He said: “My mum taught me everything I know about having a strong work ethic, getting your sleeves rolled up and taking every opportunity to widen your experience in the catering and hospitality industry.

"She’s also a big believer in making time to prepare wholesome, home-cooked food and sitting around the table as a family. This is something that has strongly influenced my style and enjoyment of food.

“Every time my dad got a new job my mum would end up working there as well, because you know what it’s like in this industry they are always short of staff, and that’s kind of how my brothers started doing it as well, it was just like that natural progression for me.

“When I was just a shade over 14 I went to work with one of my brother in the Roman Camp Hotel at Callander and that was like my introduction.

“I was lucky that my first foray in just being a kitchen porter was amongst some really talented people in a really beautiful a really nice place, and lived there when I went to high school and had the part time job there.”

Mr Ralston comes from a family of chefs

He said: “You just stay and keep progressing and then I followed him to Le Monde and was there a couple of years. Every time I moved I went up a level, and started as kitchen porter and then very job I’ve gone on and taken I’ve just kept moving up the ranks a little bit.

“I never really planned a career in cooking when I first started, but as time’s gone on I enjoy it more.

“I think when I was in my early to mid 20s I never really wanted to do it full time and always thought I had ambitions of doing something else.

“So I went to university and studied English literature, I thought I would go and live in New York and be some sort of TV writer and then when I got into the last three or four years of my career when I was working at the White Horse and then the Chop House I started to get a bit more professional about it and really took it a lot more seriously, so I went in fully with it.”

READ MORE: Celebrity chef opens Leith Woks in Scottish capital

He continued: “I already had that load of experience, I would hazard I’ve worked in 70-odd restaurants at this point, and was an agency chef for a couple of years, so I went around a lot of places, saw, a lot of things and just absorbed it all.

“Some of the stuff was what not to do rather than want to do, but it was all good experience. I’ve never come away from any kitchen I’ve been in without having taken something from it, big or small.”

Superico Restaurant at 83 Hanover Street and Superico Bar and Lounge at 99 Hanover Street, managed by Mike Lynch, earned the Bar, Club & Lounge award at the Hospitality Design Awards in New York six months ago.

Mr Ralston’s new menu at Superico Restaurant takes inspiration from destinations, styles and trends around the world including Japan, Latin America and France.

“I had a pipe dream of being a writer so I’ve definitely got a creative leaning. To be able to come into a place like here, it is a small restaurant, manageable where everyone has input.

“It makes you feel included. You don’t feel like you’re just coming in to do a job and pick up your wages and go home

“It’s a small kitchen and everyone has got a platform there to really invest in it and feel like they are part of building something."

READ MORE: Gleneagles announces head chef for new Edinburgh

Mr Ralston describes his cooking style as simple, clean and fresh. He is also focussed on high quality, locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, and leads the kitchen team to oversee the 40-cover restaurant.

Scottish produce and ingredients featured on the Superico menu include oysters from Loch Fyne, seafood and fish from Welch Fishmongers at Newhaven in Edinburgh, I J Mellis Cheesemonger, and John Henderson meat specialist in Glenrothes.

He said: “We are trying to change the menu up, and we’re coming out of Covid, the weather’s improving and everyone feels we’ve got a good opportunity to do something special here. Because we have so much experience, I just hired a good friend of mine who a couple of years back was working in a Michelin star [restaurant] in Nice, he has a lot of experience. My sous chef is in his 50s, he’s been around the block, and really knows his stuff. He’s got a recipe for everything.

“So we’ve got this really good blend of people, we’ve just hired a new front of house team as well and got our outside seating arranged. It feels like every iron is in the fire right now and everyone is really excited for the summer because we think it’s going to be a big one.”

Q&A

• What countries have you most enjoyed travelling to, for business or leisure, and why? 

My favourite foodie destination for leisure or business has to be Lyon in in France’s Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, which I visited for the first time with my brothers in 2019. The quality and variety of food and drink there blew me away. Lyon has more restaurants per capita than any other city in France and has 15 Michelin star restaurants. It’s also famous for its open food markets, so it’s definitely my foodie hot spot.

I would describe my cooking style as simple, clean and fresh, taking a lot of inspiration from classic French cuisine. More than ever before, I think people are looking for unique and quality dining experiences that excite their senses, transport them to somewhere exotic and reflect the latest food trends and flavours from around the world. This is something I think we do well at Superico.

• When you were a child, what was your ideal job? Why did it appeal? 

My first dream job was to be a footballer, but as I got into my early teens I started to explore my creativity and wanted to be a screen writer. I studied English Literature at Edinburgh’s Napier University and still love to read and write, but cooking is where my creative flair found its natural outlet. As a chef, I’ve found a career where I have the freedom to show off my creative side.

• What was your biggest break in business? 

I secured my first head chef role at The Chop House in Edinburgh’s Bruntsfield in 2020. It taught me a lot about being a good leader, identifying the key strengths of your team and bringing out the best in people, as well as the day-to-day running of an established, high-volume, city centre restaurant. This ultimately led to me being appointed head chef at Superico in 2022.

• What was your worst moment in business? 

Having to cater for people around Christmas time is the most stressful part of my job. I’ve worked in high-volume, city centre venues where large groups have all kinds of individual dietary requirements and food allergies, so you need to stay focussed, calm and pay attention to detail in a pressurised kitchen environment.

• Who do you most admire and why? 

My mum is my biggest inspiration. She’s retired now, but she worked as a chef and cook for over 40 years in a wide variety of roles, including restaurants, cafes, visitor attractions and canteens around Scotland.

She taught me everything I know about having a strong work ethic, getting your sleeves rolled up and taking every opportunity to widen your experience in the catering and hospitality industry.  

She’s also a big believer in making time to prepare wholesome, home-cooked food and sitting around the table as a family. This is something that has strongly influenced my style and enjoyment of food.

• What book are you reading, what was the last film you saw and what music are you listening to?

I’ve recently been reading Paul Merton’s autobiography, Only When I Laugh. He talks about overcoming personal addiction, mental health issues, and his regret for not having got more out of his career.

Addiction and mental health in the hospitality and catering industry are more opening discussed now, so his personal journey reflects the struggles many people face within my industry. The positive takeaway from all this is about setting personal goals, and giving more priority to your wellbeing and happiness.

One of my top 5 films is There Will be Blood starring Daniel Day-Lewis. This 2007 American epic period drama film is loosely based on the 1927 novel, Oil!.

In the kitchen, me and the team like to listen to a mix of bubblegum pop and hip hop to add some extra energy and fun to our shifts, including Abba, Madonna, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.