Sean Kelly at Station Road, The Lovat Hotel, Fort Augustus

Sean Kelly’s cooking confirms what we all already know: Scotland has the finest larder in the world.  

Nestled above the Caledonian Canal in The Lovat Hotel, this Highland retreat is where Sean forages, crafts and experiments with a deep respect for Scotland’s culinary past. His avant-garde tasting menu recalls volumes such as A Caledonian Feast by Annette Hope, yet feels utterly of the moment.  

He tells me he would like to “not cook with lemons at all,” responding to my praise of a Chicken Liver Parfait encased in citrusy sea buckthorn. “We can get fruit flavours from foraging and fermentation,” he explains. “We don’t have to fly lemons to Scotland.”  

I notice the chef’s tweezers in his pocket—tools used to carefully place vibrant lemon verbena leaves atop a dish of Shetland Brown Crab and Garden Apple. It is the freshest, most mouth-watering plate I’ve eaten, made even better by an accompanying earthenware pot of velvety Partan Bree, Scotland’s answer to bouillabaisse.  

Cod Roe in herb moss, heaped on  Beremeal and Treacle Bannock, is beautifully complemented by a glass of English Pinot Gris. Foraged Mushrooms with pumpkin seeds and pumpkin espuma prove that simple ingredients, elevated with thought and skill, can reach three-rosette standard.  Sean trained with Roux at one stage.

When asked if he wants a star, Sean replies that what he would really like is a full restaurant in the off-season. I think it’s the perfect time to visit, offering exclusivity, peace and crisp Highland sunshine.  

Atlantic Halibut and Highland Lamb courses maintain the high standard, while desserts astonish again. “Auld Man’s Milk ” is a Scottish eggnog, in this instance cradling an intense purple sorbet made from local blackcurrants—equal to any continental brûlée or caramel.  

A Tart made with flour milled from inner silver birch bark yields crisp pastry, a vessel for chocolate soil. Petit fours include mead pâte de fruit, a sea buckthorn chocolate, and a showstopping Hazelnut Ice Cream tasting like the very essence of nut—encased in a chocolate cigar, dusted with ‘green moss’, and served on a bowl of real woodland sticks.

Breakfast continues the respect for Scottish foodways. Foraged mushrooms, with haggis, black pudding and sourdough all homemade and not a baked bean in sight! Kudos.

Station Road restaurant at The Lovat Hotel - Loch Ness, Fort Augustus, Inverness-shire, PH32 4DU, Scotland  - 📞 +44 (0)1320 351 207  

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