Restaurant Andrew Fairlie tops Sunday Times Food List
Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles has been named the best restaurant in Britain by the Sunday Times.
Scotland's only two-Michelin-starred restaurant rose up six places, from seventh last year, to claim the top spot in the 2012 Sunday Times Food List, ranking the top 100 restaurants in Britain.
Karen Robinson, editor of the Sunday Times Food List, said: "Andrew Fairlie's insistence on using the finest ingredients, available from local Scottish hillsides and waters, and the way he introduces exotic influences while never blindly following trends, make his food exceptional.
"His top placing also shows that high-class food is a nationwide phenomenon now, not just an exclusive experience for London foodies."
Fairlie said it was amazing to have won the award. "I'm really proud and very happy for the team here. It has been an exceptionally busy year and they have all worked so hard and now that it's getting to the time of year where everyone is getting a bit tired, it's a big boost."
When asked what he put the success down to, he added: "I think it's consistency. We have stuck to what we do best and haven't been distracted by fads. After 12 years the restaurant has matured year-on-year; we are trying to get better all the time and it has paid off."
Fairlie, who won the first Roux Scholarship in 1984, opened Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles in 2001, gaining a star in 2002, the same year he won the Newcomer of the Year Catey.
In 2006, having just recovered from brain surgery following a tumour, he received a second Michelin star, making him one of only 11 UK chefs (at the time) to hold such an accolade. Fairlie is also one of just eight Relais & Châteaux Grand Chefs in the UK.
The Sunday Times Food List - published in full this Sunday (28 October) - ranks Britain's top 100 restaurants by the quality of their food. It is compiled together with the Harden's restaurant guide and based on 75,000 reports from regular diners.
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By Kerstin Kühn
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