Restaurants throughout the country are being urged to follow suit as some of the top chefs in the UK have been serving up grouse as a firm favourite this season.The Gift of Grouse campaign has been working with chefs throughout the country, including Tom Kitchin, Dominic Jack and Nick Nairn to highlight the benefits of grouse as a delicious and sustainable food source as well as encouraging more restaurants to cook with grouse.

Scottish grouse has been appearing on the menus of many top London restaurants demonstrating its ‘hill to plate’ credentials. One such chef championing grouse is Tim Siadatan, executive chef and co-owner of Islington’s Italian restaurant, Trullo, and recently opened Padella in Borough Market, Southwark.

Tim recently took a group of chefs from his two restaurants up to Dunmaglass Estate, a sporting estate in the Scottish Highlands, part of Loch Ness Rural Communities Group, to gain an appreciation for the origins of grouse. Led by head gamekeeper Iain Hepburn, the chefs experienced a walked-up grouse shoot first hand.

Having cut out the middle agent, Trullo and Padella source their grouse directly from Ardgay Game, a dealer in the Scottish Highlands which sells grouse from Dunmaglass Estate.

Tim Siadatan said: “We’ve been getting our grouse direct from the Dunmaglass Estate for around three years now and it is a regular on both Trullo and Padella’s menus during the grouse season. Our kitchen team’s visit to the estate was great fun and we learnt a lot about the whole grouse process. A few of us bagged our first ever grouse and cooking it from hill to plate was a great experience.”

Michelin-starred chef, Tom Kitchin, Chef Proprietor of The Kitchin and award-winning chef Dominic Jack, Chef Patron of Castle Terrace Restaurant opened their award-winning gastro pub, The Scran & Scallie, in 2013 and have grouse dishes on offer across all three restaurants throughout the season.

Tom Kitchin said: “To me, grouse symbolises all that is great about Scottish produce. The game we have access to here in Scotland is so outstanding, I always feel it’s my duty to share the passion I have for it. We serve grouse at my restaurant The Kitchin, our sister restaurant Castle Terrace and gastropub The Scran and Scallie and I hope that others can share in the enjoyment of eating wonderful Scottish grouse from the moment it comes into season.”

Currently on the menu at both Padella and Trullo restaurants – Pappardelle with Dunmaglass Estate grouse ragu.

Currently on the menu at Castle Terrace restaurant is: Warm ballotine of young Borders grouse served in its own consommé.