- 1 day ago
On this episode the Scran team took a visit to Seaton House in St Andrews to sample Ondine mark II and chat to Roy Brett, Chef Patron for Ondine restaurants and Valor Hotels in the UK, and Michael Davern, General Manager of Seaton House. You'll hear snippets from the meal we enjoyed and a tour Michael took us on of the new hotel. We hope you enjoy it.
Category
đ ď¸
LifestyleTranscript
00:00So we're at Ondine at Seton House in St Andrews and we're sitting right by the window in the
00:11restaurant overlooking West Sands Beach in the North Sea and it's a lovely night and Kelly and
00:16I are having a lovely romantic meal, oysters and champagne. So anyone that knows Ondine in
00:23Edinburgh will know that it moved out of Edinburgh towards the end of last year and the view that
00:27we're sitting looking at just now is very different to what you would have been seeing in the restaurant
00:30over the last five years because it was covered in scaffolding and they left kind of due to the
00:36nature of that and the state of the building. So they opened up here, they've just been recommended
00:42by the Michelin Guide and we're going to talk to Roy about the move, about the new restaurant,
00:46about the new location and the Michelin recommendation. So yeah, looking forward to that
00:51and looking forward to more of the lovely meal. Hello, I'm Craig Grierson, I'm the restaurant
00:55manager here at Ondine Seton House. So we've got Cumbria oysters, we have fresh oysters with
01:01a firecracker dressing which is chopped chilli, chopped shallots, rice wine vinegar and mirin
01:06and then we have the crispy oysters. Cumbria oysters, deep fried, served with the buffalo sauce so
01:11we toss the oysters through the buffalo sauce and then we've got the ranch dressing. So you
01:15can't have oysters without champagne. The Beocard Salmon champagne, enjoy!
01:18Just had Cumbria oysters two ways, lovely, really quite spicy but not too much. Yeah,
01:25I could have had another six of them.
01:31Hello and welcome to Scran, the podcast passionate about the Scottish food and drink scene.
01:35As you just heard on this episode of Scran, producer Kelly and I took a visit to Seton House
01:40in St Andrews to sample Ondine Mark II and chat to Roy Brett, chef patron of Ondine Restaurants
01:46and Valor Hotels in the UK and Michael Davern, general manager of Seton House. You'll hear
01:52snippets from the meal we enjoyed and a tour Michael took us on of the new hotel. We hope
01:56you enjoy it.
01:57We're here in Seton House in St Andrews in a lovely sea view suite on the first floor overlooking
02:13the west sands and the sea. It's not raining which is good for today and lovely view and I'm joined
02:20by Roy and Michael to have a chat about what's going on at the hotel and the new look Ondine
02:25restaurant. So Roy, we spoke a few years ago and a lot of things have changed since then.
02:31So for anyone that doesn't know, do you want to just kind of give us a kind of update on
02:34what happened and how you're here now?
02:36Yeah, well, I think everybody in Edinburgh and Scotland were aware that our building was
02:41under scaffolding for five years. We were forced to leave in October last year because we had
02:49to move out because of the works they had to continue would be eight months at least. So we
02:54had no alternative to move out because there was no income coming in. So we unfortunately
03:00had to close the doors after 15 years. So a longer story was Michael and I have got a mutual
03:08friend, Ewan McGlashan, who's the CEO for Valor Hotels and he approached me some time ago, as
03:17he did with Michael in a different way, but just to see if I'd be interested in bringing Ondine
03:21to Seton House. So that was always going to be happening. So it wasn't a jump ship from
03:29leaving Edinburgh and then coming to St Andrews. It was all part of the plan. It just so happened
03:36that unfortunately our baby in Edinburgh had to close and then we opened up here.
03:43For people missing Ondine, you've also got the fish market in Newhaven.
03:45Yeah, I love the fish market. It's an adventure I went into with Gary Welsh from Welsh Fishmongers
03:53and while I was working in Ondine, Gary became one of my best friends. I really admired him
04:02as a fish merchant. I really loved the way he worked, his family ethics, the produce that
04:10we get. And I'm sure you're aware it's an incredible fish merchant. And we became friends and we
04:16always talked about opening this fish and chip restaurant, but to make it much more than
04:22that, we've certainly achieved that over the last five to six years. So it's going really,
04:28really well, really strong. And a lot of the family of Ondine are down there now. So there's
04:34at least 10 of the team that was actually at George Forebridge are now down at the fish
04:40market.
04:41So Michael, do you want to just tell us a little bit about your involvement in the hotel, how
04:46you got to this point and a little bit about the hotel? Because obviously we're here now,
04:51we've been wandering about, we've talked about how it's a bit of a war in. So do you want
04:55to just explain a bit about the history?
04:56Seaton House, so it dates back to 1864. And we're in two buildings. One was a boarding school,
05:04boys boarding school. And then there was Seaton House, which was the home of the Seaton family,
05:08you know, here in St. Andrews. And then the two of those got merged into the boarding school.
05:14And then laterally, these two buildings joined together became the Scores Hotel. And that operated
05:21for many, many years until 2019 or so. Then a group of investors, they bought this and they
05:28obviously had a dream to create a truly special hotel in St. Andrews. I've worked an awful lot
05:35in golf, in golf associated hotels, always in luxury hotels, but very much they always
05:40had golf. So I was just fascinated with a hotel so close to the most famous golf course in the
05:47world in St. Andrews, which is just an amazing place to, you know, to create a hotel so special.
05:53So it's small, personalized, you know, with fantastic food and beverage offering, obviously,
05:59with Ondine and so on. Every aspect of the hotel has these amazing views. And if you're in Ondine,
06:05you're looking straight out over West Sands Beach, you know, which is obviously very famous from
06:11the Oscar-winning movie Chariots of Fire, where they were running along. And you see the tide
06:17right out at the moment. Then you have the view right down the first fairway of the old course.
06:22I mean, it's just magical. People, you know, they sort of, they arrive here, they sort of come in,
06:28and then you have to step them back outside again, just to give them that moment where you say,
06:33well, that is the old course right there, you know, that's it. And then you've, you know,
06:37Martyrs Monument outside, loads of history. And so it's really just a superb location. It's fantastic.
06:43The pepper monkfish, we've got some butter and spinach, and we've got the Shetland Mussels
06:49marinier. The fries and peppercorn sauce just coming. So the monkfish, basically, it's a monkfish
06:55tail. It's just in a really nice pepper marinade, you know, it's got, we puke on the chargrill,
07:01so it's got a bit of a char to it. It's delicious. And your peppercorn sauce is to follow.
07:05Cool. Thank you very much. Enjoy. Honestly, it's kind of like a steak. It's kind of weird,
07:10because it's fish, but it's obviously monkfish, it's quite meaty. But the way they've cooked
07:14it and the sauce just reminds you of, like, a really good, like, rib eye steak. So, yeah,
07:18lovely.
07:20Obviously, we talked about your mutual connection, but how important was it for you to have a
07:24sort of well-established, well-known restaurant within here? Because, you know, obviously St.
07:29Andrew's has got a few, like, really nice luxury hotels. Was it quite important to have
07:33that, you know, brand of food that people within Scotland anyway would know about?
07:38Yeah, I think it's really important because, you know, there's so much more to St. Andrew's
07:43than golf, obviously. It's a fantastic destination. It's a wonderful place to be. So you want to
07:48be really established within the community and everything else. And obviously, a key way
07:51to do that is to have a magnificent restaurant like Ondine here, and particularly Ondine's, like,
07:56long-established position in Edinburgh. I mean, it's fantastic to have the ability to extend
08:02that over to St. Andrew's. A lot of people come here from Edinburgh because they know
08:06Ondine, and they're passionate about that for many, many years, you know, so.
08:10When we last saw you, we ate in Ondine in Edinburgh, and then we ate here last night,
08:14and it was really lovely. Is it a similar menu, different menu? Can people expect some dishes
08:20that they recognise, or has it had a complete overhaul?
08:23Yeah, I think the foundation's still the same. You know, there's certain dishes like our fish
08:28soup that's been on for 15 years. You know, it's like a staple. I always feel like, you
08:33know, we don't open if the fish soup's not on, and it's something that people come for.
08:38I just felt like, with the menu that we're doing just now, we do listen to the customer.
08:44You know, we do recognise that we're within a hotel as well, and there's different demands
08:51for guests. They have different, you know, when they want to eat and what time, etc.
08:55Things kind of change. I think the menu in Ondine is starting to grow really well just
09:01now. I think we started quite slowly in terms of how much we put out of the Ondine original
09:11menu, and we're starting to find what the menu's going to be here. So it's taking its own
09:17shape, and the group that I'm working with just now, they're understanding the produce,
09:23they're understanding the approach and how the dishes come around, and yeah, I'm starting
09:30to see the fruits starting to come through with the chefs, and I would say their belief
09:36in what we're trying to do. So, you know, we've got a lot of local accents in the kitchen,
09:41some really great young guys and girls who, you know, they're trusting us, you know, with
09:47their futures, they're working with us. So we're trying to educate them at the same time
09:55on the produce and why we make things, and you know, there's a reason, and the ones that
10:02have stayed around, you know, they're starting to get the fruits out of their hard labour.
10:07So, yeah, it's a really interesting time, you know, it's a lot of development work with
10:12people. So it's similar to what we used to do in Ondine and Edinburgh.
10:17Yeah, I was going to say, last time we spoke about how you're bringing people over from
10:19different countries and developing them, so it's kind of a similar thing here.
10:23For me, what's really important is that, you know, we've got a lot of little neighbourhoods
10:29around this area, you know, and I've got a young chef from Fruki, and he's a really
10:36great guy. He comes in every day, he's starting right at the very beginning, and he's starting
10:42to find his feet, you know, he's starting to become really reliable and consistent, and
10:47he's understanding what he's doing, and you know, sometimes we were looking further away
10:53when we were in Edinburgh, because we were looking for overseas. I'm looking around the
10:58neighbourhoods around here and trying to develop the people here. So, it's a similar
11:03approach, it's just maybe not as far-reaching. It'll be good for Fife.
11:07Well told, we have 60 people working here, and the vast majority are from Fife, aren't
11:14they? They're from, they're local, you know, which is fantastic, you know, to hear all the
11:19local accents.
11:20You find some real talent, like, real talent. I mean, we've got quite a strong nucleus coming
11:26from Dundee, and some brilliant, brilliant young people in that restaurant and kitchen
11:32just now. You know, they're starting to, well, you tasted the food last night. They're
11:36cooking.
11:37Yeah, it was lovely. I was going to say, I know where to come if I need another job. I'm
11:40from Fife, so.
11:41Are you?
11:42Yeah.
11:43The question everyone is probably always still asking you, are you going to open again in
11:47Edinburgh?
11:47Honestly, we're in a legal dispute just now, and we need to see that through first. I think
11:55everybody just assumed that one closes, one opens, and I think the reality of the matter
12:00is it's not quite as easy as that. I've been lucky to have Seton House and Fish Market because
12:06they give me sanity at this point. We are going to come back and do it, and it's not one of
12:12these sort of hollow words and just, you know, like we've left the Instagram open. We've
12:18left our website and, you know, even TripAdvisor. We got a bad review last week, funny enough,
12:24and we've not been open for six months, which is pretty incredible. I wanted to address that
12:29today, actually. But yeah, we are planning to open again. I've got a nucleus of people
12:35still around that are actually, who are employees or ex-employees are still wanting to do it, and
12:41we still believe we've got enough within us to do it again. But when we say doing it
12:47again, it's given me time to think about how we'll do it, and I would imagine by the
12:52time we get to do it, Michael, it'll probably be different again, you know.
12:56Yeah, everything evolves.
12:57Yeah, so we've got a lot of thinking time just now, which is, it's that hour and a half
13:02down and hour and a half back. It gives you some food for thought.
13:07But could you see it being in another hotel in Edinburgh, or do you want it to be like
13:11a standalone, or is that something that you're just sort of mulling over and all the different
13:14options?
13:15I think we probably would be standalone. I don't know, you know, like, this is working
13:19well for us just now, and, you know, we're enjoying the challenges of coming back into
13:24the hotel and, you know, readjusting. You know, I'm not saying it was really easy just
13:28to come in and do it all over again and back into hotels, but you've been in hotels,
13:34you've still got that DNA inside you. But yeah, we'll see what happens.
13:39So last night we were having a lovely dinner and there was a big table behind us that had
13:43come from Edinburgh, regulars, and we spoke to Craig about that. Is that, it happens quite
13:48often and how does it make you feel?
13:50Almost every night there's a regular from Ondine in Edinburgh in the restaurant. And, you know,
13:56we've had occasions, Michael, we've had a full restaurant and it's all regulars. So how does
14:02that make you feel? Fantastic. And they ask the same question, when are you opening? But
14:06they say, well, if you're not open yet, we'll come and support you here. And yeah, it's a
14:12great feeling, you know, because the connections you make over a 16-year period, it's not just
14:19a customer, they become a friend. You know, so the relationship goes much, much deeper.
14:24And, you know, you're having people who over 16 years would have 18th birthdays, 21st birthdays,
14:33retirals, last suppers. You know, you have everybody and the support's been amazing. You know, the
14:41support's been amazing. And they love the new Ondine look and the vibe. You know, they love
14:47the views because they've not had a view for five years because of bloody scaffolding. But the
14:54same, you know, at the same time, they still frequented Edinburgh, regardless if we had
14:58scaffolding or not, they came for the food in Craig's wonderful service. So we were always
15:04about both. We were never about just the food. It was about the service. It's about both.
15:09It's never just about the food. You know, I think sometimes chefs get caught up in the,
15:15about them, the ego in the food. It's definitely about both together. I think that's something
15:20we always try to achieve in Ondine, you know, that both matter. And yeah, so to answer your
15:27question, it's great. And I know the guys that were in last night, it's funny, I just
15:32did a dinner at the local rugby club, my son's rugby club with Martin Wishart at the weekend.
15:36And the guys found out it was on and were really quite crossy and never got an invite. So the
15:42next dinner we're doing with Tony Singh up at Curry Rugby Club if anybody likes a ticket. And
15:47yeah, they've just booked up a table of 10 for that. So yeah, it's great to have regulars.
15:53Yeah, that's really nice. Having moved, although it's not a million miles away, have your suppliers
15:57stayed the same or is there some more local people?
16:00Well, that's a good question because we are still working with a lot of the suppliers
16:06that we worked with before. You know, Ian Mellis and, you know, we're already running
16:10the business now. And what we try to do is we're trying to tap into the local, local market.
16:17And it's something that Michael and I are looking at in the fall. It's a focus with our new chef
16:24is to actually bring in the smaller independent suppliers that are just here.
16:30We're working with David Lowry at St Monnins. You know, we worked with David before, but we're
16:34working with him. But at the same time, of course, I'm going to work with Welsh fishmongers.
16:38You know, they're fantastic. I mean, why wouldn't I? I think their smoked salmon is the best in
16:43the country, in my opinion, but the customers, because they absolutely love it. You love it.
16:48I love it. I can't get enough.
16:50So it always has been a focus, but the next focus when we have, we're going to have a little
16:56bit of time in the winter is to really get to know the local market. And I think we've
17:03got a lot more to do, a lot more to do. There's lots of projects that we're using, which is
17:08local, but we need to go in deeper. And the new chef, Lee Murdoch, who's just started with
17:15us, funny, this week, isn't it? So this week. So he's in, well, he's into his second week
17:24now, and one of his roles is to bring in the local voices into the kitchen.
17:32I had tiramisu, which was very nice, very creamy, and it's not too much coffee, which
17:37is good for me at this time of night. And your sorbet looked amazing and tasted very good
17:42as well. The sorbet was absolutely delicious. It was strawberry black, currant, and like
17:49a pear sorbet, which I'm not sure I've ever had before. Really delicious. And then some
17:54other berries as well. And yeah, it's just been a lovely evening.
17:58Michael, so next year will be like your first full year and your summer season that you've
18:04just had. Are you going to do anything differently? Has it been a bit of a learning? What's it been
18:09like in the first year since opening? I think we're always, you know, you're always trying
18:14to constantly improve. A lot of it is about local experiences and getting people to, you
18:22know, just have that genuine warmth and authenticity about the destination that we're in. You know,
18:29little things like encouraging people to go for a swim. We've got, you know, dry robes
18:34for them. And it's, it's constantly just trying to excel and just try and create this feeling of
18:41just unbelievable hospitality and surprising all the time. So work with people on enhancing those
18:46experiences, you know, the bicycles, the cycles, the picnics, the, all the different things that
18:51people want to do, but, but it's just exciting them, constantly surprising them, you know, that,
18:55well, we didn't think that that would happen. So that's what we work on really, really well
18:59with the team and to make that is so natural and that it just occurs at every moment, you
19:05know, and the foods that most hotels try to navigate their way towards creating an independent
19:11local restaurant. That's not sort of a hotel restaurant where they try to create food that
19:20excels and they go on that journey. And that's what, I mean, I've been doing that journey all
19:24my life in hotels here. That's a journey we didn't need because we start straight away with
19:29landing. So we're really, really lucky in that regard.
19:32You guys were in the Michelin Guide recommended for a long time, and then you've just been
19:36re-recommended here. And how important do you find that for this environment? Because
19:41obviously Edinburgh's got a lot of tourists, but St Andrews has got a lot of tourists, maybe
19:45different kinds of tourists. Like, is that a big draw for people? Is it a big draw for
19:48the hotel?
19:49Yeah, I think any recognition is, is excellent, you know, and at the same time, though, you
19:54just constantly want to be on your own route and where you need to go and what you need to do and
20:01stick to your journey. And these things will come. It's really, really good to receive accolades
20:07because I suppose a lot of people pay a lot of attention to them. And that's really important. So
20:12it's great help.
20:13And were you quite happy to get the recommendation again?
20:16For me, Michelin's not something I've ever chased or aspired for. I do appreciate the
20:23standard of the guide of what it is. And, you know, it's a well put together guide. A lot
20:28of people do follow it. And for them to navigate themselves up to here. But, you know, it's
20:35for 16 years, we've never cooked for a guide. We've only cooked for customers. So, you know,
20:41awards came, as you know, in Edinburgh, a lot. But that was never the driving force. It was to cook
20:50really good food. And I think we've been working with Rick's time before Ondine, you know, it was
20:57that time, you know, when you're actually working with fishermen, you're working direct to source,
21:03you're, it's all about produce, it's all about your people. And the other part comes if they like
21:10it or if it's recognised. And, you know, as long as we've got a really full restaurant and people
21:19are happy with what we're trying to do and our approach, then for me, that's, that's the best
21:24guide I can have.
21:25I think that's what kind of stood out last night. It was a Tuesday night and it was so busy and
21:28bustling. And like you say, it's not like a hotel restaurant. Like, you know, sometimes you go in
21:32and there's no atmosphere and it's dead. And you're like, it was really nice.
21:36That's good. I've not eaten in there yet.
21:38Have you eaten? Did you have a favourite day?
21:41Oh, I've eaten lots there, yeah. I've eaten lots there. I have to say, I'm just, I just, I try lots
21:49of things, but I just gravitate back to smoked salmon all the time because it's just so good.
21:54You love your smoked salmon.
21:55I just think it's so, so good. Yeah. And, and obviously being Irish, you know, we think Irish
22:00smoked salmon is great and I've eaten some amazing Irish smoked salmon, but this smoked salmon's better now.
22:06So I'm struggling. But no, I love that. And you can get addicted to those oysters.
22:13Oh yeah, they were. The deep fried ones were amazing. The buffalo.
22:16You know, when we put them on, you know, I was like, right, we'd just had them on in Edinburgh
22:20before and I said, right, so three months had passed, but now people are coming back for
22:26them and, you know, people, people love them. And our overseas guests, they absolutely adore
22:32them. It's funny, like, I think I've eaten Edinburgh three times in 15 years. So it's
22:40not something I'm planning to do quite soon. Got a few years to go. I warrant a meal.
22:47Oh, I suppose it's a bit like a busman's holiday if you're sitting in your own restaurant and
22:50having your own food.
22:51Yeah.
22:52Yeah, it's kind of funny. I was sitting with Michael and Craig and we're going through our
22:57strategies going forward and how we're going to evolve. We've got our new chef, we've got
23:01our new food and beverage manager and as we're structuring to go forward into the winter
23:07and autumn and winter and Thanksgiving and St. Andrew's Day and all those sort of celebrations
23:12and you suddenly start looking at the room and going, right, we need to do this, we need
23:16to, you know, so you start really homing in on the rooms. So it is important to be in
23:22there. We've got our boxes, we just need to start ticking them out.
23:25It's like sleeping in your hotel bedrooms. You have to do it because, you know, if you
23:31walk in the door, that's a very different view. You might think that you're seeing everything
23:38and how it works and how it functions, you know, but when you actually, and it sounds
23:42funny, but when you lie in the bed, that's a different view, you know. The functionality
23:46of the room only becomes apparent to you by sleeping in the room, you know, whether everything
23:53works and... You've slept in the mall, haven't you?
23:55I've slept in every room, yeah. What have you got out, don't you? I mean...
23:59I was a bit worried about you at that point. But then I get it, I do get it, but I was
24:03like, what's he doing? I'm sure you've tasted every single thing you've ever cooked.
24:09That's true. Fair enough. Who's drinking every single glass of wine, that's what I want to
24:14know. I'll tell you, Cree's got a challenge there.
24:18A little touch of Scotland in terms of, you know, Stag's head's just on the bedhead there.
24:26It's very subtle and lovely, the tartan throw on the bed. There's about 12 different tartans
24:33used and they're the tartans of all the Scottish people that were involved in the project that
24:38worked on it in interior design and some of the builders and the, you know, and all
24:43it basically, based on their names, it was a nice thing to do. I want to show you the
24:47garden and it's a beautiful garden. So what's amazing in St. Andrews really is the size of
24:54the space behind all these houses. And when you see it, it's quite surprising. So, and
24:58then we have five suites there, which are our garden terrace suites. They have their own
25:02private terraces and you can sit out and it's a real sun track because that's where the sun
25:07is for most of the day there.
25:08So, Michael, you've come from Ireland. What are your experiences of the Scottish industry
25:17versus Ireland?
25:18I spent a good bit of time in South Africa, a good bit of time in the Caribbean. I was
25:23in Ireland in the early 90s on the opening of a luxury hotel and then came back to run
25:29that hotel laterally 2005. I worked in the UK as a training manager many, many years ago
25:37in the late 80s. So, yeah, this is my first time working in Scotland. But the Scottish
25:46and the Irish are very, very similar. So I think that's, and everything is cultural, you
25:51know, so, and I think the culture is very similar. And I think like Irish people, if you take,
25:57you know, chefs or people in hospitality and the same as in Ireland, they've gone away, they've
26:03probably learnt their skills somewhere. They've maybe, they've worked overseas. Luckily for,
26:08I suppose, in Scotland, you can go down to London, the same as the Irish would have gone
26:12to London, where, you know, a huge array of hotels, restaurants and everything. And I think so many
26:20Irish people, be they general managers of hotels, successful chefs, etc. I mean, everybody worked
26:28in maybe London at some point, you know. So I think we share all of that, like where we,
26:33where we get our knowledge from and everything. But, but I think our, our culture and our humour
26:38and everything is exactly the same. And there's a sister hotel in Northern Ireland,
26:43is that right? Yeah. So under the Lynx Collection, which is the investment group that own Seaton House
26:50with Valor, we also developed a hotel called Dunlews Lodge in Northern Ireland. It's really,
26:56really special because it's on the Causeway Coast. It's actually on the fourth fairway of Royal
27:01Portrush Golf Course, where the Open was held just in, in July, just gone. And some of the team
27:07from there come over here and vice versa, which is really nice for us to do that exchange of
27:12knowledge and training between those two hotels. It's lovely.
27:15Nice. We need to go there next, Kelly. Now, what are your plans for the next sort of 12 months?
27:21Well, the most important thing is to really get this place fully established and working
27:26with the team here, getting a really good settlement and working with Michael and the group that we've
27:32got here and just to develop up what we've already started. Edinburgh, I need to resolve the ongoing
27:40Ondine and finalise that from a legal perspective. And then after that, it's going to give me sort of
27:49clearance to what we can do next. So I think we've got enough going on just now. And also the fish market's
27:57had a fantastic season. So, you know, I need to spend some more time with my team down there
28:02and more time with Gary and developing that as well. So it's, it's not a dull moment.
28:08Well, it doesn't sound like it. So thank you very much for your time. I know you're both really
28:11busy, but it's been great to chat and find out more. And thanks again for the lovely mail.
28:16And then here, when we come through here, then we come into the lobby area for Ondine and we have
28:30our whiskey cabinet here with all the individual bottles. This is like our founder's collection. So
28:35some very, very good customers and some of our owners or investors or very regular guests will
28:43have their own whiskey here with their name on it so that they can obviously offer a weed
28:49dram to their friends when they come or enjoy it themselves.
28:53Who's got the spring bank?
28:55That one is actually ours.
28:57Oh, nice.
28:58The spring bank, yeah. So this is Beaubat's Bar and beside it is the boardroom where we serve
29:05breakfast in the mornings. And we also do cheese and chicotry and all day dining there. So
29:11during the day, that's somewhere you could go and have a burger or have some chicken wings
29:14or whatever. And we do some nice things or oysters. And here in the bar, you can see
29:19we have a magnificent whiskey collection behind all these cabinets. We've over a hundred scotches,
29:26so magnificent range of them.
29:28And the Beaubat's Bar then is, basically it's called after Beaubat's, which is the area straight
29:34out here. There's the champion's medal for archery going back to 1655 that we discovered through the
29:41research, you know, and the work on it. And that's why we called it Beaubat's because it's so special.
29:46So you're sitting there in the window, obviously overlooking the sea and all of that, but where the
29:50bandstand is, was the natural area where the archery competitions were. Yeah, the archery has a great
29:58story in St. Andrews as well in particular, because golf was banned at one point because it was
30:03distracting the archers from their practice. So there's not many places in the world where that
30:09happened. I'm thinking about the archery, although don't tell my dad. There's an archery club in the
30:14university in St. Andrews, and they were up here recently. And that's the oldest club in the world.
30:21It has a history going back to 1600s, you know, with the university. Amazing, you know, and still to this
30:26day, you know, obviously there's an archery club. I'm sure these days they're probably in the Olympics
30:31and all sorts of things, but it's a lovely story. Thank you very much for showing us around and
30:35we're quite disappointed to have to leave, but thank you. No, you're very welcome. And you'd be
30:40more than welcome to stay, but I'm sure you'll be back soon. Thank you very much. Thank you.
30:51Thanks to Roy and Michael for joining me on the podcast. I'll be eagerly anticipating news of
30:55Ondine's return to Edinburgh. Until then, I can highly recommend a trip to Seton House
30:59for your seafood fix. Scran is co-produced and hosted by me, Ros and Erskine, and co-produced,
31:05edited and mixed by Kelly Crichton.
34:27You
Recommended
2:10
|
Up next
0:57
3:11
23:10
2:49
0:51
0:19
2:04
Be the first to comment