in Shieldaig
Lillian Clarkson is at Laroch Restaurant in Ballachullish
Patrick Johnstone was at Carfraemill Hotel in the Borders
Stephen Kessell is at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness
Sarah Pozzi is near Mallaig at the Arisaig Hotel
If you are due to finish a relief job please get in touch with your finish dates and your next available date.
Thanks girls and guys for all your hard work 😊
Out and About Friday 21st July
We now have 79 relief chefs out working in Scotland which is up on last years by 10 chefs.
There have been a few new chefs starting with us on relief, if you are interested in doing any relief work please get in touch with a copy of your updated CV and reference details and we will call you to get you registered.
If you are a chef who is known to us and have any availability or if you are relief chef out working and are due to finish then please PM me or call with your finish dates.
We are still meeting chefs at our office in Moffat if you want to make an appointment to discuss any work – just get in touch and we will check our availability.
Carrying on with the other chefs I placed in June
Mark Shaw at Ramnee Hotel
Sean McCurrach at Dryburgh Abbey Hotel
George McCallum at Loch Melfort Hotel
Patrick Johnstone at Carfraemill Hotel
Kathryn Hill at Seaview Hotel
Craig Eggers at Fiddlers Music Bar and Bistro
Craig Brown at The Winnock Hotel
Mick Kitson at The Lodge on the Loch Aboyne
Seabastian Luszczynski at East Haugh House Hotel
Glyn Musker at Western Isles Hotel
Jason Paxton at Loch Insh Watersports Centre
Graham Smith at Scalloway Hotel
Gary Rodgers at Kingsmills Hotel
Alfie Cranwell at Royal Hotel
Stephen Kessell at Eden Court Theatre
Vladimir Sviridenko at Park Hotel
Ben Mailer at Scalloway Hotel
Kirsty Hamilton at Glengarry Castle Hotel
Ben Wright at Tongue Hotel
Ryan Williamson at Crusoe Hotel
Dixon Chireri at Old Manor Hotel
Ally Elder at Duisdale Hotel
Johan Sikkema at Carrbridge Kitchen
Alan Kaye at Glensander
Scott Bolton at Mustard Seed Restaurant
Peter Mallia at Buccleuch & Queensberry Hotel
Tim Morris at Three Lemons
Martin Furlong at The Links Hotel
David Ironside at The Links Hotel
Yousef Shengheer at Victoria’s Restaurant
Craig Brown at Ramnee Hotel
Stuart MacColl at Cross Keys Kelso
Blair Mackay at Mackays Hotel
Ricky Leyland at Stotfield Hotel
Mark Bellingham at Letterfinlay Lodge
John McCormick at Loch Melfort Hotel
Derrick Bartley at Queens Hotel
Daniel Haig at Kings House
Douglas Gillies at Gartmore House
Shaun Murray at Old Mill Inn
Stuart Palmer at Springkell House
Leslie Kehoe at Cressfield Hotel
Alan Anderson at Cawdor Bistro
Gary McGirr at Glengarry Castle Hotel
Jamie Atkinson at Tigh an Eilean Hotel
Stuart Agnew at Victoria Hotel
Kirsty Hamilton at Pierhouse Hotel
Robin McCrindle at The Wheatsheaf Hotel
Craig Eggers at The Rowantree Hotel
David Bedo at Dores Inn
Mick Kitson at Rothesay Rooms
Chris Roberti at Fishers Hotel
Steven Sinclair at Parkdean Holidays
Graham McLeish at Tigh and Eilean Hotel
Thanks to each and every one of you for all of your hard work.
Relief is still busy and there are jobs still coming in every day.
Michael will be working on Relief tomorrow and Monday as I will be enjoying time off for our local Gala.
Relief chefs I booked out in the beginning of June were
Don Craig at Tigh an Eilean hotel
Dale Paton at Auchen Castle
Stephen kessell at Kingsmills Hotel
Kirsty Hamilton at Link Hotel
Scott Bolton at Four Seasons Hotel in Onich
Graeme Kennedy at Portree Hotel
Joseph MacMillan at The Ceilidh Place
Sarah Pozzi at Dark Island Hotel
John Ferguson at Arisaig Hotel
Thomas Scott at Three Lemons
Sean Abernethy at Links hotel
Alan Kaye at Letterfinlay Lodge Hotel
Michael Njoroge at The Gathering Place Bistro
Michael Njoroge at Royal Golf Hotel Dornoch
Cameron Brown at Cuillin Hills Hotel
Thomas Scott at Glengarry Castle
Dixon Chireri at Wheatsheaf Hotel
Jamie Atkinson at Black Bull Hotel
Thomas Scott at Auchen Castle
Michael Pallister at Sligachan Hotel
Jenny Quashie at Bridge of Cally Hotel
David Bedo at Kingshouse Hotel
Daniel Haig at Western Isles Hotel
Gary Rodgers at Carfraemill Hotel
Peter Norrie at Bridge of Cally Hotel
Leslie Kehoe at Kames Hotel
Allessandro Carvevali at Dunavon Hotel
Gordon Campbell at Cross Keys Hotel in Kelso
Szabby Verten at Scalloway Hotel
Paul Sellers at Moffat House Hotel
Ally Elder at Onich Hotel
Glen Richards at Meadow Park Restaurant
Gareth Connolly at Craigmonie Hotel
Mick Kitson at Learney Arms
Colin Thomson at Cross Keys Hotel in Kelso
Marthius Mwina at Glen Nevis Restaurant
Thanks to everyone for all their hard work and support you really are a great bunch 😊
That’s me just home from a long weekend in Estepona where I lived for ten years. I was visiting friends and family and I must say it felt great to be there in the easy going way of life and very Spanish culture. On Saturday, we went out for lunch and I had traditional Spanish croquetas which are made from a thick white sauce with different fillings, the ones we had were beef cheek and the others ham and cheese. We also had lots of nice cheeses, hams, padron peppers and of course a bottle of white rioja to wash it all down. That evening we went to the feria which is the Spanish fair which is held in the evenings for a week once a year. Most of the town closes during this time and it is when people take a lot of their holidays. As it is so hot we did not go out till around 9pm and the atmosphere was buzzing. Lots of little bars and stalls selling different tapas. Some of the tents are private and people pay into them all year round such as the council companies like water and electricity, however most of them allow entry for all. We found one at the back which was showcasing the polo ponies and they had great (very large) gins and a BBQ going with pinchitos (chicken skewers) and morcilla (a spanish black pudding) and it was so cheap. A great night out made even more eventful by the botellon going on in the car park at 1am when we were leaving. This is basically where people get together and have a drink and socialise in public areas. No hassle at all just lots of people about.
On Sunday we frequented my favourite fish restaurant situated right on the beach. We have been going there for the last 15 years and it is a family run restaurant which has its own fishing boat. We had a variety of dishes including gallo which is john dory and it is lightly battered and so tender and light, calamari a la plancha which is a whole squid on the grill with garlic and parsley as well as clams, and traditional calamari also. After this we headed to the ice-cream parlour for lovely ice-cream and headed home to relax by the pool.
The other days I mostly had BBQ food as it was 30 degrees and too hot to eat anything else.
It was a lovely break but now it’s time to get back to chef recruitment. Still a lot of head chef vacancies being registered daily. Please email your CV to jessica@chefsinscotland.co.uk if you are looking for a new role.
Jessica
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