Andrew Fairlie @ Gleneagles

The renown of the luxurious Gleneagles Hotel with its three premier league championship golf courses in 850 fabulous acres of Perthshire countryside brings in the sort of clientele for whom only the best will do. Luckily that desire for superlatives is guaranteed on the culinary front by the world-class cooking of local lad Andrew Fairlie. First, let's introduce the chef. Fairlie won the first Roux scholarship as a precocious 20 year old, then went on to train with legendary French chef Michel Guérard in Gascony, so it is no surprise that his cooking has its roots deep in French classicism. He has now been plying his trade in Gleneagles for a decade, and while the operation is set within the hotel, it is an independent business. The environment is darkly cosseting with its extravagant floor-to-ceiling silk drapes, deep brown-panelled walls and stylish banquettes emblazoned with the house's leaf motif; original artwork by Archie Frost adds an extra level that tells you that you are somewhere special. Impeccable service is equal to the setting - slick but completely unstuffy and never intrusive. The scene is thus set for the serious business of top-level dining and drinking. If the whole table is up for it, the intelligently-composed menu du marché and full-works dégustation run to six and eight courses respectively; cheese is slotted in French-style before pudding. Otherwise a carte offers five choices at each course, with plenty to knock your socks off along the way. Produce brought in from the famous Rungis market near Paris sits alongside peerless materials from Scotland as the foundation of Fairlie's uncompromisingly French ideas, all brought together with meticulous attention to detail by a battalion-strength kitchen brigade. Hand-dived scallops are perfectly timed and delivered with the vibrant flavours of sea vegetables and yuzu purée, or you might start with a signature smoked lobster that sees the crustacean smoked for 12 hours over old whisky barrels, and served simply with lime and herb butter. Main-course peppered loin of roe deer comes with beetroot and a sloe gin gel, pulling off the masterful trick of imbuing apparently simple components with deeply-layered flavours, while roast fillet of Gigha halibut could be accompanied by the delicacy of clams and a lightly-curried parsnip purée. Presentation is elegant and refined throughout, particularly at dessert when a textbook salted caramel soufflé arrives with vanilla toffee and passionfruit sorbet. The wine list is a predictably serious piece of work, with an expert sommelier to aid navigation.