Published on August 20, 2026

Meet Justin Galea - Chef & Owner of The Kirkmichael Arms

Earlier this year, The Herald named Justin Galea one of the 50 most exciting chefs working in Scotland.

For the man behind The Kirkmichael Arms, it's the latest in a run of recognition that includes a Michelin Guide listing and Best Scottish Pub 2025. Not bad for a village pub in South Ayrshire. But what of the story of the man behind it all? We sat down with Justin Galea, and here's how he got here.

A camp stove and a pot of spag bol

Justin was six years old, at kindergarten in Melbourne, when his teacher cooked spaghetti bolognese on a camp stove in class and asked if anyone wanted to put the mince in the pot. One hand went up. Justin. He watched his classmates eat the food he'd helped cook, went home that afternoon, and announced he was going to be a chef. He never changed his mind.

Food ran in the family. His dad worked on the rigs and cooked like a man possessed. Everything was made from scratch. Salami, cheese, pickles, olives, sundried tomatoes, you name it, it was made at home. His old man fished, gathered mussels, and when he came home from offshore, there would be lobsters on the barbecue. And young Justin was taking notes. Fast. Because it wasn’t long before everybody was taking notes from him.

By the time Justin was old enough to hold a pair of tongs, he was cooking the barbecue. Not just for his house either. His services were in demand across the neighbourhood. If anybody on the street was throwing a party, Justin would be called upon to cook the BBQ. And he was still just a kid at this stage.

The English teacher who got him his first kitchen job

Justin was, in his own words, a horrible student. His standard line to every teacher? “I don't need to know this, I'm going to be a chef.” Conviction. Most teachers pushed back. One was a bit different, however. Enter Mr Wheat.

Mr Wheat taught English, and he made Justin an offer. Five dollars from every teacher, every day. Take it to the supermarket. Cook the staff lunch. In return? Justin sat one period of English a week where Mr Wheat taught him to write a CV.

When the time came, Mr Wheat took him down to the local job centre, where vacancies were pinned to a board on little cards in those days, and pointed at one that read trainee kitchen hand, no experience needed. "That's your job", Mr Wheat told Justin. Justin was slightly reluctant at first. He wanted to be a chef, and he didn’t want to be on potwash duties. But Mr Wheat saw it for the opportunity it was and showed Justin that this was his route to a career in the kitchen, to ultimately become a chef.

And at just 16 years of age, with a Mr Wheat-approved CV in hand, Justin walked into the city and got the job. Thirty-odd years later, it’s still paying off. A big thanks to Mr Wheat indeed.

Learning from the best in Melbourne

Soon after, Justin set his sights on Lynch's - four floors, pure theatre, and the only restaurant in Australia holding an honorary recognition from Michelin. The catch? They only hired seasoned chefs who'd worked in Europe. Justin was 17. So he grew a beard (which never left), rounded his age up generously and got the job. Pretty impressive at the age of just 17. And this is where Justin worked with Mr Lynch, as he affectionately refers to him.

When we say ‘pure theatre’, we mean it. Mr Paul Lynch was a showman. Think the front cover of the menu being Mr Lynch himself with a half-naked lady. A note on the bottom of the same menu instructing mobile phones to be on silent so it doesn’t disrupt the simmering of the corned beef in the kitchen. And the man himself unapologetically striding into the restaurant with his dogs and a cigar hanging from his mouth, ready to entertain. Lynch's may have been the pinnacle of dining in Australia, but Justin learnt much more than just being a chef here. He learnt how to run a restaurant. And that’s thanks to Mr Lynch.

He went on to cook at Vue de Monde under Shannon Bennett, which soon became the best restaurant in Australia. Its name was supposed to mean ‘view of the world’ but was mistranslated as ‘view of my world’. Honestly? We think the mistake got it right. It explains everything about the way Justin cooks.

From Turnberry to a village pub in Ayrshire

Scotland entered the frame through Trump Turnberry. Justin refined his craft here under executive chef Ralph Porciani, just down the coast from us here in South Ayrshire. It was Porciani who sharpened the fine-dining skills that would later earn national attention, but Justin already knew his end goal.

The plan was never a hotel or a city restaurant. It was something more specific and endearing. A rural pub worth travelling to, where he could work hand in hand with the hunters, fishers, foragers and day boats that make Scottish produce what it is. The kind of relationships that are only possible in the countryside.

The small village of Kirkmichael gave him all of it. If you haven't read how two determined locals tracked him down to revive their village pub, including Justin answering a call from a jungle in Thailand, head over to our story to find out more.

At the height of the season or not at all

Ask Justin about his influences and he'll tell you they've changed. As a young chef, he studied the greats like Charlie Trotter, Alain Ducasse and Marco Pierre White. These days, the produce itself is the inspiration. If chanterelles are at their absolute peak, they'll be starring on the menu. Why? Because in a month, the moment's gone for a year.

That's why the menu at The Kirkmichael Arms reads the way it does. No two days are genuinely the same. Asian, South Asian, European, steak and venison, all sit side by side. It shouldn’t work on paper. But the brilliant mind of Justin Galea makes sure it does. It’s the food that Justin wants to eat, made with what Ayrshire is producing right now, by a team who genuinely care.

There is no better way to summarise it than with the story of two locals who came in for dinner one night at the restaurant. Justin got chatting with them, and ended up buying a pig from the couple. A pig other locals and visitors would be enjoying on the menu over the coming weeks. Local doesn't get more local than that.

The dish everyone talks about (and Justin has mixed feelings over)

The venison empanadas get plenty of love, and rightly so. But the single most talked-about dish is the langoustine toast. Bread fried in beef fat, fresh local langoustines folded through a southern Thai dressing, chives, toasted sesame, cut into four. Scottish by nature, Thai by flavour, served in South Ayrshire. It’s mad, it’s brilliant and it disappears from tables in about the time it takes to read this paragraph.

But why does Justin have mixed feelings about it we hear you ask? Well, it takes about 5 minutes to make. After 32 years of slaving over sauces, painstaking plating, finessing flavour combinations and chasing technical perfection, all he needed was 5 minutes. The most talked-about dish of his career has almost no labour in it at all.

Justin calls it his anti-hero. We call it a very good reason to book a table. Why did it take three decades to make something this good, this easy? He's still slightly annoyed about it. The rest of us just order another round. Because trust us, you can never have enough of his langoustine toast. (Sorry Justin.)

Michelin, Best Scottish Pub, and the Herald 50

If you ask Justin what the recognition means, he won't talk about himself for long.

"We've never chased awards. All we're trying to do is give our guests a great experience. The Michelin listing, Pub of the Year, now the Herald 50 - honestly, it's very humbling, because we haven't hit our mark yet. We're still getting deeper into the produce and the farms, the whisky room is on its way, and to be in these conversations at this stage, is pretty special. What makes it special is doing it with the breeders, hunters, fishers and farmers of this region. Ayrshire deserves to be in these conversations."

Unashamedly Ayrshire first. Girvan beef, lobster, langoustines? All on the menu because they're on the doorstep.

But what of the man himself? Perhaps you are wondering what he might treat himself to for dinner? Well, a regular at the bar was wondering the same, and began quizzing Justin about what he eats after service. Lobster? Venison? Truffles? The regular continued to speculate. The answer? The night before, it was a packet of stale Wotsits. Stale on purpose, as he prefers them that way. Yum. Other nights it's a cheese sandwich or the kids' leftovers. A can of Coke and whatever's knocking about.

Michelin-quality food, no pretension. That's the whole idea. Book a table and see for yourself. A warm welcome awaits at The Kirkmichael Arms, Ayrshire’s favourite restaurant.