Staff at a Crieff restaurant have told of their joy at becoming one of the latest additions to the prestigious Michelin Guide.
Glenturret Lalique, which is based in Scotland’s oldest working distillery, was visited by an inspector earlier this year.
The restaurant has now been included in the November update of the Michelin Guide 2021, despite not yet receiving a Michelin star.
John Laurie, managing director at Glenturret – which opened in July this year – said: “We’ve been working really hard to deliver something new here at Glenturret.
“We’re the first fine dining restaurant in a whisky distillery in Scotland, so ever since we started we’ve known that what we were doing is completely different.
“We knew that the guide inspectors had come out as they put something up on their Twitter after they’d come out the first time.
Dinner in the world’s oldest working whisky distillery #TheGlenturret @GlenturretRes #Scotland pic.twitter.com/sqgIJI5TnW
— The MICHELIN Guide (@MichelinGuideUK) August 20, 2021
“Obviously we haven’t got a star yet and if we were in line for that, that would happen in January.
“But the fact that they’ve included us in their guide was great validation for the team that are working really hard to create something that’s never been done before in our Scottish whisky distillery.”
Glenturret is one of five Perthshire fine dining restaurants to have been added to the Michelin Guide over the years, including Ballintaggart, Andrew Fairlie, Sandemans and The Roost.
The Courier visited the restaurant before it opened when writer Brian Stormont described it as being a “full-on gastronomic delight that is more of an experience than simply dining out”.
John added: “All the rest of the Glenturret team are really overjoyed, really proud to be working somewhere that’s getting us this kind of recognition.
“The kitchen team are too busy working in the kitchen to have noticed yet but I’m sure they’ll be overjoyed tonight when they get a chance to get a break.”
