Sensational summer dining

Old Course Hotel St. Andrews, Fife Tel: +44 (0)1334 474 371 Some restaurants just ‘have it' and The Grill Room on the top floor of St. Andrew's highest-rated hotel is one of them. All the ingredients for success are there – and it has lately risen like the best of soufflés.

Head chef Paul Hart oversees a skilled team and exciting, classy menus change with the months, seasons and the availability of the majority ‘guaranteed local' produce used. Chef Hart won a Médaille d'Or in the food awards of The Scottish Hotels of the Year 2008 and the restaurant holds three AArosettes.

The sense of occasion is a major feature. Atop this landmark building, overlooking the most famous golf course in the world, new full-height floor to ceiling windows reveal the natural beauty of the bay and the historic skyline of the ‘auld grey toon.' The open-plan kitchen means you can watch the chefs at work, if you wish.

The East Neuk of Fife is a wonderful larder – it's one of the country's best areas for access to top natural ingredients. Shellfish, especially lobster, is landed locally at one of the picturesque old fishing ports such as Anstruther, Pittenweem or Crail. Soft fruits (the best raspberries on earth) come from the rich fields that elsewhere produce prime dairy foods, beef and venison. All of this is embraced and presented with class in a dramatic dining room – one with a stunning adjacent bar, too, home to one of the biggest selections of Scotch whisky anywhere.

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• By : Sally Toms
• In : Best of Scotland
• Issue : 39
• Page : 64
• Words : 1,194