The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Take a seat at the top table
The Laird’s Table at Craufurdland Castle Estate offers fine dining in a beautiful lochside settting, finds
WHEN The Laird’s Table first opened its doors, offering fine food with a view in the stunning lochside setting of Craufurdland Castle estate, diners just had one question.
“Everyone wanted to know if there really was a laird,” smiles managing director Simon Craufurd. “And they would be told, well, yes – he’s in the kitchen, washing the dishes. “In those early days, I did what needed to be done.”
Simon is the 29th laird of a family dynasty that stretches all the way back to 1245. The Craufurds have owned the castle and estate for nearly 800 years.
Craufurdland is a “semi-detached” castle – Simon, his wife Adity and their two daughters Indra and Manisha live in one side, while the other side is available for self-catering accommodation for up to 16 people. The estate is home to mountain biking, tree-top trails, a trout fishery and woodland walks – and, of course, The Laird’s Table which is destination dining at its best.
“We’re something of a hybrid,” explains Simon. “It’s a ‘posh café’ with great breakfasts and really fantastic homemade cakes and scones, and lunches that range from baked potatoes – cooked in the proper manner, none of them are ever anywhere near a microwave – to a three-fish assiette with langoustines, scallops and salmon.
“Fridays and Saturdays are the only days we do a la carte evening meals, which is quite unusual. We tend to make up our own rules here at Craufurdland.”
The kitchen team, led by head chef Gareth Furey, concentrates on local produce and seasonal flavours where possible.
“Gareth is fantastic – he has been here since day one and helped us design both the layout of the restaurant and kitchen, and the menu,” says Simon.
“He is incredibly invested, and we work closely on developing the menu.
“During the pandemic, we introduced ready meals and butcher packs which people could order online.
“That extended to fruit and veg packs too, which eventually led to us delivering all sorts of things we never expected to – pasta, flour, milk – all the things people were struggling to get a hold of in lockdown that we could still access through our supply chain. We were happy to help where we could.”
Diners travel to The Laird’s Table from all over Ayrshire and beyond – regular customers include many visiting from the southside and west end of
Glasgow. “I think people enjoy the space we have, the fact we have put in screens (made from old sash windows from the estate) which provide a little more privacy and make people feel a bit safer, and the quiet, relaxing surroundings,” says Simon.
As well as the laird – now less likely to be washing dishes, but still in and around the restaurant lending a hand and welcoming guests – there is a “laird’s table” with a fascinating story to tell. “One of my ambitions when we first talked about opening the restaurant was to build a table made from wood on the estate,” says Simon.
“That’s the laird’s table – and, in fact, we surpassed that ambition because almost all of the tables are made from a beautiful horse chestnut tree from here, which fell down.”
There are smaller wooden tables and five larger resin tables, made of two slabs of wood with resin in between. Held in the resin are artefacts and memories of the family’s own history. “You can see my dad’s lead soldiers, my brother’s Hornby train set, military buttons, an old key, pine cones collected by my daughters on the estate – even a small bottle of poison,” says Simon, adding hastily: “A sealed bottle, encased in resin, with no chance of being opened.”
He adds, smiling: “Who knows what that was there for – we discovered it in a secret drawer. Our ancestors had lots of unusual things.”