Wednesday, August 21, 2002
The champagne corks were popping at Scotland's newest - and highest - restaurant last week when the prestigious Taste of Scotland organisation awarded its full accreditation to The Ptarmigan at CairnGorm for the quality of its daytime self-service cafeteria style restaurant.
Taste of Scotland members range from traditional farmhouses offering warm hospitality to Five Star luxury hotels but all share the common objective of a commitment to using the very best of fresh Scottish produce, skillfully prepared and cooked, and imaginatively presented.
Explained a Taste of Scotland spokesperson:
"No establishment is included without first having exceeded our criteria. To ensure that those standards are met, our team of qualified Inspectors takes a meal in every establishment seeking recognition and, out of an average of 500 annual inspections, only 400 are successful. This way diners can be sure that their expectations will not only be met but exceeded every time."
What is particularly pleasing for the catering team at CairnGorm is that it has been given this accreditation after a comparatively short time. For The Ptarmigan restaurant only opened its doors a few months ago, in March, to cater initially for skiers and winter sports enthusiasts and, more recently, for the thousands of daytime visitors who are flocking to Scotland's newest visitor attraction.
A clearly delighted Ian Whitaker, CairnGorm Mountain's Catering & Retailing Director, commented:
"Getting Taste of Scotland recognition for our self-service daytime restaurant is very important to us for it places the emphasis very much on food which is exactly our own philosophy at The Ptarmigan. It also underlines the fact that we actually operate two different restaurants out of the same kitchen at different times of the day and at different periods in the week."
"Throughout the day, The Ptarmigan operates as a self-service style cafe, catering for day-time visitors by offering light hot dishes, freshly made soup, sandwiches and home baking. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, the same Ptarmigan Café is then transformed into something totally different, an a la carte restaurant complete with table linen, T lights and table service. But the single common factor for both styles of catering is that our chefs, led by Eric Matthews, are totally committed to quality, using the best of Scottish produce in the majority of our dishes and, where possible, the best of local produce from the Badenoch & Strathspey area."
"The style of cooking and presentation of our daytime is part of a commitment to give The Ptarmigan a Scottish identity and we have obviously succeeded in giving it a very recognisable Taste of Scotland. Our summer evening menu at weekends is also part of this quality dining experience. Whether a restaurant is run as a self-service operation or as a table service establishment is not important; it is the quality of the food that counts and every member of the team is thrilled by this recognition that the country's highest self service café is also of the highest quality and we will be looking to achieve this same recognition for the al la carte evening restaurant for 2003 "
Among the typical dishes on offer at The Ptarmigan during the day are wholesome Scottish soups, such as Lentil, Leek and Potato, and Scotch Broth, as well as Smoked Salmon and Game Pate, while Main Courses include well-established Scottish favourites like Haggis and Clapshot, lamb-based Shepherd's Pie, Scottish Beef Steak Pie, and simple, but tasty, Mince and Tatties. As one overseas visitor commented recently "It is a delight to enjoy excellent hearty traditional Scottish fare in such a wonderful setting."
Said Tania Adams, Cairngorm's Marketing and Communications Director: "Recognition by Taste of Scotland at this early stage is a massive achievement and again underlines our total commitment to offering quality. Our funicular railway, mountain trails, shops and exhibition provide a complete mountain experience for visitors and The Ptarmigan Restaurant, be it the self service day time café or al la carte, table service, evening dining is very much part of that overall quality experience. "
" CairnGorm is not just a pretty view - it's a complete mountain experience."
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