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EDINBURG — Through trials and tribulations, Scottish chef Graham Campbell, owner of CastleHill Bistro, has made Edinburg his home all while achieving his dream of appearing in a Food Network series in the upcoming “Last Bite Hotel.”
Last Bite Hotel is the Food Network’s newest competition series premiering Tuesday, Sept. 24. Eight chefs in a remote and spooky hotel are tasked by the hotel manager, Tituss Burgess to meet the culinary demands of the hotel’s VIP guests.
Each chef may only bring 13 ingredients for the competition and as each challenge is completed, their ingredients dwindle. The competitors must survive each day or be banished to the dreaded Room 13.
“It’s surreal to be a part of something that’s so different,” Campbell said. “I’m already different from having a Scottish-themed restaurant in Edinburg, Texas and so it kind of fits in with me. It’s good to get my name back out there and that’s an achievement in itself to come from Scotland, to travel all over here, get my resident card through all the hoops and end up on the biggest culinary food television channel that has been around for years.”
Having only 13 ingredients to work with, Campbell said the show made him reevaluate how he does things and how he was going to make something out of the limited items.
“It was a few curveballs, you know, as there always is, because it’s a TV show,” he said. “It’s got to be entertaining, it’s got to be fun, it’s got to be exciting.”
Calling the disclosed location as “proper spooky,” Campbell said it fits with Halloween around the corner and noticing that Americans love the holiday.
Taking a trip down memory lane, Campbell sat down with The Monitor and explained his culinary journey and life, his experience in Edinburg and what it means to him to partake in a Food Network series.
Originally from Oban Scotland, Campbell started from the bottom washing dishes at 12. He said he started cooking at 15 and by 18 years old, he was running a kitchen.
Never attending culinary school, he said he is completely self-taught.
Working his way up, Campbell is the youngest chef in Scotland to receive a Michelin Star at 25 in 2009.
“To become a chef and to (achieve) the level that I have, this is your life,” he said. “How can I elevate my dish? How can I make it better? How can I push the boundaries a little bit? And I just kind of fell into the love of that side of it.”
Traveling from Scotland to England various times, Campbell insisted never to stop learning as much as he could.
Competing in Netflix’s Finale Table in 2018, Campbell said his social media blew up right away, which led him to Mexico.
Being contacted to be a guest chef at various Mexico culinary schools, Campbell said he flew all over Mexico indulging in the culture and cuisine.
“… From going from having basically no money and working my ass off as a chef to meeting these people that have got unlimited amounts of money … in Mexico a chef is almost like a rock star,” he said.
Campbell then found himself in a dark time in his life at Puerto Vallarta but that quickly turned for him.
Hanging above his kitchen is a neon sign that says “F——— Believe in Yourself,” a motto that got Campbell through his rough patch and continues to carry him onward in life.
“The whole idea, like, no matter how hard it gets you kind of, there’s always a turning point,” he said.
Managing restaurants throughout Mexico, Campbell then found his way to the United States and opened up CastleHill Bistro.
“I’ve done this for 26 years now,” he said. “I know how restaurants work and what you have to do. You’ve got to adapt every day. Because even now you see the amount of restaurants that are closing down, the big chains are closing down. Everything’s closing down … because you need to adapt.”
Being open for nearly two years now, CastleHill Bistro offers Rio Grande Valley residents something that is approachable, reasonably priced but pushes the envelope for something new.
“Moving to the United States, I had to adapt the way I cooked,” Campbell said. “If I cooked the way that I cooked in the UK, this restaurant would no longer exist, it would be done. … As a chef, I have to push myself every single day, because if you stop learning, you fall behind.”
Achieving his dream of being on the Food Network, Campbell said a goal was to get his name out into the world again.
“I was one of the eight (chefs) which is good and which was an achievement of itself,” he said. “Watch it and enjoy it and have some fun with it. Watch it with the lights off because it’s going to be pretty spooky.”
Adding that through the show and his restaurant, people want to be connected and experience the behind the scenes of the restaurant and culinary world.
“People want to see the entertainment side of it,” Campbell said. “If you just want to eat then go to McDonald’s, but people want to come out and they want to experience something that’s special to them. And it might just be one hour or two hours of their day, but especially chefs, we change people’s lives.”
