The Colintraive

Located near the Kyles of Bute

Anyone going “Doon the watter” to the beautiful isle of Bute won’t find its food scene jumping out at them - least of all in the historic Victorian main town of Rothesay.

Once off the ferry from Wemyss Bay, you’ll see numerous pubs serving bar food, good cafes, chippies and takeaways, plus a Polish bistro and a restaurant within both the Victoria Hotel and in the grand 19th century Glenburn Hotel overlooking the town. Most close early in the evening.

Chef/Patron Joe Burnett

But look closer, and there’s Gather Deli on the waterfront, serving a progressive daily menu with local produce and hosting regular supper clubs late into the evening. And up the hill is the much-vaunted and hyper-trendy Bute Yard, founded by the Crichton-Stuart family in memory of the late Johnny Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute, who established the eatBute food festival at Mount Stuart in 2009, in a bid to celebrate and unify the island’s many excellent farmers and food producers. To continue his legacy

Bute Yard has a programme of pop-up food events hosted by various local and off-island chefs and restaurants, a monthly producers’ market and a permanent Isle of Bute Smokehouse stall (formerly Ritchie’s of Rothesay, which was bought by Johnny Crichton-Stuart and is now co-run by his daughter Cathleen).

Working behind the scenes with all these outlets is Bute Kitchen, a social enterprise which supports local producers by encouraging retailers and hospitality venues to use local produce. So the late Marquess’ legacy lives on.

It takes a short crossing on the wee ferry from Rhubodach over to Colintraive on the mainland to find the closest chef-owned, independent restaurant to Bute: The Colintraive, now in the hands of chef-patron Joe Burnett and his Greenock-born wife Clare Banner. Chef Joe came here from Angela Hartnett’s Merchant’s Tavern in London, where he worked with her (Scots-born) husband and head chef, Neil Borthwick, and followed him to the French House in Soho, formerly owned by Fergus Henderson. Before that, Joe was sous-chef to Kenneth Culhane at the Dysart Petersham, which now has a Michelin star.

I don’t get to meet Chef Joe at Colintraive after dinner, as ours is a last-minute visit, and early next morning, he’s at Portavadie to collect fresh prawns off the boat from Tarbert for that night’s dinner menu. Meanwhile, Clare - a former food buyer for Fortnum & Mason in Mayfair - shows me the community-run

polytunnel just steps away from the hotel, where they grow veg for the restaurant - most recently, homegrown beetroot done three ways to accompany a high-end dish of venison saddle and ragout from a haunch brought off the hill at nearby Glendaruel.

When we chat later, Chef Joe tells me that what he learned from Hartnett and Borthwick at the “busy, fast-paced” Merchant’s Tavern and French House was their philosophy of keeping it simple and doing justice to the produce. Creating new menus daily and cooking “off the cuff” according to what’s available is what Chef Joe is enjoying doing at The Colintraive - and it shows. My starter is a chargrilled Tarbert-landed octopus with spicy sobrasada, Charlotte potato, and peas and beans from the polytunnel. It delivered super-tasty, satisfying mouthfuls of flavour and texture and with a modern twist of dots of cool aioli.

Then, for my main, is possibly the best steak and chips ever: Aberdeen Angus rump from Little Kilchattan farm on Bute, supplied by the famous Macqueen’s Butchers in Rothesay. Medium to slightly well-done as requested. A pot of house chips, crisp and floury, easy to tip onto the plate, and a dinky pot of

brandy and peppercorn sauce, in a pleasingly dignified quantity, is really superb but leaves me wanting more. And a salad of peppery watercress with citrussy dressing is a fitting foil. Simple presentation, expert cooking, perfect flavour.

The menu on my whistle-stop visit also offers Kyle-caught mackerel with heritage tomatoes, ox cheek and ale suet pie, and fish and chips among three other choices. It’s restrained and cleverly balanced to suit local residents as well as gastro-savvy visitors. Lamb, when available, is from Ardmaleish farm on Bute - and Chef has previously done a lamb kofte menu with pickled house cabbage and chips, and pork brawn crispy kromeski served with house brown sauce and mooli salad. He also tells me he is delighted by the wild garlic and girolles (yellow chanterelles) that are freely available to him from the grounds of the hotel, while they “cost a fortune” in London.

It’s not fine-dining as such - or maybe that’s exactly what it is. The expertise, flair and culinary technique are all there, tempered to the clientele. It’s not flashy; the vibe here is friendly and warm. As chef Joe puts it, “It’s kind of cool. I think we’ve found our lane. It’s a lovely position to be in because I can cook freely and create a new menu every day.” Then he adds casually that “Angela and Neil were here recently” and that they remain great friends. He and Clare have had two daughters since they moved to Colintraive in

2019. It looks like they’re here to stay - to the benefit of this beautiful, bountiful part of Argyll.

The Colintraive, Colintraive, Argyll PA22 3AS (+441700 841 207).

Enquiries@colintraivehotel.com.

Closed Mondays, open Tuesday-Sunday 12-2pm for lunch, 5.30pm-8pm for dinner (6pm-8pm Sunday).