FROM THE OPEN TO THE OLYMPICS
AYRSHIRE CHEF, RYAN BEATTIE, TALKS TO AM
Michael Hamilton
Ayrshire is blessed with some of the world’s most famous and testing golf courses. This means that golf’s most prestigious major comes to Ayrshire about once every ten years. Troon was the host for the 2024 British Open and saw the world’s best golfers and 250,000 people descend on Ayrshire. One British hopeful was Tommy Fleetwood who was staying in Troon with his family for the week. Tommy is a modern athlete who likes to eat well even when he travels and employs a chef to cook for him and his family. He had the privilege of attaining one of Ayrshire’s top chefs, Ryan Beattie, for the week, and for golf lover Ryan it was an experience he enjoyed and led to an amazing opportunity straight after it.
Ryan has been a professional chef in Ayrshire for over 20 years. His career started with Costley & Costley fresh out of school and once he got the bug for cooking he attended Ayr College to gain professional qualifications. A successful career at the Brig o’ Doon, Ellisland and the Carrick Lodge allowed Ryan to gain enough experience to open his own restaurant with his family.
They opened the Minishant Inn in 2011 and had great success. During this time Ryan started a second business, Fresh Fuel Ayrshire, a meal prep company which makes delicious, macro-friendly meals for health conscious individuals. The company started by Ryan delivers meals all over Ayrshire and has continued to thrive since its launch in 2019.
The Minishant Inn closed its doors in 2021 and Ryan is now fully focused on Fresh Fuel. He has built a great team to support him with the business and this occasionally allows Ryan time to pursue other interests, such as cooking for one of the world’s best golfers. Once Ryan discovered the opportunity, he jumped at the chance to cook for Tommy and his family and supported the Englishman’s diet in Troon.
“As a big golf fan, I knew it was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss. He is such a brilliant golfer and now getting to know him a wee bit, he is such a great guy… cooking for him and his family was an absolute privilege.”
Ryan described Tommy’s diet as very health conscious, ensuring he was fuelled properly to perform at his best. Sadly, it didn’t work out that well for him in Troon with Tommy missing the cut and heading home before the weekend. It was clearly nothing to do with the cooking, though, as Tommy enjoyed Ryan’s food and service so much that he invited him to cook for him and his family again in Paris for the Olympics.
Tommy quickly shook off the disappointment of Troon and with Ryan ensuring his diet was taken care of, he was free to play fantastically well in Paris. He narrowly missed out on the gold, losing by one shot to world number one, Scottie Scheffler. Ryan had an incredible time and loved his Olympic experience.
“An experience I’ll remember forever. I got to spend some time with him and his family, who are just lovely people, and I can say now I’ve cooked for an Olympic silver medallist, something I am very proud of and would gladly do again.”
A fantastic couple of weeks for one of Ayrshire’s most talented chefs, and Fresh Fuel fans don’t worry, he’s not going to be joining Tommy in America anytime soon!
