Dalmahoy Hotel appoints Bruce Price as its executive head chef

Bruce Price has joined the newly-refurbished Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club on the outskirts of Edinburgh as its new executive head chef. Price has cooked all over the world from Australia to Switzerland, China and Taiwan, since his early days in his native New Zealand. During his time in Scotland Price has won the ‘Scottish Chef of the Year’ title three times, he has worked for The Old Course Hotel in St Andrews, Apex Hotels, and was executive head chef at Crieff Hydro Hotel for six years. Price said: “I’m very much looking forward to settling in at Dalmahoy and getting to know my team here. I’m passionate about good ingredients used well. I’m all about using and sourcing Scottish produce in my menus, an ethos which Dalmahoy also shares, so I felt we would be a good match. The hotel’s Pentland Restaurant menu celebrates Scotland’s larder – and, indeed, even one very close to home – the hotel’s own herb garden, which I’m excited about getting involved with. “My first job will be to look at menu planning for the season ahead. 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 new executive chef has been deaf since birth, but added that he has never allowed it to hold him back. He added: “I have never, ever let my deafness restrict my ambition to become a great chef,” he added. I have 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 and 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 the independently-branded Dalmahoy, said: “We’re really pleased to welcome Bruce to our team here at Dalmahoy. We’ve worked hard to cement our culinary reputation in Edinburgh, and as a three-time Scottish Chef of the Year, it’s a real coup to have enticed Bruce to join us. Bruce’s stewardship heralds exciting times ahead for Dalmahoy as a food destination.”