MasterChef's Gary Maclean to open debut restaurant at Edinburgh food hall

MasterChef: The Professionals winner Gary Maclean has announced his first solo venture at the Bonnie & Wild’s Scottish Marketplace food hall in Edinburgh, due to open this summer.

Maclean’s casual dining restaurant Creel Caught will showcase Scottish seafood and seasonal ingredients. The 2016 MasterChef: The Professionals champion will serve dishes including thermidor mac and cheese, grilled langoustines with seaweed butter, and monkfish scampi with fries.

“This is set to be a food hall like no other and it’s precisely why I chose Bonnie & Wild as the location for my first ever solo dining venture. Creel Caught will showcase the very best seafood this country has to offer, something we know diners can’t get enough of,” said Maclean.

Alongside Creel Caught, Bonnie & Wild’s open-plan Scottish Marketplace in the new St James Quarter in Edinburgh will feature seven other food stalls, three speciality retailers, a pâtisserie and three bars. Other food highlights include Mac & Wild, as well as Edinburgh-based East Pizzas, which is known for its slow-fermentation sourdough pizzas, and luxury artisanal gelato from Joelato, run by husband-and-wife team Joe and Lucie Sykes.

Maclean added: “Being alongside the likes of Mac & Wild and East Pizzas is testament to Scotland’s incredible food scene. We all offer something different – something for every taste, but all with Scottish produce at the heart.”

Roly Simpson, founder of East Pizzas, said: “Like the Bonnie & Wild team we are very much focused on locally sourced products, with an emphasis on using organic products when possible. For example, our organic mozzarella cheese comes from Dumfriesshire, while our venison salami is provided by the excellent Great Glen Charcuterie and our smoked chorizo from East Coast Cured. But, of course, we’ll be celebrating seasonal food, and offering an ever-changing and innovative line-up, offering up some beautiful classics as well as some exciting surprises!”

Bonnie & Wild’s Scottish Marketplace will accommodate up to 700 guests, and will also feature a private dining area, flexible events spaces, children’s play area and a demonstration kitchen, complete with broadcast capabilities.