Broughty Ferry restauranteur Jamie Scott is hoping to track down a fruit and veg thief – so he can help them.
The former Masterchef winner and his wife Kelly are offering to cook a hot meal for the veggie thief in a generous act of seasonal goodwill.
Their festive gesture comes after a small quantity of fruit and veg were taken from their vegetable delivery box outside their Sandbanks Brasserie on Brook Street at around 1:30am on Saturday.
Jamie and his chefs noticed the theft immediately because the pineapples they needed for a recipe for that day were missing.
Pineapple snatcher caught on CCTV
The disappearance comes on top of other similar incidents at the brasserie recently.
It prompted Jamie, Kelly and their team to check their CCTV, which showed the pineapple-snatcher in the act.
However, the couple are more worried about the thief than angry at his actions.
Kelly said: “This has happened a few times recently.
“It’s never a lot of stuff that’s being taken and we are just worried that someone is so desperately in need for food that they have resorted to raiding our fruit and veg delivery box which can sometime be left open overnight for deliveries.”
Kelly said that on this occasion the CCTV footage shows a man pulling up in a car around 1.30am.
He goes to the box quite calmly and takes out a few items, including the pineapples, then walks back to his car.
She said: “We honestly don’t believe there’s any malice intended. It’s not carried out in that sort of manner, not everything is taken and there is no damage caused.”
Kelly said the monetary value this time and on other occasions hasn’t been large and that she and Jamie would like to reach out to the person and offer help.
She said: “His needs must be greater than ours to go to such lengths.
“Therefore we would like to offer to help – the least we can do is offer a hot meal.
“If the person would like to come forward to us no questions will be asked and we will do what we can to help – we would just ask that he doesn’t take our orders again.
“It’s a hard time for many, some more than others which is heartbreaking to see.”
Jamie and Kelly opened Sandbanks in May 2023.
Jamie, who won Masterchef: The Professionals in 2014, also owns and runs The Newport Restaurant, The Cove Bar and Newport Bakery.
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