Robbie Jack is the head chef of The Selkie Dundee.
Jack began his hospitality career at The Bell Tree, where a last-minute move into the kitchen sparked his interest in cooking.
In 2010, he joined Jute Café Bar at the Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre, working in a scratch-cooked, bistro-style kitchen that helped build his technical foundation.
Four years later, he joined the opening team at Taypark House as sous chef and spent four years developing his skills in event and wedding catering, before moving to Longparke Farmshop in 2018 as sous chef (later head chef), where he gained experience in breadmaking and produced daily breads for the shop.
Jack became co-owner and head chef of The Selkie in 2020. After The Ferry Selkie opened in 2023, he moved into an executive chef role, overseeing both venues. In 2024, he expanded his responsibilities to include Sol y Sombra.
Alongside his restaurant work, the chef founded Robbie Jack Private Dining in 2022, catering for private and corporate clients, intimate dinner parties and occasional pop-up events.
This week, he takes on our chef Q&A:
When did you realise that you wanted to be a chef?
I started in hospitality as a waiter when I was 17.
I didn’t particularly enjoy it, and I wasn’t that good at it, to be honest. So when they asked me to fill in the kitchen as one of the chefs was off sick, I jumped at the chance.
I'd never really thought about cooking professionally, but after a few days in the kitchen, it started to grow on me – the fast-paced intensity, banter and camaraderie were something I really enjoyed. After a while, it turned out I was quite good at the job, got a few compliments and realised it was possible to make a career out of it.
What was your first kitchen job like?
My first kitchen job probably wasn’t a great place to start off, in hindsight. It was a chain pub/grill that didn’t really involve a lot of actual cooking; however, it was a really busy place, so I'd say it was beneficial in terms of learning how to work a busy service.
Eventually, I wanted to go a bit further and learn some proper cooking, so I got a job as a chef de partie at a bistro where everything was made from scratch. I'd say that’s where I really started learning how to cook.
What does “good food” mean to you?
Good food to me doesn’t need to be complicated. I'm not really one for overly complex, theatrical food with 10 different elements on the plate.
In all honesty, I've enjoyed things that my wife has cooked at home more than some tasting menus I've had at upmarket restaurants that cost a small fortune.
Everyone's different, of course, but I think good food should mean comfort. Whether that means a Sunday dinner with family or really good pub food done well. It doesn’t need to be made with the most expensive ingredients or be a wild flavour combination.
Italians have the right idea about food. It's never something overly complex, just simple dishes cooked really well. I'll put it this way: good food to me is when the first bite is taken, and no one talks for a minute.
Can you share a memory of your worst kitchen disaster?
I worked at a hotel in Dundee about 10 years ago. It was a fairly small boutique hotel, and we did a lot of private functions and weddings.
One day, we had a wedding where, somehow, it was agreed the main course would be sirloin steaks- about 75 of them. In a small kitchen with nowhere near enough space to cook that many at once, it was a bit of a disaster waiting to happen.
The speeches finished earlier than planned, so the time we’d agreed to send food out had to be brought forward. That left us on the back foot with a huge number of steaks to cook and not enough time to do it.
We had a small electric flat-top grill for searing meat, so I thought it would be a good idea to turn it up full blast to speed things up. What I didn’t realise was that the extraction fans had been turned off during the speeches because they were so loud, and in the chaos, we forgot to turn them back on.
When you’re cooking meat on a very hot grill with oil and black pepper, you get a lot of smoke. I remember thinking, “It’s really hot in here today,” not realising why. Then, of course, the smoke alarms went off throughout the whole hotel.
We had to evacuate the kitchen, and staff ushered everyone outside. Guests, bride and groom, the lot into the car park. A full wedding party, all dressed up, standing outside waiting. I think the fire brigade even turned up. Safe to say it was pretty embarrassing, especially for me. Not my finest moment, but a good reminder to listen to your chefs when they say something might not be a great idea.
Where is your favourite place to eat out?
I don’t eat out all that often, to be honest. Usually, when I do it is in Edinburgh, there's such a variety of places to choose from.
My favourite place to eat has to be Kyloe, a steak restaurant which specialises in Scottish beef.
I’ve been several times and never had anything but a fantastic meal. They always have a few specials on (I usually go for these) or a 10-oz ribeye. The steak is always cooked perfectly, chips in beef dripping, and creamy peppercorn sauce. Simple but delicious. Another standout on their menu when we last went was the oxtail croquettes and the white chocolate mousse.
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What is the best thing you’ve cooked recently?
Probably the Christmas dinner for my family last year.
We’ve never really done a traditional Christmas dinner of turkey, roasties etc. I don’t really enjoy it that much and no one can be bothered with the faff on Christmas day.
This year I made lamb curry with homemade chapati, spicy onions, pilau rice and a few other dips/sides. I cooked the lamb low and slow all day so it was super tender in a spicy coconut curry sauce sweetened with some mango, which went great with the slightly crunchy onions and charred breads.
What I said above about people taking the first bite and not talking for a minute applied perfectly to this.
Work – wise, we usually do a flavoured whipped butter that goes out with the breads, which gives us a chance to play about with flavours. I recently made caramelised onion and whipped goat’s cheese butter. Nothing ground-breaking in terms of combining flavours, but it was definitely a favourite, so good spread over warm, crusty bread.
What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about working in a professional kitchen?
People often think chefs spend all day cooking beautiful dishes – not quite. While we do use spare time to come up with new ideas and menus, most of the working day is spent on tasks you’ve done thousands of times before. Prep, cleaning, organising, handling deliveries-it all plays a big part. Especially when working alone, a lot of the day is spent making sure everything is ready for service. Time spent at the pass plating dishes is actually a small part of the overall job.
Then there’s the MasterChef effect. Shows like MasterChef can make kitchen life look very glamorous, but they don’t always show the full picture, long hours, evenings and weekends, and the physical demands of the job. It’s incredibly rewarding, but it definitely requires commitment.
There’s also the idea that being married to a chef means restaurant-quality meals every night. In reality, after a long shift, most chefs don’t have much energy left to cook at home! Like any job, once you’ve done it all day, you sometimes just want to switch off.
People also ask if it’s the same as cooking at home- definitely not. In a professional kitchen, things can change very quickly. You might go from no orders to a full restaurant all at once, which can mean preparing a large number of dishes in a short space of time. It’s a very different environment to a home kitchen. The physical side of the job is often underestimated too. Long hours on your feet, working in hot kitchens, constantly moving and lifting- it can be demanding, but it’s all part of the role.
When it comes to food bloggers and “foodies,” most have good intentions and can be incredibly supportive of the industry. Positive coverage can make a real difference to a restaurant. However, it’s always most helpful when feedback is balanced and informed. If something isn’t right during a visit, letting the team know at the time gives us the chance to put things right and improve the experience.
Overall, cheffing is a challenging but hugely rewarding profession. There’s a lot more that goes on behind the scenes than people might expect, but that’s part of what makes it so special.
If you weren’t a chef, what do you think you’d be doing with your life?
If I weren’t a chef, I’d definitely be doing some sort of outdoors job. I think as chefs we spend so much time cooped up in the kitchen that we’re always eager to be outside! I’ve always liked the idea of working with dogs in some capacity-maybe that’s something I’ll end up doing in the future.
To be honest, I’d also love to be a stay-at-home dad for a while. Working long hours, you feel like you miss a lot as your kids grow up, so at some point, I’d like to take my foot off the gas and spend more time at home. That said, I don’t work as many nights as I used to, so it could definitely be worse! I don’t think I could ever do an office job, though. I would go a bit stir crazy if I had to sit still for too long.
What is one ingredient or kitchen tool that you think everyone should have handy at home?
Easy: salt.
It always surprises me how many people don’t use salt when cooking at home. I think it's been misconstrued as being really unhealthy, but it's not at all. If you don’t season your food, please do, and you’ll notice a huge difference.
In terms of equipment, you don’t need anything fancy to make good food at home. I'd recommend a good heavy ovenproof pan, something you can use on the stove and in the oven, letting you cook in multiple ways using one pan.
They’re great for searing meat on the stove, then finishing in the oven, and they also save on the washing up.
What has been the one highlight that stands out in your career so far?
I’ve had a few highlights in my career so far, more notably when I was promoted to head chef about 10 years ago.
It felt like a great accomplishment, especially as I was fairly young at the time. Obviously, it was a big milestone when we opened the Selkie in 2020 during covid, I always wanted to have my own place, so taking the leap felt good, and it's opened up some doors for me career-wise. It's allowed me to start my own private dining business where I cater for corporate events, private dinner parties and everything in between, which I try and do as often as possible when I'm not working in the restaurant.
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