A TALENTED chef from Dunbar who opened up his own restaurant just six months ago is celebrating after clinching a top accolade.

Hard work at the Borough Restaurant, run by Darren and Aleks Murray, paid off when it was named in the Michelin Food Guide.

The modern cuisine at the restaurant, in Leith, caught the eye – and tastebuds – of visitors when it opened earlier this year.

Darren, who grew up in Dunbar, was delighted with the success and told the Courier: “After only six months of being open, it is pretty good for us [to get this recognition].

“We did not open the restaurant with any intention of getting any awards.

“You don’t apply for this. Michelin speak to people and get recommended where to go and try things.”

An anonymous diner visited the restaurant on Henderson Street earlier in the year before announcing who they were to Darren, who works in the kitchen, and his wife Aleks, who manages the front of house.

Further anonymous visits took place before the list was published last week, with Borough Restaurant featuring alongside fellow Edinburgh eating establishments such as Kitchin and Martin Wishart.

Darren, 30, who attended Dunbar Grammar School, previously worked at the restaurant but took over ownership earlier this year.

He said: “For us, it is about being hyperlocal.

“The main thing is we buy only the best produce and then turn it into a very accessible way of dining.

“We have four courses that we do for £35 and it is our choice. The customer does not have a choice and it makes it more cost effective.

“Everything is more efficient, there is less food waste and we also decided we would go down traditional methods of cooking – there are no water baths or sous vide.”

Darren, whose family still live in Dunbar, found his way into the culinary world after working at the Barns Ness Hotel, now the Royal Mackintosh Hotel, on Dunbar’s Station Road.

He said: “It was all by accident. I started working at the Barns Ness and I was the kitchen porter.

“The head chef had guys who were not dedicated to the job and I was always having to pick up the slack for him.”

From there, a love of food developed, which saw him work at The Rocks and the Hillside Hotel before moving on to London.

A return north of the Border saw him working in Edinburgh again and setting up home at Borough Restaurant.