{"id":120434,"date":"2023-10-11T15:59:08","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T15:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gendermyn.com\/?p=120434"},"modified":"2023-10-11T15:59:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-11T15:59:08","slug":"skye-is-bursting-with-innovative-restaurants-in-glorious-settings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gendermyn.com\/travel\/skye-is-bursting-with-innovative-restaurants-in-glorious-settings\/","title":{"rendered":"Skye is bursting with innovative restaurants in glorious settings"},"content":{"rendered":"
A restaurant telling you where they source their seafood is nothing unusual. But here at The Three Chimneys on the Isle of Skye, they\u2019ll tell you the name of the actual fisherman who landed your langoustines.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all part of the Kitchen Table Experience \u2014 a four-hour culinary extravaganza where everything in the dizzying array of dishes is caught, farmed or grown locally.<\/p>\n
This premium option at one of Scotland\u2019s foremost restaurants sits up to eight guests at a big table in the kitchen alongside head chef Scott Davies and his talented team.<\/p>\n
Scott is a mild-mannered chap, so there\u2019s no Ramsay-esque tongue-lashings for staff tonight and, nine courses later, we wonder if we would even have noticed.<\/p>\n
From the opening Loch Dunvegan crab, through trout caviar, double hand-dived scallops and on to shoulder of lamb from the farm down the road, we\u2019re too wrapped up in what\u2019s happening on our plates.<\/p>\n
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Jonathan Brocklebank enjoys a ‘weekend of discovery’ on the Scottish isle of Skye. Above are the island’s\u00a0Cuillin Hills, which ‘exert a huge pull on walkers and climbers’<\/p>\n
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A fish dish at\u00a0The Three Chimneys, one of\u00a0three world-renowned restaurants on the island\u00a0<\/p>\n
The session, with wines for each course and convivial chat with other guests \u2014 strangers at 7pm, pals by 11pm \u2014 is the high point in a weekend of discovery on Skye.<\/p>\n
With The Three Chimneys, Loch Bay and Kinloch Lodge, this island of just 13,000 residents has three world-renowned restaurants.<\/p>\n
In Talisker, it has a standout single malt. Its Cuillin Hills \u2014 one minute brooding under low cloud, the next bathed in shafts of sublime sunlight \u2014 exert a huge pull on walkers and climbers. And, of course, the island has a bridge. Basing ourselves at The House Over-By, The Three Chimneys\u2019 comfy rooms just yards from the restaurant in Colbost overlooking Loch Dunvegan, we strike south-east towards Carbost, home of the Talisker Distillery since 1830.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re joined on the tour by a French couple, Canadians, Americans, even New Zealanders. As a Glaswegian, a mere six-hour drive from home, I\u2019m the \u2018local\u2019. The Talisker tasting involves more senses than we imagine. \u2018You can smell it and taste it but put the glass to your ear. Can you hear the sea?\u2019 says our guide. Several among us swear they could.<\/p>\n
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Kinloch Lodge is one of the renowned restaurants on the island, Jonathan reveals. He says that Skye is a ‘revelation’ for foodies\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Above is the Fairy Pools waterfall, which Jonathan says is a ‘must-see’ for Skye visitors\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Jonathan explores Dunvegan Castle (above), which is the ‘seat of Clan MacLeod, whose history dates back to the 13th century when a man simply called Leod owned much of Skye’<\/p>\n
Doubles at The House Over-By from \u00a3305 per night B&B, between October 23 and March 24. Four-course menu at the restaurant is \u00a395 pp. Kitchen Table Experience is \u00a3120. See: isleofskye.com.<\/p>\n
A few miles away is the Fairy Pools car park \u2014 a hotspot in the middle of nowhere. People come here for the 20-minute yomp to see the vivid aqua blues cascading off Black Cuillin. Virtually ignored until a decade ago, this has become a must-see since someone dreamed up the name.<\/p>\n
But the skies are darkening so we head for Dunvegan Castle, seat of Clan MacLeod, whose history dates back to the 13th century when a man simply called Leod owned much of Skye. Flora MacDonald, who famously helped a fleeing Bonnie Prince Charlie over the sea to Skye, once lived here and the wealth of Jacobite relics on display are a marvel.<\/p>\n
Back at The House Over-By, the bleat of a sheep outside our windows provides a morning alarm. It is alder-smoked trout and scrambled egg for breakfast in the restaurant next door.<\/p>\n
Skye is restitution for the soul \u2014 and for foodies it\u2019s a revelation.<\/p>\n