Outlander actor Sam Heughan visits Edinburgh restaurant for ‘early birthday scran’

The Scottish star, who plays highland warrior Jamie Fraser in the hit time-travel series, enjoyed a slap-up meal at The Kitchin in Leith at the weekend.

Sam, who turns 45 on April 30, was having an early celebration, after being invited to the award-winning restaurant by his pal, Michelin Star chef Tom Kitchin.

The Balmaclellan-born celebrity, who moved to Edinburgh as a 12-year-old, shared a photo of himself at the restaurant on his Instagram account.

Posing with a birthday cake, he wrote: “Early birthday scran from the best in Scotland. Thank you Tom Kitchin and the whole crew for the incredible experience.

Sam, who takes part in one of the world's biggest sporting events this weekend, added: “Michelin-starred carb-loading for the London Marathon.”

Fans flocked to the comments to wish the star a happy early birthday.

One wrote: ”Happy early birthday to you, my absolute favourite actor. You have such a kind soul and you are such an amazing human being. I wish you the best.”

Another said: “The Kitchin! So yummy, especially the scallops. Mmm. Happy early birthday, Sam!”

A third commented: ”Happy birthday to sweet, handsome, kind-hearted Sam!”

Last week reported that Sam had opened up on how “Edinburgh has changed” since his teenage years growing up in the city.

He was at the Wildcat on Tarvit Street in Tollcross, being interviewed by cocktail bar guru Iain McPherson for the Edinburgh Bar Show, when he made the comments.

Sam revealed that he used to frequent the venue in his teenage years, back when it was known as Burlington Bertie's.

He told Iain: “This bar is one of the first bars I ever went to as a teenager in Edinburgh... I should say as an older teenager, until my early 20s, I used to come here all the time. This was my very spot I used to sit in.

“We used to sit in the corner there and we'd drink... it wasn't great cocktails in those days, it was pints of heavy.

“The world has changed, Edinburgh's changed from the years when I was growing up but there's so many incredible cocktail bars, some of the best bars in the world are in Edinburgh, the best bartenders, the best produce, it's so innovative and it's amazing to come here.”

Sam has spoken about his time in Edinburgh several times in the past. In his memoir, Waypoints, he opens up about his family’s move to the Scottish capital when he was a teenager – saying it was like a “like a whole new world for him” after upping sticks from his native Dumfries and Galloway.

In the bestselling book, he talks about what it was like to be uprooted from a quiet community to a bustling city.

In a chapter titled ‘The Wake-Up Call’, Sam reveals that his family moved to Edinburgh so his mother could enrol at Edinburgh College of Art. He writes: “After years of living in a quiet community, my mother, my brother and I packed our belongings for what felt like a whole new world.

“Swapping the stable and the castle ruins for a suburban street in Edinburgh, we set about settling in for this new chapter in our lives.

“It was a big change, but also hugely exciting for two young lads like [brother] Cirdan and me. I had just finished at my little primary school, so I started high school at the same time as all my new classmates.

“It was a little overwhelming to begin with, but since I could now see without the dreaded glasses, I soon started to make friends and feel comfortable in a crowd.”

The young Sam attended James Gillespie's High School, which he recalls as having “very strong on rules and discipline”.

He also remembers a run-in with the school’s head teacher, after an incident involving a carton of milk.

He writes: “On one occasion, I came very close to getting into trouble from the top.

“At the time, I had just been made a school prefect... The incident began with a milk carton. I had been tasked with helping to dish them out at break time to pupils who were part of a milk-in-schools scheme.

“On finding one left over, I decided to join the scheme for one break only... A moment later, like a gunslinger in some two-bit town, the headmistress stepped out.

“My eyes went wide with horror... I seized an escape route in the form of the door to the toilet block... I took one look at the open window and lobbed it out.”

Musing that it was the perhaps first time he ever got into character, Heughan goes on to describe raiding a bin once his headmistress questioned him about the missing milk carton – and how he bluffed her after luckily finding one at the bottom.

He writes: “The headmistress considered the carton in my hand... Once again she seemed to be searching my expression for cracks. The face-off only lasted for a couple of seconds, but it felt like a lifetime.

“It was perhaps the first occasion that I'd got into character, and it wouldn't be the last. Ultimately it showed me what was possible if I delivered it with conviction.”

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