Along with his partner Jane, Jason Gallagher runs the two AA Rosette Stockbridge Restaurant in Edinburgh.

Jason has been chef proprietor at the St Stephen Street restaurant for twelve years. Before that, his career took him from Braintree to Bermuda and from The Park Lane at Mayfair to Martin’s on Rose Street.

If you would like to try the food at The Stockbridge Restaurant then there is often a 5pm offer running.

Evening diners can often enjoy a 20% discount on the a la carte menu when making a booking through 5pm.

5pm: Can you describe the style of food served at the restaurant?

SG: Classical. I don’t really follow fashions. I was trained to use classic French techniques and I think they are the essential base to build from. I think I have become a better chef over the twelve years in terms of what I can do in the kitchen.

5pm: What got you into cooking to begin with?

 ****SG: Living in a pub and just helping out in the kitchen from a young age.

5pm: Where did you first start working?

 ****SG: Charingworth Manor in Chipping Camden.

5pm: What do you think has changed on Scotland’s restaurant scene since you first started working here?

SG: There is a much wider choice of cuisines available for customers.

5pm: You have a magic wand. What one thing would you alter about the Scottish food scene?

SG: I would make it cheaper and easier to have fresh Scottish produce delivered without over fishing or causing damage to the environment.

Also I’d like to be able to provide the best quality local produce and ensure farmers receive a fair price for it without putting potential customers off with the price – these things do come at a premium.

5pm: Is there any food you hated as a kid but love now? 

SG: Olives and butternut squash. Same with blue cheese. Used to hate it but can’t get enough now.

5pm: What is your favourite ingredient to work with?

SG: Foie gras.

5pm: What do you like to eat on a night off? 

SG: Steak and chips.

5pm: Which chef has inspired you?

SG: The first chef I worked for, Mathew Laughton, and Gordon Ramsay

5pm: Is there anything you don’t like cooking with?

SG: Hare! The smell is awful.

5pm: Is there anything you couldn’t eat?

SG: Tripe.

5pm: What has been the most exotic thing you have eaten?

SG: Sea urchin, ostrich and biltong. I was born in South Africa. My Dad used to do a bit of diving off the beach. He would barbecue whatever he had managed to find or catch. We used to eat all sorts of things. I’m not sure what half of them were.

5pm: What gadget/utensil can’t you work without?

SG: My Kenwood mixer as I make my bread fresh every day.

5pm: Ketchup or Maldon sea salt?

SG: Maldon.

5pm: You can get anyone in the world to cook you a meal. Who will it be?

SG: Heston Blumenthal. When you see what he does, it is just on another level compared to what other people are cooking.

5pm: Apart from your own establishment, where do you like to eat out?

SG: My local pubs for casual dining and at Martin Wishart for special occasions.

5pm: What is the best thing about being a chef?

SG: Being creative and being able to do a job I love.

5pm: And the worst?

SG: Having to work when everyone is out enjoying themselves. Especially if you are going to work in the evening and it’s a nice summer night. Everyone else is going to the pub and you are heading into a hot kitchen.

5pm: Have celeb chefs been a good or bad thing on the whole?

SG: A good thing. They have raised the profile of restaurants, chefs and food in general.

5pm: What’s been your worst kitchen disaster?

SG: Having to make the staff dinner while I was on work experience. I had half an hour to make vegetable lasagne but all the milk in the dispenser was rancid.

5pm: Who cooks at home?

SG: My partner, Jane.

5pm: What is in your fridge at home?

SG: Lots of fruit and veg, Greek yoghurt, cooked chicken, cheese and pancetta for the kids. I am partial to a pie, so some meat pies for me for after work.

5pm: What has been your most memorable meal?

SG: Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles. That was back when we could get a hotel room for £20 a night as a perk of Jane’s job. When your room is only £20, it makes it a lot easier to splash out on a stunning meal.

5pm: Tell us your daftest customer complaint?

SG: That the Parma ham was too salty.

5pm: What is your best piece of printable kitchen slang?

SG: Jockeys whips – chips! All the rest is unprintable.

5pm: Who would win in a fight? Heston Blumenthal or Gordon Ramsay?

SG: Ramsay although I think it would be one of those fights where neither would want to be hit in the face. It would be body shots only.