Craig Millar is feeling quite chipper. Memories of his holiday in Mexico may be fading, along with his tan, but he's got a lot to look forward to.
For a start, he has reached the finals of Scottish Chef of the Year 2003, which are being held at ScotHot on 18 March. It's the third time he has entered the competition but the first time he's got through to the final. He'll be up against 10 other chefs and will have to create a four-course meal for four people in three hours. He is modest about his chances but ecstatic about getting through.
"My main aim was to get to the finals, and anything else on top of that will be a bonus. If anyone mucks up, I may have a chance, but I'm over the moon just to be in the final," he says.
Millar also ate the best meal he's ever had last week. A wine-tasting trip with business partner Tim Butler and a group of chefs and wine suppliers took him down south, where meals at London's La Trompette and Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, were part of the itinerary.
"We'd been at a wine tasting all day before La Trompette," he explains, "and as I haven't yet learnt to spit, it was all a bit of a haze - I think it was a nice meal. But I thought the Fat Duck was amazing. Six of us went down and we all decided it was possibly the best meal we'd ever had. The snail porridge was fantastic."
Back in Fife, though, chances of a meal at Butler and Millar's half-built restaurant at St Andrews are still way off. The roof, with its six tonnes of lead, is in place and the lower floors are ready for the interior designers, but the huge glass walls, due to go in last month, are still to be fitted. It means the installation of the floors and Millar's brand new Paulex kitchen will have to wait.
Who will be cooking in that kitchen is also a decision yet to be made, since the sous chef at the Seafood restaurant in St Monans, who was primed to take over as St Monans' head chef when the current head chef took over at St Andrews, was lured away by a better salary at a local hotel. Millar will take over as head chef at St Andrews himself if he can't find a replacement by April.
"I don't want to make any rash decisions," he says, "so I'll do the job myself for the moment. It might actually work out better that way."
It's not a problem for Millar, and the good weather looks like it's coming back to Fife at last. That means more golfers and tourists and the end of the quiet period in business.
To top it all, Millar's football team, Dundee FC, are actually winning some games.
The story so far
Tim Butler, director of the Seafood restaurant at St Monans, Fife, has embarked on a new venture with fellow director and head chef Craig Millar.
The Seafood restaurant at St Andrews, Fife, was due to open in March as a fine-dining restaurant aimed at the top-spending visitors who fill the golfing Mecca each year.
The building is well under way, although the fitting of the immense glass walls has been delayed due to bad weather, putting the opening back to April.
Meanwhile, Butler and Millar must maintain business at the St Monans restaurant, as they rely on its profits to support the St Andrews project. Despite the slow winter period, St Monans' custom is up on last year's, particularly since it was voted Best Seafood Restaurant in Scotland by the AA.
Factfile
The Seafood Restaurant, St Monans
16 West End, St Monans, Fife KY10 2BX
Tel: 01333 730327
The Seafood Restaurant, St Andrews
The Pavilion, Bruce Embankment, St Andrews, Fife
Directors: Tim Butler and Craig Millar
Estimated opening: April 2003
Seats: 60
Average spend: £35-£40 for dinner
Staff: Seven chefs and five front-of-house staff, plus part-time staff
Projected annual figures
Turnover: £800,000
Wages: £200,000
Net profit: £100,000