Fife chef scoops title of Scotland's Young Chef of the Year

Jack Coghill, head chef at Jack ‘O’ Bryan’s Bar and Kitchen in Dunfermline was presented with the trophy and title at the Scottish Excellence Awards in Glasgow on Thursday night.

Last year, Jack, 25, impressed the judges and took a Highly Commended certificate as runner up in the category, however this year he went a step further and scooped the title.

The award judges described Jack as “an outstanding cook”, who “lives and breathes hospitality”. They added: “In a category full of promising young chefs his dedication to his craft and the family business stood out.”

Brought up in Spain and Portugal where his father Bryan ran a range of hotels and restaurants, he grew up in commercial kitchens and began his career at the age of 16.

The last 12 months have seen Jack get married to fiancée Sarah and win more acclaim for the restaurant with the Forth Awards’ Restaurant of the Year and runner up in the Fine Dining category of the Scottish License Trade News Awards.

Along with keeping his pastry chef and chocolatier skills up to scratch with yet more training at the Callebaut Chocolate School in Banbury, Jack has found the time, along with his dad, to acquire the family’s second restaurant – The Crab and Lobster Fish Shack – which he hopes to launch next month in South Queensferry within the former Frankie & Benny’s restaurant.

The Scottish Excellence Awards, which are widely considered to be Scotland’s premier hospitality awards, include a wide range of categories, from Chef of the Year and Restaurant of the Year, to Restaurant Newcomer, Best Sustainable Business, Pub Excellence, and Employer of the Year.