Wasting no time, Graeme applied himself and started rising through the ranks at an incredible pace. His hard work and dedication didn’t go unnoticed, and just two years later – at the age of twenty-three – he was offered the job of head chef. ‘Initially I didn’t want the job, but Martin’s head chef had given him a year’s notice and said he was moving back to Canada,’ he explains. ‘Martin must’ve seen something in me and basically told me I was going to fill the position, rather than asking! It was a big challenge. Some of the guys in the kitchen had worked there since before I started, which was a bit difficult to deal with, but I’d already made a good mark in the kitchen and everyone supported me.’

Becoming a head chef is never easy, and Graeme found it was hard work in the early days. For the first year he continued to work under Martin’s guidance, continuing to do what he’d always done. ‘Martin would come up every Thursday to design the menu and create the dishes, which would then change every Friday,’ he says. ‘But eventually I wanted to be doing something of my own, rather than just recreating what was being served at Martin’s other restaurant in Edinburgh. I started getting a bit of experience in other restaurants so I could move the style in a new direction to keep things interesting. Now, the restaurant has a much stronger modern European influence, whereas Restaurant Martin Wishart is still very much classical French.’

Five years later, Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond is a Michelin-starred restaurant in its own right. Graeme has managed to stamp his own mark on the menu whilst keeping it true to Martin’s own ethos, a true balancing act. Quality of produce is integral to the menu, which means the team will source outside of Scotland if the ingredients are better. However, roe deer from the Borders and local seafood is almost always on offer. ‘My favourite dish on the menu right now is roasted langoustine with pumpkin and tandoori spices, which we serve with puffed rice and a carrot sauce,’ says Graeme. ‘Prawns, curry and rice is something a lot of people can relate to, so we get a lot of good feedback.’

Being head chef for five years has meant Graeme has had to move with the times. ‘I’ve noticed a huge shift towards more relaxed dining,’ he says. ‘People don’t want pretentious, stuffy service anymore – because we’re a hotel we always have diners coming in wearing sandals and t-shirts, which we’re fine with, and we’ve got a kid’s menu. I’ve talked to others in the industry and they’re all finding the same thing. Everyone wants the same high quality but in a more relaxed atmosphere.’

For now, Graeme is happy where he is, building on an impressive CV that any other twenty-eight-year-old chef would love to have. He doesn’t deny that another star would be incredible, but – as always – the diners and the food come first. ‘For the next one or two years at least I’m just going to stay here and carry on building on what we’re doing,’ he says. Accolades are great – they get you out of bed in the morning – but everyone in the team wants to go further and see where we can take the food.’