Written by Linda Jackson

Delving into the cookpots of Scotland is an interesting prospect. A prospect I savour. Exploring behind the scenes at some of Scotland’s best hotels proves very enlightening. If you think Scotland is all haggis, neeps, tatties, shortbread and porridge, then think again.

For starters: if you want to get a flavour of gourmet Scotland, there is no better place than the Taste of Edinburgh festival www.tasteofedinburgh.co.uk held in Inverleith Park (28-30 May 2010). This is where the culinary pioneers from Edinburgh’s restaurant scene get together with a collection of celebrity chefs to promote Scotland’s finest food and drink. Visitors can enjoy specially prepared delicacies from top restaurants in Edinburgh, sommeliers on hand to dispense wine and advice, and live demonstrations from Michelin-starred and celebrity chefs, plus a lot more.

For seconds: stay in the best hotels in Scotland and dine in-house. I’ve discovered some gourmet gems scattered around Scotland that could tantalise the most stubborn of taste buds. Let me share a few excellent restaurants in Scotland with you.

Boath House

Where else to start but at Boath House, Nairn, a Regency house owned by the leader of the Slow Food Movement in the Highlands and Morayshire, and her husband (Wendy and Don Matheson). The family-run hotel is small, has beautiful gardens with secluded spots, is renowned for its delectable breakfasts, run with a high standard of personal service, and very food-orientated.

The Head Chef Charles Lockley has 4AA rosettes and a Michelin Star amongst his collection of accolades. As he uses wild foods in his dishes, you’ll see Chef foraging in the hotel’s 20 acres for wild mushrooms and herbs, flowers and roots. And with a 1½ acre fruit and vegetable garden, a well stocked greenhouse, orchard, chickens, and their own bees, you’ll get a flavour of what the hotel has in store for its lucky guests.

Watch this space... later in the year Boath House is planning to launch wine dinners (tutored tastings with dinner) as well as a series of courses on ‘from-garden-to-kitchen’, and wild herbs and root foraging.

Knockinaam Lodge

Among the top restaurants on a long list of venues in Scotland favoured by lovers of good food and wine sits exclusive Knockinaam Lodge, holder of a Michelin star for twenty years and recipient of a host of wine, food and service awards including 3 AA red stars and 3 AA food rosettes.

Tony Pierce is the Executive Chef, winner of the top prize at the Scottish Chef Awards (2008), the highest honour in Scottish cooking.

Famous for its superlative wines and champagnes, Knockinaam Lodge is tucked away in a delightful setting in Portpatrick in Dumfries and Galloway. This historic hunting lodge is a relaxing hideaway to enjoy not only great cuisine second to none, but also the great outdoors. This is a secret to be relished... often.

Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond

Going fishing with a gillie and having your catch prepared, cooked and served for your meal is a foodie option at idyllically located Cameron House on Loch Lomond. Another casual option is to savour a wood burning oven cooked pizza in the hotel’s Boathouse restaurant; it’s in a unique setting overlooking the picturesque marina and serves the best pizzas for miles around.

The stylish hotel has its own butcher (the butchery is a key feature of the contemporary stylish Cameron Grill) as well as bread maker. Chefs at Cameron House have their own herb garden and make the hotel’s own jams and preserves. Winston Churchill www.winstonchurchillvenison.com plays a big part at the hotel too; the company is a supplier of top class venison. It is interesting to learn that the hotel’s chefs are much involved with the deer all the way from birth to table, learning about rearing via master classes and with visits to the deer farm.

Wine lovers should partake of one of Cameron House’s wine and food experiences in the company of a wine grower. These epicurean evenings are popular and cater for around 30 to 40 guests with a real thirst for knowledge. To match the unique wines served, the Head Chef creates a special four-course dinner menu designed by Michelin-Starred Chef Martin Wishart www.martin-wishart.co.uk. The fine dining restaurant at Cameron House (Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond) boasts 3 AA Rosettes in the AA Restaurant Guide 2010. No need to worry about calories, they can be burned off in the hotel’s Leisure Centre.

Marcliffe Hotel & Spa

For all-round serious food, very Scottish, make a beeline for the elegant Marcliffe Hotel & Spa, a prestigious five-star Scottish country hotel set in beautiful wooded grounds on the fringe of historic Aberdeen. With a brigade of chefs headed up by Michael Stoddart (a past holder of the Scottish Function Chef of the Year award) the restaurant, a Member of the Scotch Beef Club, specialises in organic beef, Highland cattle beef, Aberdeen Angus and Grampian Region produce.

Having golf courses that are world famous and cuisine with an international reputation for excellence, The Gleneagles Hotel is a gourmet golfer’s haven with a choice of different style restaurants. Unashamedly French, but with a Scottish twist, is how the cuisine at the fine dining restaurant, Andrew Fairlie @ Gleneagles, is described. It is the only two-Michelin-Starred restaurant in Scotland. His signature dish is mouth-wateringly scrumptious: smoked lobster shells (smoked empty for 12 hours over whisky barrels) filled with lobster meat, roasted, and served with melted butter and lime juice.

Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles

Staying at The Gleneagles Hotel for a special occasion? Then celebrate with Andrew Fairlie’s www.andrewfairlie.com six-course Menu Degustation; it has been carefully planned to create a memorable culinary experience... such as Ballottine of Foie Gras, Baked King Scallop, Potato Gnocchi, Roast Fillet of Halibut, Roast Loin of Wild Venison, Hazelnut Praline Soufflé...  and that’s only part of it. Check out the full menu here >> www.gleneagles.com

Not only ‘ladies that lunch’ but men too, will particularly enjoy the special Wine Lunches held periodically at the Hotel du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow. You’ll find this luxury boutique hotel, which has a string of accolades to its name (including the ‘Best Customer Service’ - Scottish Restaurant Awards 2010), in a tree-lined Victorian terrace in the fashionable West End. The hotel is known for its serious food.

Three gourmet wine lunches will be held at the Hotel du Vin, Glasgow, during 2010. If Chardonnay is your tipple you can try five different ones at ‘The Different Guises of Chardonnay’ event (19 June). Enjoy the cooking of Paul Tamburrini while learning about whisky, brandy and amazing wines on ‘The Grape and the Grain’ day (18 September). And to add sparkle to a pre-Christmas lunch, opt for the ‘There’s more to bubbles than just Champagne’ lunch (20 November) to sample an amazing range of champagne and sparkling wine.

Hotel du Vin at One Devonshire

Greywalls

Eating through my complete list of noteworthy hotel restaurants in Scotland will be a slow, albeit delectable, achievement. So to doubly whet your appetite, I’m going to dangle a few more tasty carrots...

Greywalls (forty minutes drive from Edinburgh, overlooking famous Muirfield golf course) is opening its doors this May with a new Chez Roux restaurant. Roux www.albertroux.co.uk (the first chef in the UK to be awarded three Michelin Stars) states that his menu at Greywalls will be “French classical cuisine with a flair and lightness, using local products as much as possible”. (Special ‘May Sale’ DB&B offer, see website) 

Rocpool Reserve Hotel in the heart of Inverness and Inver Lodge on Scotland’s rugged west coast are also choice hotels with restaurants run by hugely respected Albert Roux. Inverlochy Castle, another gastro-hotel, nestles amid the glens, lochs and mountains of the West Highlands of Scotland. This beautifully located hotel has a Michelin Star restaurant and 3 AA Rosettes.

Crinan Hotel

It is no surprise that Crinan Hotel, sitting in a picturesque loch-side spot at the north end of the Crinan Canal, is renowned for its world class seafood which is landed daily just 50 yards from the hotel. The hotel boasts many awards and top reviews for its cuisine.

Fresh Prawns at Crinan

And, if fresh fish is your passion, savour an epicurean lunch with a difference and go fishing on a hidden lock with Alba Game Fishing in the heart of Scotland’s great fishing country. Expect early morning sizzling bacon rolls and, for lunch, maybe a pheasant casserole in a redcurrant-port reduction accompanied by fine wine. The table, set by the water’s edge, is laid with crisp white linen and gold-plated cutlery and decorated with pine cones and heather to give that extra special flavour of Scotland... and a completely fresh meaning to ‘eating out’.

Rhubarb at Prestonfield

Finally, back where we started in Scotland’s capital, something truly unique, opulent, flamboyant, baroque and designed to impress, Prestonfield serves up serious food. This sumptuous hotel (a stone’s throw from the Royal Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh) is where rhubarb was first introduced and commercially grown in Scotland. Hence the restaurant name ‘Rhubarb’. Not to be missed.

21212

Also in Edinburgh, and just about to celebrate their first anniversary of opening in the capital, is 21212 Restaurant with Rooms. Paul Kitching has amassed an impressive collection of awards in a very short time, including Best New Restaurant in UK 2009, Most Stylish Hotel 2009 and a Michelin Star 2010.

The 38 seat restaurant features an open kitchen with four charming bedrooms upstairs. To the rear of the building the bedrooms look out over an immaculate little garden and to the front there are impressive views over the Firth of Forth to Fife.

Without a doubt, eating out in Scotland these days can be most pleasurable. But believe me: ‘eating in’ at superlative restaurants in Scotland’s best hotels is even better. Try them for yourself... and try them for that true taste of Scotland.