Ian McAndrew
Ian’s love of food and all that it encompasses has meant that he is passionate about fresh local produce, he has continually strived throughout his career to seek out only the best ingredients and if they have not been available to him he has produced his own.
Ian has been in the hospitality industry since leaving school and his experience to date is that of 5 star hotels in England and Germany such as The Dorchester, before eventually opening his first restaurant venture in Canterbury where he gained a coveted Michelin star in his first year of operation. Ian was at the time the youngest Englishman to attain a coveted Michelin Star.
As well as Michelin success Ian was awarded the honour of Chef Laureate to the British Academy of Gastronomes headed up by Egon Ronay. He held a position in the top 10 of the best restaurant in the UK in the Good Food Guide for many years and he won a Gold Medal in the Basel Culinary Olympics. He has also trained many of today’s top named chefs, Andrew Fairlie of Gleneagles, Phil Vickery of Ready Steady Cook fame and Paul Kitchin of 21212 in Edinburgh.
He has written three best selling cookery books, ‘A Feast of Fish’ which remained in the shops for 13 years until it was finally superseded by his latest book ‘A Feast of Fish 2’, and ‘Poultry & Game’ his second book, referred to by most chefs as the best book on game ever to be written.
A keen advocate of local food, Ian while working in Ireland in the early nineties found that Quail and Quail Eggs were hard to come by so he bred his own and within a year had a flock of over 250 birds. He has developed a kitchen garden at the hotel and he regularly forages for wild foods and is a keen supporter of all local producers within his region.
Ian and his wife Jane bought Blackaddie House Hotel by Sanquhar in North Dumfriesshire in September 2007 which has won numerous awards.
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Ian McAndrew donated an experience for our Slow Food Week Online Auction.
