Whisky & Mhor

It’s been a busy few weeks for events, and we’ve been working our socks off.

On World Whisky Day (Saturday 20 May) we were delighted to welcome Robert Bruce Borthwick from Glengoyne Distillery to share a special free tasting at Cannonball Bar. The lure of a little free dram attracted the crowds in droves, which was no surprise. But even better was the response from our guests which was, as always, lots of love for Glengoyne whisky.

Then, last weekend, Suzanne and I were thrilled to be invited to cook at the Mhor Festival‘s annual Feast.The experience was crazy and lovely in equal proportions. Tom Lewis of Monachyle Mhor, who was running the show, decided to celebrate women in the kitchen with a line-up of female chefs for the five course meal.

We joined Monachyle Mhor’s Marysia Pazkowska; Lorna MacNee (Scottish Chef of the Year) of Restaurant Andrew Fairlie; Rosie Healey of Alchemilla; and Chef/Author Maxine Clark for an evening of fun and food.

It was a huge amount of work if I’m being honest. We were in a prep kitchen next to the barn where The Feast took place, which was decorated like the most whimsical fairy venue you could imagine. Guests sat at very beautiful, rustic, long tables set with wild flowers freshly cut from the woods around Monachyle Mhor. However, the temperature in the kitchen was touching 85 degrees – I think I lost several pounds just from chopping Sandy Puttulo’s beautiful asparagus for 3 hours!

It was all worth it in the end, of course. We served 5 courses to 110 guests in less than 5 hours, with a couple of impromptu mid-course dancing sessions and a pop quiz thrown in to boot.

Just between us, we celebrated with a cheeky mid-service dram of Cask Strength Glengoyne: that lit the heart and added a little sparkle to the service.

Tom and team front of house, thank you so much. And well done to all the girls in the kitchen – you did a magnificent job!