Stuart Ralston celebrates 10 years of Aizle

Stuart Ralston's acclaimed debut restaurant celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, marking a key milestone for the chef's Edinburgh restaurant group, which has now grown to include Noto, Tipo and Lyla. 

Now entering its second decade, Aizle is headed by executive chef Ashley Salmon (L'Enclume, Rogan & Co, Roganic) and head chef Phillip Roberts (Oncore by Clare Smyth). To mark the 10th anniversary, Aizle has introduced a brand-new menu and will bring back the original, shorter five-course tasting menu (£75) to run alongside its current offering, a move that Ralston describes as "going back to our roots and doing it all again". 

The beginnings of Aizle

Starting out in the Fife town of Glenrothes, chef Stuart Ralston has gone on to have an extensive international career in the US and Barbados, working alongside legendary chefs such as Gordon Ramsey and staging with David Bouley, Marcus Samuelsson, Terrance Brennan, Daniel Humm, Paul Liebrandt and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. His debut restaurant Aizle first opened on Edinburgh's St Leonard's Street in 2014, gaining acclaim for its ingredients-led blind tasting menu revolving around the best of the Scottish larder. In 2020, it relocated to its new premises in Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel, occupying The Garden Room. 

Speaking of the milestone, chef-patron Ralston remarks: "I'm so proud of Aizle, it's given me everything I ever needed in my life, the people I have met, the food I have cooked, and what I am today is all because of that little restaurant with no menu. The last 10 years have flown but without Aizle we wouldn't be where we are today.

"I am really happy to see Ash and Phil running the kitchen now I am based at my new home Lyla, they are coming up with amazing new dishes. They care about the things I care about, so the DNA still runs deep of what we do."

In addition to Aizle, Ralston's restaurant group now includes the Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded Noto (2019) and Tipo (2023), as well as the Michelin Guide-listed, seafood-led fine dining restaurant, Lyla (2023), located on Edinburgh's Castle Terrace.

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