Glenrothes-born chef Stuart Ralston is this year celebrating the 10th anniversary of his breakthrough restaurant Aizle, which has since been joined by three other fine dining venues to form the Aizle Group.
Moving to NYC in his early twenties, Ralston at first embarked on an extensive international career, working alongside notable chefs such as Gordon Ramsey and staging with David Bouley, Marcus Samuelsson, Terrance Brennan, Daniel Humm, Paul Liebrandt and Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
Back in Scotland, he debuted Aizle on Edinburgh’s St Leonard’s Street in 2014, where it was acclaimed for its ingredients-led blind tasting menu, revolving around the best of the Scottish larder.
Since then he has opened Noto, an NYC-style neighbourhood restaurant in Edinburgh’s New Town focusing on sharing plates, small domain wines and bespoke cocktails; Tipo, a relaxed space offering a Mediterranean inspired menu of small plates and homemade pastas, also in the New Town; and, most recently, Lyla, a 28-cover seafood-focused tasting menu restaurant described as ‘an ode to produce from the Scottish Isles’, on Edinburgh’s Royal Terrace.
In 2020, Aizle relocated to its new premises in Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel, occupying The Garden room. While Ralston concentrates on Lyla, Aizle is under the care of executive chef Ashley Salmon, formerly of L’Enclume, Rogan & Co and Roganic, and head chef Phillip Roberts, formerly of Oncore by Clare Smyth.
To mark its 10-year anniversary, Aizle has introduced a brand new menu as well as returning the original, shorter five-course tasting menu for £75 to run alongside its current offering, a move that Ralston described as ‘going back to our roots and doing it all again’.
“I’m so proud of Aizle, it’s given me everything I ever needed in life, the people I have met, the food I have cooked, and what I am today is all because of that little restaurant with no menu,” said Ralston.
“The last 10 years have flown by, but without Aizle we wouldn’t be where we are today.
“I am really happy to see Ash and Phil running the kitchen now I am based at my new home Lyla, they are coming up with amazing new dishes. They care about the things I care about, so the DNA still runs deep of what we do.”
Aside from his pioneering food, Ralston was one of the first chefs in the UK to implement a four-day-week back in 2018. A strong advocate for work life balance, he was keen to show that the industry does not have to be defined by long hours.
