Dalmahoy hotel appoints new executive head chef

Award-winning chef Bruce Price has been appointed executive head chef at the Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club near Edinburgh.

Price joins the 215-bedroom independent hotel in Kirknewton, West Lothian from the same role at Mackintosh at the Willow in Glasgow.

He also previously held the same role at the Crieff Hydro Hotel and Resort in Perthshire, group executive head chef with Apex Hotels and executive sous chef at the Old Course hotel in St Andrews, and has won the Scottish Hotel Awards' Scottish Chef of the Year Award three times.

He said: "I'll be complementing excellent Scottish produce with some international influences I've picked up on my travels and cooking in other countries. Expect to see some innovations like a kiwi burger on the specials in the Brasserie."

The chef, who has been deaf since birth, added he has never seen it as a disadvantage: "While the day's business is written out on a whiteboard every morning, communication in the kitchen is mostly verbal, with me lip-reading and staff quickly learning to understand my spoken instructions. It's a slightly different way of working for the team here, but I'm sure it won't be long before my new team and I get to know each other."

Price will be responsible for a 24-strong kitchen team across Dalmahoy's Pentland restaurant, the James Braid Bar and Brasserie, a lounge which serves snacks and afternoon tea, private dining areas as well as the hotel's conference, weddings and events catering offering.

Alistair Kinchin, general manager at Dalmahoy, said: "We're really pleased to welcome Bruce to our team here at Dalmahoy… Bruce's stewardship heralds exciting times ahead for Dalmahoy as a food destination."

Set amidst a thousand acres of parkland, Dalmahoy, rated four stars by Visit Scotland, is located within an 18th century baronial-style manor.

Photo: Stewart Attwood