Tom Kitchin says he is now 'hell-bent on winning a good employer award'

Michelin-starred chef and owner of The Kitchin group, Tom Kitchin, has admitted to "shouting and screaming" at staff but has denied ever acting violently, eight months after allegations of abuse and bullying within his restaurant group were made by former employees

The chef, who opened his Leith restaurant in 2006, winning a Michelin star a year later, spoke up in an interview with the Scottish Mail on Sunday yesterday, stating that as a business, they had "been through a nightmare," but that this had made them look at every aspect of it in order to improve it.

Now, he said, rather than chasing cullinary accolades, he is "hell-bent on winning a good employer award."

'If I was such an ogre, I don't think they would stick around'

In July 2021, two senior staff members were suspended from The Kitchin Group and an independent inquiry was launched to investigate claims that employees had suffered abuse and sexual harassment while working in the group's restaurants.

The allegations were made anonymously on social media then detailed in The Times, but claimed that working for The Kitchin Group between 2006 and 2019 - comprised of Michelin-starred The Kitchin and The Scran and Scallie - made for "a toxic workplace," and that harassment and abuse were perpetrated by senior staff.

Days after the first claims emerged, it was alleged that the chef and his wife had been paying themselves and directors 20 percent of staff tips at The Scran and Scallie over the course of five years. 

The chef has doubled down on the argument he has always stuck to, which is that kitchens are a "tough environment," saying: "It is full on, 110 miles an hour, especially back when we started our business.

“Nowadays it is a much different place, but don’t get me wrong, we still work extremely hard.

“I have a lot of long-serving members of staff who understand the commitment required to operate at the highest levels. If I was such an ogre, I don’t think they would stick around.

“Yes, there have been moments in the past where the way I acted was not correct. Shouting and screaming at someone over a carrot… because it’s not cut correctly.

“Do I shout and scream like that now? No, I do not and the way I was then is not acceptable in today’s modern world and I put my hand up to that.”

“We’ve been striving to make our environments better. Our industry, and this restaurant in particular, has already changed so much in recent years, moving away from the work cultures of the past. We are not perfect, but equally we have nothing to hide.

"We’ve been through a nightmare, but it has made us look at every part of our business. I’m determined to make this the number one hospitality place to work and the best restaurant we can.

"Before, I was always chasing culinary accolades but I’m now hell-bent on winning a good employer award.”