Now, Edinbane Lodge has joined the A-list of the UK’s top restaurants after becoming the only Scottish restaurant to be awarded three rosettes in this year’s coveted AA rankings.
Known for its expert use of local ingredients and close connections with the island’s best suppliers, the restaurant with rooms, which is located on the northern part of the island, was praised for its “seasonal tasting menus [showcasing] the very best produce the island has to offer.”
Delighted to announce we have been awarded 3 rosettes by the AA restaurant guide
This is not only massive for us as a restaurant but also for SkyeFor the first time ever, the island now boasts FOUR 3AA Rosette Restaurants.
Cannot thank our staff enough #proud @AAHospitality pic.twitter.com/04mVoG55Nj— Calum Montgomery (@SkyeChefMonty) February 17, 2020
The casual fine dining restaurant, which is set within a 16th-century hunting lodge, is run by Portree native and top Scottish chef Calum Montgomery.
Voted Scottish Sous Chef of the Year in 2015, Calum is considered one of the country’s emerging talents after successful spells at Uillinish and Kinloch Lodge on the island and the renowned One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow.
The dishes celebrate the island's versatile produce.
The young chef, who took over Edinbane in 2017 and now runs it with his wife, wanted to make his own mark by establishing a dining destination on the island he loves for people to come and try the very best in fresh seafood, game and vegetables sourced locally on Skye.
Describing their offering as “A Taste of Skye”, Calum said the menu reflects “a heartfelt passion” for the island and the exceptional, sustainable, seasonal ingredients which can be “found, fished, farmed and foraged” on Skye.
Patron Chef Calum is one of the top emerging talents in the country.
This natural larder includes croft-grown Vatten chicken, hand-dived Loch Greshornish Scallops, stalked venison from the Edinbane estate, creel-caught Sound of Raasay crab and Langoustines, Loch Eishort mussels and Loch Harport Oysters. He added that they choose each ingredient with great care, prepare them with “great pride”, and “serve them with a smile”.
Edinbane now joins the likes of Crossbasket Castle, the Gannet in Glasgow, the Peat Inn in St Andrews and the aforementioned Kinloch Lodge on Skye in having three AA rosettes. Posting about the win on Twitter, Calum thanked his staff and noted that for the first time ever, the island boasts four 3AA Rosette restaurants. He wrote: “Delighted to announce we have been awarded three rosettes by the AA restaurant guide. This is not only massive for us as a restaurant but also for Skye.”
It’s been an exciting six months for the Highland eatery, which also became one of the new entries in this year’s Good Food Guide.
Their four recently renovated rooms have also been awarded five Gold stars by the AA, complimenting their exciting food offering.
The AA announced its latest round of Rosette Award winners on Monday, aiming to celebrate those restaurants offering “the very highest culinary standards in the country”.
First awarded to restaurants in 1956, multi-rosettes are given twice yearly, in January and September, with success determined by one or more visits by an AA inspector to a hotel or restaurant.
In total, a further 11 restaurants were awarded three AA Rosettes, of which Edinbane Lodge was the only new Scottish restaurant to receive one, while two others achieved the coveted four AA Rosettes.
The restaurants honoured with four AA Rosettes are Alchemilla in Nottingham and The Lady Helen Restaurant in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, while those awarded three AA Rosettes include Jason Atherton’s No. 5 Social in London, Paschoe House in Devon and Tony Parkin at the Tudor Room in Surrey.
Speaking about the winners, Simon Numphud, managing director at AA Media, said: “We are thrilled to recognise hotels and restaurants achieving such high standards of culinary excellence.
“Congratulations to these establishments and their staff, who demonstrate the variety and high quality of dining experiences offered across the UK and Ireland.”
