Citizens: Meet the Chef Behind the Pass

Every kitchen has a story worth telling, and this story starts on the Southside. Head Chef Tony's route to running our kitchen wasn't a straight line from culinary school to head chef whites overnight, it was built the way most good chefs are built: one service, one section, one promotion at a time.

Introducing Our Head Chef

Tony was born and raised on Glasgow's Southside and trained at City of Glasgow College straight from school, before beginning his career at just sixteen on Scotland's West Coast. He spent five years there building his foundations, learning from chefs who clearly left their mark.

He joined DRG in 2019, working across different units before settling into the Citizen kitchen as a Commis Chef. From there, the progression was steady and earned, through the ranks from Commis to Senior Sous Chef, and now into the Head Chef's role.

In his own words:

"I joined DRG in 2019, working across different restaurants before settling into The Citizen kitchen as a Commis Chef. From there I progressed through the ranks from Commis to Senior Sous Chef, and now have the privilege of stepping into the role of Head Chef. I'm looking forward to leading a dedicated team and continuing to deliver authentic dishes at Citizen that leave a lasting impression on our guests."

Cooking With A Sense Of Place

Ask any of the team here and they'll tell you: Tony's food doesn't try to reinvent Scottish cooking, it purely respects it. Prime Scottish beef, Shetland mussels, Scottish haddock and salmon, haggis done properly, the produce does most of the talking. Where the kitchen gets playful is in the details: a smoked whisky sauce here, a family recipe there, a dish built around duck fat roast potatoes because some things simply deserve the extra step.

It's cooking that fits the building. Nothing overworked, nothing on the plate that doesn't need to be there, just proper ingredients, treated with the respect they're due, and served in a room with more history than most restaurants can claim.

Chef’s Recommendation

Citizen Steak Pie — prime beef, slow-cooked in red wine and port with Cumberland sausage, finished in butter puff pastry and served with your choice of mash, truffle mash or rustic chips.

"The Citizen Steak Pie is exactly what I want people to think of when they think of us, proper, hearty Scottish cooking, that’s full of flavour.”

It's wholesome Scottish cooking, the kind of dish that takes time and care to get right, and it's been a mainstay of this kitchen for good reason.