Maybe a lot of you guys don’t know who he is but he had the brilliant Ondine fish restaurant on George 1V Bridge in Edinburgh which was JK Rowling’s favourite eatery.
And now Roy has just opened Ondine in the new Seaton House Hotel on the Scores in St Andrews. Which is a big plus for St Andrews may I say. Whey hey.
But what a lovely man. He came across as down to earth and very humble and a really nice genuine guy. You see I have had some bad experiences with chefs in my day and am always a bit wary all said. Of course I had an awful experience with the then Development Chef for the Dean Banks outfit when I worked at Deans flagship place at the Pompadour in Edinburgh. And that was just a total eye opener for me. This guy was thoroughly obnoxious and a conceited ass who actually tried to knock a tray of glasses out of my hands in the kitchen one day in pure spite (he just missed as I have rather quick reactions- to his great chagrin!) He was actually given the boot soon after that and I heard he was up in court for physical assault. But anyway enough of him.
So I am delighted that Ondine is run by a very decent chap and I will hopefully be using them for the first stop on my food tour to take in a few oysters and a nice wee glass of sauvignon blanc while watching the waves rolling in on the West Sands, the evening sun shimmering, setting and fading away over St Andrews Bay.
Not too shabby a gig. It certainly beats working for a living.