Clydebank chef opens up new restaurant Jamie's Kitchen

Jamie Davidson has been in the cooking game for over three decades but only recently launched a stand-alone venture after cheffing in bars such as The Lovat and Chandler’s.

Two months ago, the 46-year-old opened Jamie’s Kitchen on the upper floor of The Shipyard pub on Chalmers Street in Clydebank where he was born-and-bred. He explained a chat with staff when he was in watching the football helped him realise a long-harboured dream.

The 46-year-old starting cooking when he was 15 (Image: Tom Grant)

Speaking exclusively to Glasgow Times, he said: “Because of my reputation, everybody knows me as ‘Jamie the chef’ or ‘Jamie from the Lovat’ or ‘Jamie from Chandlers,’ I was getting a bit sick of it.

“I decided no, not anymore. The brainchild behind it was to get my own name, and try and open up my own restaurant so everybody predominately knows, who I am and where I am.”

The veteran chef has spent his life in kitchens after leaving school at 15 and taking up a cooking course at Clydebank College, a choice made purely to get any qualification on his CV.

“Back 30 years ago, you only had catering, mechanics or painting, that was about it,” continued Jamie.

 “I was just trying to get a trade.”

Jamie hopes to turn his new venture into a training academy (Image: Tom Grant)

Now, with his new business, Jamie insists he wants to turn his kitchen into a training hub for the next generation of cooks, to give youngsters a working environment opportunity he didn’t have when he was coming through 31 years ago.

He added: “I am trying to get funding to help train the next generation of chefs.

“When I was young, there was nothing, and it is starting to be like that again.

“If I can get 16 to 18-year-olds or 18 to 21-year-olds, my kitchen is big enough.

“I can be cooking, and they could be watching. I’ve trained that many chefs over the years, I may as well do full-on training now and try and get them a qualification.”

Jamie has also promised locals he will continue to come up with new and exotic dishes for his menu at The Shipyard, admitting he never really switches off when it comes to cooking and looking for his next inspiration.

He finished: “I am constantly looking at inventing new dishes. It’s like homework for me. I’ll watch Man versus Food with a beer and then write down different ideas.

Jamie's Kitchen can be found on Chalmers Street (Image: Tom Grant)

“Or walking down the street on holiday, I’ll see something and that will inspire me.

“I did a giant taco I saw on the TV, and it was phenomenal when I put a twist on it.”

The new restaurant can be found at The Shipyard at 1-3 Chalmers Street, what was formerly The Lounge by the Clyde.