Tom Lewis…
The Sunday Times Ecosse (26 March 2006)
‘A contradictory mix of ingénue and adventurer – he almost got conscripted in the first Gulf war because he was working under forged documents in America – Lewis is a living amphetamine. Words tumble out 20-to-the-dozen. He is passionate and chaotic in equal measure...He has the puppy-like enthusiasm of a young Jamie Oliver, the winning self-doubts of an early Nigella, and Ramsay’s sense of theatre.’
Tom moved to Monachyle with his family in 1983 at the age of 13. After school he left home to travel in the Middle East, New Zealand and the US for 10 years, working on ranches and farms as a sheep shearer and farmhand, before returning to Scotland in 1995. While he was away his mother, Jean, had turned the farmhouse from B&B to award-winning hotel and Tom decided to learn to cook. He was inspired by two people –Nico Ladenis who enthused about food on Desert Island Discs, and David Wilson of the “Peat Inn” in Fife. By the end of 1996 the hotel had won its first AA Rosettes and Tom and Monachyle Mhor have continued to rake in the awards ever since.
- 1998 Monachyle was entered into the “Which?” restaurant guide
- 2001 “Best out of town Restaurant” – Taste of Scotland
- 2003 Booker Prize Industry Award
- 2004 “Hotel of the Year” – CIS
- 2005 Egon Ronay Award
- 2005 “Small Hotel of the Year” – Hotel Review Scotland
- 2007 Hotel Chef of the Year “Highly Commended” - Scottish Chefs Award
Tom also took part in BBC 2’s Great British Menu series in 2006 in which 14 of the nation’s finest chefs had to create original, regionally inspired recipes and pit their culinary skills against each other for the opportunity to cook the Queen’s 80th birthday lunch.
