TOM Kitchin re-opens his Michelin-starred restaurant on the Leith waterfront today - following a major £1 million expansion.

The Kitchin, which gained a Michelin star just six months after opening in 2006, has taken over the former Chop Chop Chinese restaurant and now has an extended dining space, a private dining room, a distinctive whisky snug and a temperature controlled wine cellar, as well as an expanded kitchen and a new butchery area. The unique window through which diners can view the action in the kitchen has also been extended.

The striking Scandinavian-Scots interior features real Silver Birch wall tiles and tree trunks, a bespoke wallpaper by Glasgow design studio Timorous Beasties, fabrics from the Isle of Bute, drystone dykes from Aberdeen, and sheepskins from Skye.

It has been led by Swedish-born Michaela Kitchin with Glasgow-based Stephen Patterson of Burns Design to emphasise the restaurant's From Nature to Plate philosophy. On display are the original stone- and brickwork from the building's historic use as a whisky bond.

Kitchin said: "We're taking the biggest step it's possible for us to take. Just saying that makes me go weak at the knees."

* Meanwhile, Michelin-starred chef and Herald columnist Martin Wishart has revealed that his new Glasgow brasserie The Honours at the Malmaison Hotel has welcomed 5,200 diners since opening last November. He expects the 106-cover restaurant will turn over in excess of £3m in its first year alone.

"I am really pleased with the way Glasgow has welcomed The Honours restaurant to the city," he said. "We have found a happy home here."