Food Provenance excellence!

It's all about the food...

When I was at the Culloden Hotel on Tuesday night there was one thing in particular that really impressed me... the dedication to supporting local food producers - they use local produce in all of the six Hastings Hotels across Northern Ireland.

Food is a great love of mine, I believe it's one of life's greatest pleasures, something to be savoured and enjoyed, and I really love knowing that the food I'm enjoying is sourced locally and supports local producers.

Moyallon dry cured back bacon and breakfast sausages, Gracehill award winning black and white puddings and eggs sourced locally from Crossgar are a staple of all Hastings Hotels Ulster Frys, while musesli and granola, handmade by Crawford's Foods in County Down, and porridge, made with White's porridge oats (and a touch of Bushmills Whiskey) graces the breakfast tables of those who prefer a healthier start to the day.

The Armagh Cider Company provides all hotels in the Hastings group with their Apple Juice, while the milk, butter and cream is all fresh from Farmview Dairies in the Castlereagh Hills, and the yoghurt is naturally made just a few miles down the road at the Clandeboye Estate.

The famous Irwin family provides the finest Irish breads for toast, sandwiches and burgers, while The Yellow Door Deli and Patisserie bakes some delicious speciality breads for the hotels.
I was extremely proud to hear that all the vegetables and salads are provided by Killinchy-based Willowbrook Farm as I am a former employee and can personally vouch for the freshness and delicious farm-to-fork flavour of their produce.

Potatoes are provided by Wilson's Country Potatoes in County Armagh - who have also just patented a very special hexagonal Causeway chip for the hotel group... these are delicious and we were lucky enough to get to sample these crispy, chunky delights on Tuesday night!
A firm Northern Ireland favourite, Tayto NI Ltd supplies the crisp garnishes for the sandwiches and panninis... a real lunch time treat.

The list goes on with pork sourced from locally reared Irish pigs, grain-fed chicken and duck (again reared locally in counties Down and Armagh), grass-fed lamb, prime local breed Irish beef including the native Dexter and Irish Moiled. Glenarm Organic Shorthorn from the Glenarm Estate is on the menu alongside certified Northern Irish Hereford beef from Hannan Meats in County Armagh. Glenarm Organic salmon and langoustines landed in Kilkeel (which is used in their signature Guinness battered scampi) ensure the survival of the fishing trade by being sourced responsibly and sustainably.

No great dinner would be complete without a cheese board, and Hastings Hotel's is a truly Irish affair - Kearney Blue from County Down, Coolkeeran from the Causeway Cheese Company, Fivemiletown Ballybrie and the famous Irish Gubbeen all served with delicious handmade Ditty's oatcakes.

Afternoon tea? The Yellow Door Deli and Patisserie (a firm Belfast favourite and a regular at St George's Market) is one of the artisan producers who prepare the hotel's baked goods and patisseries while Glastry Farm near Kircubbin in County Down provides delicious handmade ice-cream.

The unique Hastings House Blend tea is made by the Thompson family in Belfast while the iconic Irish brand Bewley's provide the coffee.

In a previous post I called the fillet of beef I had on Tuesday night "the best piece of meat I've ever tasted" (or something to that effect)... and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the culinary genius behind such a sublimely tender piece of meat was so young (there he is in the wee picture below with Managing Director of Hastings Hotels, Howard Hastings... chef's the one in the white hat)! Many chefs twice his age would be in envy at his skill!

Howard Hastings with the uber gifted Culloden chef!

The bottom line is I enjoy good local food and I love it when hotels and restaurants share that passion - it makes my dining experience one hundred per cent better to know that my gorgeous beef fillet came from the farm only a couple of miles from my home and hasn't been frozen and bounced about in a container on it's way from France or Spain or Germany.

So get out there and experience this for yourselves - get yourself some locally sourced proper Irish grub at one of Hastings Hotel's fine establishments!

Here's a wee video from Howard Hastings...

Hastings Hotels - Food Provenance from AV Browne on Vimeo.

Chic, secluded and luxurious!

With the promise of 30 acres of seclusion and dining in a Michelin star restaurant I spent a relaxing weekend in Drumfries and Galloway with my better half...

The stunning Knockinaam Lodge

Knockinaam Lodge “is the only luxury boutique hotel in Dumfries and Galloway”... they had me at luxury, I'm a sucker for anything luxurious.

Only 15 minutes drive from Stranraer, Knockinaam lodge is set, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere... the road leading to it is even unnamed! Good thing it was well sign- posted - we didn't fully trust the sat nav.

We took the car across with Stena Line - it's the best way to get to Knockinaam and you can bring the dog along too. Knockinaam has three rooms in which pets are allowed and plenty of cliff and beach walks to keep the pooch happy.

We took the early morning Caledonia crossing (7.30am to be precise) and woke up our tums with a lovely bacon and egg soda (me) and a sausage and egg bap (the other half) on board. The crossing took three hours - the crossing has been cut to 2 hours 15 minutes now that the new terminal at Loch Ryan is open and the brand spanking new Stena Superfast Ferries are on the route.

We followed the signs for Knockinaam Lodge, but after driving down the narrow country roads for about 15 minutes we were sure we'd taken a wrong turn... surely there was no way we were on the right road... we decided to turn at the first opportunity, however before we could find a place we saw another sign for Knockinaam Lodge, turns out we were on the right road after all! We were well rewarded after our bumpy country drive when Knockinaam came into view. A truly majestic stone lodge with grass lawns running down to a secluded beach... it was absolutely stunning.

There is ample parking space in the lodge's private carpark. We were warmly welcomed at reception where we dropped off our bags (we were a bit early for check-in) and signed the guest log before heading to nearby Portpatrick for a walk and a spot of lunch.

Portpatrick is a quiet picturesque little port, home to a few lovely curiosity shops, around four bar/restaurants, a local shop and a cafe (above one of the curiosity shops). We popped into one of the local sea-front bars, the Crown, for some pub grub lunch - chicken tikka cheese melt with salad and crisps.... it hit the spot brilliantly! I had a lovely oatie vanilla cream biscuit to finish (which I'd purchased from the bakery counter of the local shop), those biscuits were amazing. We made sure to get a whole box on Sunday morning to take home with us!





The quiet streets of Portpatrick

Back in the hotel we were shown to our room, and what a room it was! With a large luxurious super king-kize bed, lounge area and huge bathroom with free-standing roll-top bath, comfy robes and views right across the secluded bay... the Hannay was simply stunning. The hotel boasts only 10 luxury suites so every guest gets highly individualised attention to their unique needs - a real home away from home... especially that bath - amazing! This is definitely affordable luxury at its best.

The gorgeous claw-foot freestanding bath

The huge king-size bed of the Hannay suite... so comfy!

After a quick refresh and change we wandered downstairs to the drawing room for a cup of tea and a game of scrabble. Knockinaam is well stocked with board games and DVD's so you'll never get board - it's the kind of place you can spend an entire weekend in without having to venture out of doors at all except for a leisurely stroll around the 30 acres of stunning landscaped grounds. Perfect for those romantic get-aways.

We settled ourselves on the comfy feather stuffed sofa (seriously, it was stuffed with feathers) ready for our scrabble battle. The other half was peckish so he opted for some cheese and ham sandwiches with his tea. I whipped him at scrabble... twice.

An afternoon playing scrabble in the comfort of the lodge's drawing room with a lovely cup of tea is an afternoon well spent, so a nap before dinner was in order. While the fella had a doze I ran myself a bath and spent an hour soaking in the giant tub before finally deciding I was turning into a prune and it was time to get out and dressed for dinner.

Few small country house hotels in Dumfries and Galloway, indeed anywhere in Scotland, can match the glittering array of awards possessed by Knockinaam - they have three AA red stars, three AA food rosettes and one Michelin star (one of only 11 Michelin starred hotels in Scotland). The dinner that night did not disappoint. We enjoyed a taster menu of some delicious dishes which included an egg entree, broth with chicken sausage and some Scottish salmon. We weren't too keen on the figs, but a cheese board each was very much enjoyed (by me, my partner's not much of a cheese lover... I ate most of his too!)

My other half whipped me at chess... but I'm still the scrabble champion

Full of food it was back to the room with us and into pyjamas for some Friday night TV in the lounge area and a flick through the hotel's local activities’ book to see what we fancied doing the next day.

A full Scottish breakfast is how I'd like to start every day - sausage, bacon, potato bread, black pudding, haggis, fried tomato and egg with a selection of toast, jams, breakfast muffins, pastries and a lovely pot of hot tea... my mouth is still watering thinking about it - fine fair indeed!

With our bellies well and truly full we set off on the rather long journey to Dalton Pottery to paint a pot. Dalton Pottery is near Lockerbie, about an hour and 40 minutes from Knockinaam, but it's a lovely drive through the Scottish countryside. I choose to paint a teapot, while the other half choose a giant mug. While I was busy painting my teapot with flowers and butterflies (very girlie!) the fella painted the instructions for how he likes his tea with 'Kirsty read here' in large letters and two big red arrows pointing to 'tea, milk, 1 sugar'... so I wouldn't have to keep asking - very helpful. We spent about an hour and a half choosing and painting our pots and had a spot of lunch in the cafe while we waited for them to be dried in the kiln.

An artist in the making...

My masterpiece...

Pleased with our pots we started the drive back. We had planned to stop of at a distillery on the return journey but unfortunately time was against us and we weren't going to make it there before closing time. We decided to head back to the Crown in Portpatrick for some dinner and a few drinks. The roaring fire was a welcome relief from the cold outside and we picked a spare booth facing it to get warmed up. The menu was quite extensive and featured a lot of seafood, but I was in the mood for a cajun chicken burger and some chips, while the other half had a half chicken and chips... it was just one of those comfort food nights. I spied a chocolate mousse on the dessert menu and of course I couldn't resist. It was devine... probably the best chocolate dessert I've every had. It was so good I told my partner we'd have to come back to Portpatrick for a break in 2012... just so I could have another chocolate dessert!

It was getting pretty stormy outside so we decided it was best to head back to the hotel before it got too late and driving conditions worsened, plus we were pretty tired from our excursion. Back in the hotel we ordered a bottle of wine from the room service menu and cuddled up on the sofa for and hour or two of TV and wine before bed.

Another morning, another fantastic Scottish breakfast... which I certainly made the most of! Since we hadn't made it to the distillery the previous day, we decided to get packed up, checked out and head off to see it before we caught our ferry home. Bladnoch Distillery is just outside Wigtown, Scotland's national book town so we didn’t have much of a drive to get there - about 20 minutes.

Although there was a chill in the air, the stormy weather from the night before had passed and we now had clear skies and sunshine. We arrived at the distillery only to find that it wasn't open on Sundays... just our luck, so we drove back to Wigtown for a nosey.
There are plenty of vintage and curiosity shops in Wigtown as well as book shops, and we had great fun checking out all the treasures and hidden gems! There is also a fantastic butchers where we picked up a huge haggis bung.

Our sailing was at 2.30pm, and we wanted to have a stroll around Stranraer before we headed home, it had been a long time since I’d been in Stranraer and forgot how many little streets and shops there are to explore.

Having forgot to pick up some proper black pud with my haggis bung in Wigtown, we were lucky to come across a great butchers in Stranraer who had some big black puds... perfect.

I'm always determined to try to the local fish and chips when I go anywhere, and since I hadn't yet done so, we made a beeline for the restaurant onboard the Caledonia once we were all secured to set sail. I've never seen a cod that big... it was delicious but expensive, just under £20 for two fish and chips and fizzy drinks.

I have enjoyed weekend breaks at home in Northern Ireland, across the Border in the Republic and also across the water in England this year.... but I'm definitely putting Scotland at the top of the list of weekend breaks to take in the new year.

Creating my masterpiece

Contacts:

Address:
Knockinaam Lodge,
Portpatrick,
Dumfries and Galloway,
Scotland,
DG9 9AD
Telephone:01776 810471
Email: reservations@knockinaamlodge.com
For current rates and offers check out: knockinaamlodge.com
For ferry times and prices visit: www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry

Sneek Previews for 2012 at Culloden

I had an absolutely brilliant time at the fabulous Culloden Hotel last night! A massive thank you to Hastings Hotels, Discover Northern Ireland and the newly appointed Hastings Hotels PR partners Duffy Rafferty Communications for the top quality food (literally the best fillet of beef I have ever tasted... melted in the mouth) and the exclusive previews of all the upcoming events for 2012 - very exciting stuff... I was especially impressed by the light show preview and will definitely be keeping my Easter weekend free for that! I am also thrilled with the special edition titanic themed rubber ducks... little captain (as I've now named him) has joined his buddies on the bathroom shelf... and what a merry bunch they make!

Little Captain gets ready to join his fellow Hastings ducks

TITANIC

Little Captain and his duck buddies