WINTER OFFER TO WOO CITY GUESTS AT THE TOWNHOUSE!
The Townhouse Aberfeldy, a small boutique B&B for couples with its own ‘Upstairs Restaurant’, is currently running a winter accommodation offer which takes the price of a three night stay, in a double room, (with full Scottish Breakfast), from £237 to £177.75. This works out at only £59.25 per night.
The two night stay in a double is available for £134.30 or £67.15 per night, (normally £158), and also includes breakfast.
The B&B was given a new lease of life in 2015 by local businessman Blair Girvan, and his team, who redeveloped the historic building and former Palace Hotel in Breadalbane Terrace, Aberfeldy, into a stylish fifteen bedroom boutique B&B, with its own “Restaurant Upstairs”.
The businessman said : “We’ve worked hard, over the past three years, to build an excellent reputation for boutique B&B accommodation for couples, together with offering a stand alone restaurant which excels in offering well priced meals using local produce.”
Blair purchased the building in 2012 after selling his family’s garage, which lay adjacent to The Townhouse, to the Co-op retail group. He explained : “We offered a similar package for summer bookings which was very well received, and saw us run at over 80% occupancy, which is excellent for a business of our size and scope.”
The building, dating from the 1880’s was once a twenty three bedroom hotel, but was remodelled it into a far more manageable and more modern, B&B.
He continued : “Some of the original rooms were far too small for a modern hospitality business, and not all of them had room for an en-suite. I came up with the layout design myself, and then got my architect to draw it up properly, submitting it for planning.”
The completed layout created a stylish entrance hallway with rooms, restaurant, named aptly “The Upstairs Restaurant”, and lounge bar above, retaining many character features.
Originally planning only to offer a boutique B&B, it was the approach from locally based chef Lee Patrick, who used to work as Head Chef at The Inn on the Tay at Grandtully, that changed Blair’s mind to also offer a restaurant.
Blair said : “As well as working locally, Lee used to have his own restaurant called Café D’Amour. He had loads of experience and ideas, and contacted me to offer his services.
“We realised we could actually have a pretty nice restaurant as another strand to the business. To be honest, we were already thinking that our upstairs dining room and lounge were far too nice to use solely as a breakfast room. The Upstairs Restaurant was born. We concentrated on making the B&B aspect work first, and then opened the restaurant in September 2015. Lee is still with us, helping me grow the food side. I’m so glad he took the initiative!”
With it being very apparent in the business that teamwork, and finding the right staff, is key for Blair, he is keen to pay tribute to Craig Jamieson, and David Montgomery, his hotel managers.
“David, or Monty as we call him, has been with me for about four years now. He came on board just before we opened to help with the set up of the hotel, and general running of it once we opened. He is very much our public facing manager who is great with customers.”
Blair added : “Craig has been with us for about a year and a half now, brought in as we were getting really busy and needed some extra help. He has since taken over some of my responsibilities, so I can spend more time on other things. They are both great guys, and I think we all make a very good team.”
“I have twelve members of staff in all, with a Spaniard who joins us in the Summer months,” said Blair. “Pretty much everyone else is from the immediate area. A really nice aspect is that virtually all of them walk to work.”
It’s surely another sign, if it were needed, that The Townhouse is absolutely nailing it, when it comes to presenting a local, “healthy” rural business!
The Townhouse Aberfeldy has prepared two seasonal recipes from its Upstairs Restaurant for you to try at home
Quick Smart Venison sautéd with Spring Cabbage – Serves 4 or 2 greedy people!
8 slices of Venison, cut across the grain from the leg, shoulder, haunch or loin
2 Smoked Bacon rashers chopped small
45g Unsalted Butter
1 Head of Spring Greens very thinly sliced
2tbs of Beef Stock
A few Black Onion Seeds (Nigella Seeds)
1tbs Veg Oil
Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
Place the Venison slices between 2 sheets of clingfilm and bash them with a rolling pin until thin, max of 5mm.
In a large frying pan cook the Bacon in 30g of the Butter until crisp, then add the greens and stock. Cook, stirring until the greens are tender, season to taste, transfer to a warm dish and scatter the onion seeds on the top and cover.
Heat the Veg oil and remaining butter in a large frying pan, season the Venison and add to the pan. Fry over a medium-high heat for 30 seconds on each side and serve alongside the Greens.
The Townhouse Lava Cake – Serves 6
170g Dark Chocolate finely chopped
170g Unsalted Butter
170g Light Brown Sugar
85g Plain Flour
6 Eggs Beaten
For Ramekins – 30g Soft Butter
30g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Prepare 6 Ramekins by brushing them with butter and then dusting with the cocoa powder, make sure to tap out all the excess powder.
Melt the chocolate with the butter, combine the sugar with the flour. Mix the melted chocolate with the eggs followed by the flour & sugar mixture.
Divide between the ramekins and refrigerate for a minimum of an hour.
Pre-heat the oven to 180c, bake for 15 – 20 mins on the middle shelf of the oven or until the edges are firm and the centre is slightly runny. Leave to rest for 2 mins before turning out and serve at once with a good quality vanilla ice cream.
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