Just relax, and put a log on the fire
THE log fire in the lounge at Kinloch Lodge has a distinctive sort of crackle. Listen carefully, and you’ll swear it’s saying ‘relax’. I arrived at the Kinloch, an old hunting lodge on the Sleat peninsula on the Isle of Skye, something of a wrung-out dishcloth. The same could be said of my travel companion, my dear friend Anna.
Both of us needed a little respite, a chance to take the weight off and have someone look after us for a change.
We were in for a treat. From the moment you walk through the arched doorway at Kinloch you’re treated as someone between an old family friend and an honoured VIP. Glasses of champagne were soon brought (yes it was 4pm on a Tuesday, and no, we cared not a jot); we settled into the elegant lounge next that wonderful roaring fire and took in our surroundings.
Kinloch Lodge has an intriguing history. Built in the late 17th century as a farmhouse, it was converted into a shooting lodge in the 1700s for the Macdonalds of Skye and eventually became the Macdonald family home. The house is full of old family portraits and curios, including a letter from Winston Churchill to the clan chief.
For years the lodge was run by food writer Lady Claire Macdonald and her husband Lord Macdonald, who built it into an award-winning country house hotel with a Michelin star restaurant and a superb cookery school.
In 2013 it reopened after a £750,000 renovation under the management of the couple’s charming daughter Lady Isabella, whose enthusiasm for Kinloch and her guests is matched by her staff’s.
We were shown to our beautiful two-room suites, which boasted sea views over the nearby Loch na Dal, chic Scottish furnishings and, in my case, an enormous bathroom with a bath big enough to float the Spanish Armada.
These suites are located in the former cook school, which has been tastefully converted. There’s also a cosy lounge on the ground floor with an honesty bar and, yes, another crackling log fire.
It’s in this building that you’ll also meet Anita Myatt, a skilled and sympathetic therapist who performs a range of spa treatments for the tired and weary, including facials and reflexology.
Anna and I both opted for the Botanical Back massage. Like everything at Kinloch it was intimate, personal and left you feeling so relaxed you’d swear you’d been on holiday for a fortnight, not an hour and a half.
After our massages it was time to wander back to the lounge for pre-dinner drinks, some elegant nibbles and a perusal of the fabulous Michelin star menu.
Kinloch’s head chef, Marcello Tully, has done something unique in Scottish cooking – combined the wonderful riches of Scotland’s natural larder with his Brazilian heritage.
Thus you will discover flavour combinations such as stuffed quail with herb purée and passion fruit jus; savoury profiteroles with herb purée; cashew and olive crumb and some crispy Brazilian cheese buns (pao de queijo) made with Scottish cheese which are worth the trip all by themselves. If you really fancy pushing the boat out then do plump for Marcello’s tasting menu, which will transport you to heaven and back via Rio de Janeiro and Portree harbour in seven unbelievably gorgeous courses.
There’s everything here from quail mousse to a delicate seabass with coconut and lime, not to mention a cinnamon doughnut that will have you drooling for days. You can also pair it with a hand-picked wine. Well worth the treat.
The other fabulous thing about the food at Kinloch is that you can learn to make it yourself. Well, sort of. Marcello offers intimate cookery classes, a chance to go behind the scenes in a Michelin-starred kitchen and have a crack at whipping up some of those dishes under his expert guidance. Marcello is a patient and understanding tutor, happy to answer my nosey questions about how exactly he gets his soups so light and airy, and full of useful tips that you can incorporate into your everyday cooking. I never knew, for example, that you can happily chop up and cook ginger without peeling it.
Marcello is also very good at adapting his fine cuisine for we lesser mortals cooking at home. Thus the deliciously tangy coconut and lime sauce that had been paired with seabass on the previous night’s tasting menu is re-incarnated into a Brazilian lime fish stew, using hake and salmon, that has since become a staple of my cooking repertoire.
IF you fancy a more energetic pursuit during your stay at Kinloch, however, then call the Skye Ghillie. Mitchell Partridge runs all sorts of trips across the island, from camping in the wild to fly fishing excursions. We went for his wilderness adventure day.
There was some question on the morning we went out with him as to whether or not the trip would go ahead, as the Skye mist refused to clear and the rain resolutely hammered down. But after deliberating the matter over one of the Kinloch’s awardwinning breakfasts, we decided to brave the elements.
We were so glad we did. Mitch is an entertaining and informative guide – he’ll show you how to forage for berries and fill you in on local history as well as tracking wildlife including, if you so desire, golden eagles.
Perhaps the most moving part of the trip came when Mitch took us to an old settlement of blackhouses which had once been a bustling village. Its residents became victims of the Highland Clearances and now, as we sheltered from the hail inside one ruin, all that’s left is the howling of the wind through the stones. It was a sober reminder of one of the darker corners of this wild island’s history.
Back at Kinloch we enjoyed another sumptuous meal then retreated to the lounge for a dram. This, we concluded, was the sort of trip everyone should do at least once. A chance to be pampered and enjoy the sort of elegant, homespun luxury that makes Kinloch such a magical retreat, and a home from home.