As head chef at The Glenturret Restaurant in Crieff, Scotland, which is the world's first two Michelin-starred restaurant inside a working whiskey distillery, Mark Donald's career is defined by his dedication to seasonal British ingredients and modern cooking techniques.
"What's my culinary philosophy? Million dollar question. I guess, the food must be delicious. I know it sounds obvious, but I think a lot of chefs get lost in too many steps and processes. So for sure, the produce has to be really, really good," says the chef.
"As I get older, it's 'more' not 'what' extra does the dish need. What can I put on the plate is more, what can I take away? I like to make people smile through food, through humour. So sometimes there's some humour there," chef Donald adds.
Though the chef's culinary philosophy emphasises simplicity and quality, allowing the natural flavours of his ingredients to shine, it is not always local. The menu at The Glenturret is not dictated much by provenance.
"We're not hyper-local in Scotland since at certain times of the year nothing grows. I can't get lemons in Scotland. It's not like a massive box of ingredients from where I can take all the time. The menu is dictated by quality of ingredients rather than how close they are to the restaurant, which I think is quite important. It's not dictated by 'if it's from 10 minutes down the road' or 'if it's from two hours away, it's better'."
The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant in Crieff, Scotland. The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant
Though that doesn't take away from Scottish produce.
"The shellfish is amazing, the beef is amazing, the venison is amazing, and the berries are amazing. I've travelled quite a lot. I lived in Sydney and travelled a lot around Asia. There's certain flavours that you pick up as a chef on your palate and in your memory that you then want to create with, but I use a lot of Scottish and UK ingredients," explains chef Donald.
Seasoning with world flavours is how one would describe the cuisine served at the world's only restaurant in a working whiskey distillery.
Chef Donald's dishes are celebrated for their creativity, bold flavours and impeccable presentation.
"The restaurant is the first of its kind in the world -- within a distillery. At that level of cooking, we got a star after seven months, and then after two-and-a-half years, we got the second star. There are breweries and vineyards across the world that have very nice restaurants and you can pair each course with what's on offer. But to do this with whiskey is more challenging, paired with the expectations as a diner going to a whiskey distillery, all the things you expect to eat, like whiskey sauce is just the obvious," chef Donald.
"I don't want people to come and have their expectations shattered. Completely different. I want to exceed the expectations, but one has to be clever, so it's not a contrived or like a stereotype of what you'd expect. So there's a lot of nuances of whiskey or the suggestion of whiskey running through underlying of every dish… most dishes, 95% of them, without it being in your face because not everyone likes whiskey, right?"
Malted barley sourdough with house-cultured butter. The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant
"Across the road, we have warehouses full of whiskey and we use the malted barley in the bread. [The bread course is malted barley sourdough with a house-cultured butter.] We make a reduction of fermented barley water so it's very molasses-like and we brush the bread with this. We use peat from the smoked whiskey. We use that instead of binchotan on the barbecues to smoke meat and fish. We make shio kojis and misos from barley, so that each dish is slightly peppered with whiskey in some way, whether it's the raw ingredients, the final ingredients or the by-products.
"I think by the end of your experience at The Glenturret, you have a sense of place. You know your location -- 'I'm in a whiskey distillery'. But it's quite balanced."
Being a pioneer in creating a restaurant within a working distillery, the chef and his team had to learn the whiskey-making process.
"The beginnings were set in place by another chef, but he left before the project started. So a lot of it was still a building site. The distillery has been there long before, but when we came on board, it was interesting to see the whiskey-making process. 'What can we mirror in our cooking?' We learned some stuff along the way, which has also helped us. But working inside a distillery is cool. We have access to lots of whiskey, so it's a very interesting place. There's lots of smells working with the peat-smoked barley as well. It's a great family sort of vibe across the distillery but it's most interesting because it's never been done before," says chef Donald.
Though ingredients from the whiskey processing are not just used for the sake of it, says the chef. "They are used because it works for the dish. If we have a really nice lobster, we can put some peat in. Obviously I've nothing to compare it to, apart from other restaurants. I have no peers I can talk to about working in a distillery because it's never been done before. So I guess we're kind of pioneers in that respect. But it's good. I have no plans to leave. In January, it would be four years that I've been here."
Tattie scone. The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant
But what is the winning formula for a restaurant that has never been done before to get these many accolades in a short time?
"Honestly, I don't know. Last year was crazy; the trajectory was quite fast. I have a really good team behind me; two of them, my head chef and pastry chef, came with me from the last restaurant I worked at. So collectively, we have been working together for 15 years. Retaining your team and giving them a voice is important," explains the chef.
His Line-caught bream with morteau and pike roe currently on the menu, is what chef Donald would describe as "my philosophy on things".
"Maybe it has evolved a bit, especially with this fish course. The course is very minimal; the technique is the most important thing, as is the sauce. The garnish and any other bits and stuff is done before, and the fish is the last thing. I'm not standing making 100 steps while the fish dies on the plate and goes cold or overcooks," explains the chef.
"There's still a mountain of work that goes into the menu. A lot of it is very ornate but it's just having a less egotistical approach. My signature dish is the 'Foievioli', which is again how I inject humour into food. It's like a pun on a foie gras ravioli. Then we also have the tattie scone, which in Scotland is the cheapest thing you can eat. However, the scone we serve at the restaurant is the complete opposite -- it is flipped on its head. It's a hyperbole. It's a fermented potato bao with Wagyu, truffle, egg yolk, jam and caviar. When most Scottish people see it, they laugh because it's not a potato scone. But when they eat, it tastes like a tattie scone. I think that's important, especially in a polished restaurant surrounded by lake chandeliers.
Head chef Mark Donald with the team. The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant
"The pressure to keep the two Michelin stars and 5 AA Rosettes is all on me, but I put it on myself more than anyone. Though I may not deal with it as well as I should. I need to take up a hobby, but I like my work, though I'm not a workaholic. I like to be in the kitchen a lot. I think balance is the most important thing, because you can become more and more crazy. So yeah, maybe walking or hiking or taking up a hobby to find balance is going to be my next step to evolve even more," says chef Donald.
The Scottish chef will be back in Asia for a Singapore exclusive later this year. On July 6, chef Donald will be at Second Bite in aid of cancer research at the Wylam Brewery in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England.
'Knuckle Sandwich', BBQ lobster tail and lobster toddy. The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant
