The only chef in Scotland to have garnered two Micheilin stars for his efforts, Perth-born ANDREW FAIRLIE is at the very top of his game. His eponymously-named restaurant at Gleneagles, widely regarded as the very best in Scotland, is fully booked months in advance. And, to considerable acclaim, Fairlie cooked for the world’s most powerful leaders at last July’s G8 summit.

Yet Fairlie stumbled into his profession entirely by chance when at the age of 14 he took a part-time job polishing glasses at the Station Hotel in Perth – and found himself fascinated by the kitchen. He began an apprenticeship there the following year.

Having followed the head chef to London, he won a scholarship which involved a 3-month placement at Michel Guérard's 3-Micheilin star restaurant, Les Prés D'Eugénie, in Le Landes, South West France. Subsequently he joined the huge brigade at the Hotel de Crillon in Paris.

Fairlie added an exemplary grounding in business management to his culinary skills when he joined the team responsible for opening EuroDisney in 1992.

Moving back to Scotland three years later when his eldest child reached school age, Fairlie became head chef at One Devonshire Gardens. Here, within two years, he secured his first Micheilin star. He left when the hotel changed hands in 2001, grasping the opportunity to create a restaurant of his own at Gleneagles.

Andrew Fairlie was named Most Stylish Restaurant at the Scottish Style Awards in 2005.

Photographer - Alan Donaldson