Getting a table at The Three Chimneys with 24 hours notice is quite a coup. Getting a seat at The Kitchen Table in the iconic restaurant is the stuff dreams are made of. Read our review of the experience.
The location…
You’ll undoubtedly have heard of The Three Chimneys. In the late 90s and early noughties, the remote restaurant with rooms on the northern tip of the island reaped endless awards. It soon became famed as an exclusive destination for discerning celebrities who would arrive by helicopter to discover the sophisticated Scottish menu and unique ambience of this Hebridean hidden gem.
Fast forward 20 years and the property is under new ownership by Scottish hotelier Gordon Campbell Gray. Gray took it on as part of his new business plan championing the small, the local and the sustainable. He has walked away from what he calls the ‘wasteful’ excesses of lavish luxury hotels to focus on ‘good old fashioned Scottish hospitality’.
Saying all that, when we are greeted at the door of The Three Chimneys and escorted to The House Over-By for pre-dinner drinks, things still feel pretty luxurious. While the restaurant occupies the original croft house, this neighbouring building houses six luxury suites for guests lucky enough to be staying the night. It also has a chic lounge area where we are served drinks and nibbles while waiting on the other diners who have booked into the communal Kitchen Table experience. While we wait, we watch the sun set out of the windows which look out across the loch towards Dunvegan Castle. It’s a magical beginning to an evening that promises to impress.
The concept…
Once three other couples have arrived, we are shown back into the restaurant and guided through the candlelit dining room and into the busy, working kitchen. It is here where we will be served a set seven course tasting menu prepared under our very own watchful gazes. This is perhaps the most unique thing about this particular ‘chef’s table’ experience – there is no glass partition to hide kitchen chaos, nowhere for the chefs to hide from inquisitive diners, in fact, you are actively encouraged to get up and talk to them. But while one brave diner actually does (he’s a trainee chef so of course, he must) the rest of us are too tentative to risk interrupting the seasoned flow of this culinary machine.
The food…
Leading the charge is head chef Scott Davies who obligingly come over to introduce himself along with one early fish course. Otherwise, the explanations of each dish is left to the lovely sommelier who has personally chosen matching wines for every perfect plateful. And each plate really is a work of art. The Douglas fir & apple dressed plaice both tastes and looks like the landscape itself with dainty slivers of glistening fish atop tiny mounds of orange roe all dusted with smoky charcoal and dressed with fresh green leaves.
Of course the kitchen philosophy is all about keeping things local and with such a bountiful natural larder, the options are endless but it is the skill and creativity of the chefs which makes things special. A roasted scallop is elevated with unctuous hazelnut butter; partridge is cooked three ways and made to sing with the addition of kimchi and golden raisins; while local Vatten lamb is complimented by the earthy flavours of foraged mushroom, cauliflower and fennel. Even a simple dessert of Edinbane blueberries, fennel biscuit, lemon, and white balsamic tastes so much more than the sum of its parts thanks to unbelievable attention to detail. That’s what it’s all about here: careful cooking, careful sourcing of ingredients, and really taking care of the guests.
The verdict…
Dining at The Three Chimneys’ Kitchen Table may be known as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience but it is one I am keen to repeat, although communal dining may not be for everyone. Perhaps next time, I’ll take the family and book all eight seats at the table – that way, the conversation will be as effortless as the cooking.
Book here
