Esteemed Scottish chef Brian Maule has joined independent restaurant and bar operators Buzzworks Holdings as a culinary consultant.
Maule, who ran one of Scotland’s most famous fine dining restaurants, Brian Maule at Chardon d’Or, in Glasgow for 22 years, has signed up for a six-month stint passing on his decades of knowledge and experience to staff across Buzzworks’ 19 venue kitchens.
Having cut his teeth in the culinary capital of the world – Lyon, France – Maule’s early career saw him working for the Roux Brothers at the 2-star Michelin restaurant, Le Gavroche in Mayfair, where he progressed from Chef de Partie to Chef de Cuisine, before successfully building a stellar reputation for his own Glasgow venue across two decades.
He arrives at Buzzworks as the Ayrshire-based family-run business goes from strength-to-strength, with several successful openings last year and negotiations now underway for new venues and business growth, promising to create yet more jobs and careers within local communities.
Commenting on his new role with the company, Maule said: “I started my career in Ayrshire as a chef apprentice before heading to France to hone my skills, so this feels in part like a homecoming, collaborating with Buzzworks, which also started its successful tenure here in the region.
“The business is already well regarded, and I’ve been impressed with their high standards. My role will be to enhance this further, working with the talented kitchen teams to raise their level once more so that the business can continue to grow and bring its first-class brand of hospitality to new communities across Scotland.”
Consistently named in the Top 100 Companies to Work For, Buzzworks currently operates 19 venues across Scotland, under the brands Scotts, House, Lido, Vic’s & The Vine, The Duke, Thirty Knots, The Bridge Inn, The Fox and Herringbone, employing more than 800 team members.
The company’s Head of People, Nicola Watt, believes that working with the industry’s best will help the business push on further: “Bringing in Brian Maule is an excellent coup for the business and testament to our ambition of growing Buzzworks further.
“With more than 40 years in the business, operating at the highest level, Brian’s knowledge will be invaluable as we look to not only continue delivering an exceptional experience to our customers, but looking behind the scenes at streamlining our operations to ensure the highest standards possible,” said Watt.
“Despite challenging conditions for everyone within the industry, working with the likes of Brian will help ensure our continued success, optimising our ways of working so that we are best equipped to deal with the increasing external pressures, whilst maintaining and building on our well-regarded reputation.
“We look forward to seeing what added benefits Brian brings over the next six months.”
As well as working behind the scenes across the venues, Brian will also be headlining a special chef’s evening at Buzzworks’ flagship venue, The Vine, details of which will be released soon.
