It has been a year of change for veteran chef Roy Brett.
The man behind seafood restaurants Ondine and The Fishmarket was forced to relocate his long-established Ondine from Edinburgh to St Andrews at the start of the year due to ongoing works to the Old Town building.
But as one door closes, another opens.
Brett, who has four decades of experience as a chef, was asked by Valor Hospitality, the company responsible for running Seaton House in St Andrews, to take over the hotel’s restaurant spaces, operating them as Ondine Oyster & Grill and The Board Room.
“It’s a unique place,” he told SLTN last month.
“We’ve got our oyster bar and restaurant. We opened up The Board Room, which is focused on local cheeses and also charcuterie. It was something slightly different, to give the guests something different from maybe what they’d expect from Ondine. It’s been a really interesting opening. We’re really starting to find out who we are and what we want to do up here.”
As with the original Ondine, there’s a focus on fresh seafood cooked in what Brett described as a ‘respectful’ style.
He explained: “It’s always about respectful cooking. Some people call it simple cooking, but that’s even harder, because the simple, respectful style of cooking is stripped back, there’s no unnecessaries on the plate. It’s all about taste and delivery.”
It seems to be going down well with both locals and tourists, as well as loyal customers of the original Ondine, who have been making the journey from Edinburgh to support their favourite restaurant.
It’s a journey Brett is making regularly himself, splitting his time between Seaton House and The Fishmarket in Newhaven.
He said that restaurant, which opened seven years ago, is going strong, buoyed by the ongoing expansion of the local area.
“The population’s growing, so you’re starting to see a lot more neighbourhood eating,” he said.
“I would say it’s thriving now. I think everybody in the area would agree that it seems to be a place of growth, and new restaurants are still opening despite the uncertainties of the climate.”
And, across both sites, Brett is passionate about putting that four decades of experience to use training the next generation of chefs and front of house staff.
“Otherwise, what is the point?” he said.
“It’s steps of growth all the time. Sensible steps, growing the next group so that they can get a proper understanding of the concept, the basic skills in the kitchen that we’re still practising, whether it’s making our homemade bread or making our own ice creams to filleting the whole fish.
“All these skills, to me, are life skills, and if these chefs and front of house teams get excellent wine knowledge, understanding the different grapes, going through the right courses, we’re making sure we’re taking them on a development course, not just a job.
“That’s part of what we all need to be doing.”
As to the future of Ondine, there may well be a return to Edinburgh on the cards in the not too distant future.
