Running up to this year's Scottish Chefs Conference, we are talking to the demonstrator chefs taking part in this year's special ten year anniversary. Yesterday we spoke to James Petrie, and today we are rounding it up with Andrew Fairlie. 
Andrew Fairlie began his career at age 15, under mentor chef Keith Podmore. By the time Andrew was 20, he had won a Roux Scholarship which enabled him to train under top chef Michel Guerard at Les Prés d'Eugénie in Gascony. After many years of working and living in France, Andrew returned to the UK with big ambitions. In 2001, he opened his own self titled restaurant, Andrew Fairlie, in Perth.
In less than five years, Andrew had been awarded two Michelin stars alongside only 11 other restaurants in the UK, and was voted in the top 10 'Greatest Hotel Restaurants' by US Hotel magazine. He had also served a meal for Queen Elizabeth and 44 world leaders during the G8 Summit. Since then, Andrew was awarded AA Chef's Chef of the Year, and the inaugural Scottish Chef of the Year.
Why did you want to be part of the conference?
Well, I was part of the conference 10 years ago and I thought it was a fantastic thing for Willie to do. The attendance in the first year was exceptional, for a first conference I thought it was extremely well organised, and for it to still be going so strong after ten years all credit has to go to Willie for doing that. I have been to a number of conferences over the last ten years, but the buzz of this conference has always been exceptional, and I know that people talk about it for a long time afterward. A lot of my staff attended conferences, and they get a huge amount out of it, and the amount of names that Willie has managed to track over the last ten years is testament of all his hard work.
What do you think about the conference, why is it so important?
In the past, for chefs in Scotland to be involved in something like that it’s a very long and very expensive trip down to London. Everything before this conference had been centered around London, and to plan an event at this size... to organise an event that size, within Scotland is something that every Scottish chef should support.
During a live show or demo, has anything ever gone wrong?
I did a demo at a restaurant show in London 15 years ago, and they had a chap who was there pot washing, fetching and carrying. I had made a base for a pear soufflé I was doing, and left it while I prepared the next dish. When I turned around to pick up the bowl, he had thrown it in the bin! He thought it was something to be washed down the sink, so that was a demonstration that was cut very short... I ended up doing a demonstration on how to make a crème anglaise with fresh custard because that was the only ingredients I had available to me!
By Katie Pathiaki
>>> Read: The Roux Scholarship winners: where are they now? (part 1)
