As 2019 gave way to 2020, my wife and I set our sights on an early spring getaway. We spent the Christmas break poring over travel guides and quickly narrowed our focus to Southeast Asia. The brief was simple: to get away from it all, have ready access to water, and be warm. By mid-January, our longings had translated into plans and we had settled on Thailand. Literally the day we planned to book everything, however, we were disrupted by a BBC News alert. It read, “Wuhan pneumonia outbreak: First case reported outside China” – and of course that case was reported in Thailand.
Naturally, we paused – and, mindful of the spread of previous outbreaks in the region, we put our plans for Asia on ice. Satisfying two out of the three criteria – if not the third, warmth – I was quick to put the Scottish Highlands on the table. Despite both of us having strong family ties to Scotland, knowing other regions very well and having lived in Edinburgh for eight years between us, our experience of the Highlands specifically – virtually none – was an anomaly that had long needed correcting. And so, we booked a cottage on the Cawdor Estate instead.
Looking back now, it’s hard to comprehend just how quickly things changed in March 2020. When we set off on the Friday night, there was a degree of uncertainty around international travel; by the Monday evening, the government was advising people to stay at home and a week later the UK had been plunged into full lockdown.
“Looking back now, it’s hard to comprehend just how quickly things changed in March 2020. When we set off on the Friday night, there was a degree of uncertainty around international travel; by the Monday evening, the government was advising people to stay at home and a week later the UK had been plunged into full lockdown.”
In a way, our cottage was the perfect place to be. Fully half an hour’s drive from the nearest main road and in a beautiful setting on the banks of the River Findhorn, there can be few better ways to achieve social distancing. On the other hand, as the world as we knew it suddenly became uncertain, we couldn’t have felt further from family, friends and colleagues. Strange times though they were, one thing was abundantly clear: the Highlands are breathtakingly beautiful.
Fast-forward to today, and we’ve just returned once again from the Highlands – this time in slightly more normal times, allowing us to experience so much more of its majesty.
The brilliant Seafood Shack in Ullapool was a distinct highlight. Having set off early to take in the Bealach na Bà (Applecross Pass) at sunrise, the morning had afforded us several opportunities to walk in the hills and swim in the sea (the latter sadly only taken up by our Labrador, the weather being kinder than expected and our swimwear left at home). By lunchtime we had worked up a healthy appetite, so we were excited as we left the Beinn Eighe massif behind us and turned left onto the A835. Dropping down the valley alongside Loch Broom, we rounded the bend as the small port town of Ullapool – one of the 20 most beautiful villages in the UK & Ireland, according to Conde Nast – hove into view.
Established in 2016 and a winner of multiple business and culinary awards, the Seafood Shack is nestled in a small courtyard between the town’s museum and the harbour. Keen to minimise overheads, and conscious of reduced trade in winter, founders Kirsty Scobie and Fenella Renwick shunned a permanent restaurant and somewhat ironically opted to set up their stall in a converted trailer. I say ironically because the success of their venture has really cemented Ullapool’s place on the map, and what they have created couldn’t be more rooted in the local community.
The cookbook they published last year – The Seafood Shack: Food & Tales from Ullapool – describes an idyllic childhood. Fenella grew up in a small but busy Highland village called Achmore, where she and 20 other kids spent every hour of daylight outside. Fish and seafood has always been an integral part of her life – her father is a fisherman, while her mother has run a seafood restaurant in Kyle of Lochalsh for 30 years. Meanwhile, Kirsty and her two sisters were born and raised on an off-grid farm just outside Ullapool. Though they grew up on a staple diet of venison rather than fish, Kirsty and her sisters offered a helping hand in the kitchen from a young age – a passion that has stayed with her.
The book makes clear the motivation behind the Seafood Shack. “Many tonnes of seafood are caught in our Scottish seas and then transported straight out of Ullapool.” They go on to explain that they “wanted to play a part – albeit small – in keeping some of our seafood local.” The importance of the local community is abundantly clear in their story, from the crowdfunding campaign that kicked it all off in the first place through to all of the suppliers who they identify by name, via their friends Dan and Tim, local boatbuilders who transformed six huge old wooden spools into the outdoor seating in the courtyard.
Open for seven months of the year and serving 300 customers a day, the Seafood Shack now employs eight staff and has a menu that changes daily. The concept is simple: each morning the fishermen drop off their catch of their day and they chalk up a small range of simple, but delicious options on the blackboard – and once it’s gone, it’s gone. While we were there, we saw workers from the local quarry stop by for lunch, alongside several other customers who the team knew by name. But it is also drawing crowds from afar, with long queues spilling out onto the street both times we visited.
As we tucked into creel-caught langoustines with hot garlic and thyme butter and beautifully balanced crab cakes that were somehow as light as they were rich, Kirsty and Fenella’s approach at the Seafood Shack instantly reminded me of a conversation I’d had several years ago at the Wigtown Book Festival with Shirley Spear OBE. Shirley is the founder and former chef of the iconic Three Chimneys restaurant with rooms in Skye, and for over thirty years, she has championed Scottish produce. We had talked about the disconnect between Scotland producing some of the finest food produce in the world, and how difficult it is to access that produce locally in many Scottish towns.
“Completely inspired by Shirley’s story and her passion for the role of food in families and communities, Three Chimneys has been on our wish list ever since.”
Completely inspired by Shirley’s story and her passion for the role of food in families and communities, Three Chimneys has been on our wish list ever since. The kitchen is now led by Scott Davies, a Welsh-born chef who has worked all over Scotland, while in 2019 Shirley and her husband, Eddie sold the business to Gordon Campbell Gray’s Wee Hotel Company – both of whom appear keen to stay true to Shirley and Eddie’s original values.
We had finally made it to Three Chimneys in March 2020 – and what an eye-opener it had been. Just one of two tables, we arrived for lunch on what was their first sitting of the year since reopening after the winter, and a day later they announced they were to close temporarily. In just two days, they had received thousands of cancellations – something that in any normal time would cripple such a small, remote location.
Returning to the Three Chimneys this year, we were therefore especially delighted to see the restaurant in full swing, with every table occupied and walk-ins turned away at the door. The food was just as delicious as our first visit, if not more so. Our starter of Douglas Fir and apple dressed monkfish made for an especially fine celebration of both the local catch and the chef’s delicate touch, but the whole experience was a fitting reflection of Shirley’s longstanding ambition.
I’m still looking forward to the Thailand trip, but despite the madness of the past eighteen or so months, I’m grateful to have finally started to uncover the beauty of the Highlands. Most of all, I’m left energised by inspirational women like Shirley, Fenella and Kirsty and their passion for putting food at the heart of local communities.