Talented chefs from Scotland are leading the charge as Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance in the UK joins the international network of chefs across the world.

 As the UK joins countries as diverse as Albania and Canada, Mexico and Italy, Slow Food’s Chefs’ Alliance project is now in 17 countries across the world. And chefs in Scotland are very well-represented in defending food diversity, local traditions and small artisan producers.

There are already 16 chefs who have recently signed-up to be members of the Alliance in Scotland:

• Alison Henderson, Coulston Cookery School
• Carina Contini, Contini Restaurants
• Colin Hinds, The Kilted Lobster
• Graeme Pallister, 63 Tay Street
• Marcin Medrygal, Contini Restaurants
• Mattias Llorente, Bia Bistrot
• Neil Forbes, Café St Honore
• Roisin Llorente, Bia Bistrot
• Rosario Sartore, Locanda di Gusti
• Lesley Gillespie, Freelance Chef
• Suzanne O’Conner, Contini Restaurants
• Tom Lewis, Monachyle Mor
• Zoltan Szabo, The Blythswood
• Fred Berkmiller, Lescargot Bleue
• Rory Lovie, Bridgeview Station
• Hector Macrae, First Coast

“I see being a member of the Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance gives me the opportunity to tell the incredible story of why I do what I do and why it is important to support small-scale producers, buy locally, in season and put on our plates great food with stories and integrity.

 Food is something we all do every day, we all eat and we must all recognize our heritage and with the Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance we can achieve and retain our food culture from our past and share our historical recipes with food stuffs from the Ark of Taste* to showcase and highlight that our region, Scotland, is a place to be proud of and one to be taken seriously, which can take us in to the future.

Neil Forbes, Café St Honore

“Man is not an island. We need global, functioning, sustainable local food cultures. We can achieve more together than alone, this is where Chef Alliance comes in!
The Chefs’ Alliance brings like-minded chefs together, it amplifies voices and ideas. It’s a forum connecting people, facilitating learning & development and an opportunity to pass on skills and knowledge.”

Alison Henderson, Coulston Cookery School

“As a Scottish chef, using seasonal, artisan and heritage produce is paramount to our development as chefs and as consumers.

Clean, fair food is always in our thoughts whether creating menus, using suppliers or training the next generation of chefs. This ethos also trickles into my own company’s goals and mission to help our communities by supporting those in need of food education and food nutrition, we strive to help those facing food poverty and isolation.”

Colin Hinds, The Kilted Lobster

About the Chefs’ Alliance.

To be part of the Alliance, chefs must, for example, meet protocols such as using Ark of Taste* products, supporting small local producers, being transparent about sourcing with their customers and engaging with local Slow Food groups, all in the spirit of ‘good, clean and fair’ food.

Chefs must be paid-up members of Slow Food, but there is no additional cost for the chefs to be part of the scheme.

Membership is now open not just to chefs working in restaurants, but to those in other settings such as schools, markets, and street food stalls (as long as such settings are open to the public). Membership is for the chef, not the restaurant. So when chefs leave the business, they take membership with them.

For more info about the Chef Alliance, contact chefalliance@slowfoodscotland.com