Feast of Fife: Day 1 PM - Kingdom of Fife tasting dinner

For the second part of day one on the Feast of Fife bloggers conference we were whisked away to The Newport Restaurant for a real taste of the Fife larder. Based on the banks of the River Tay the restaurant, which boasts two floors seating 60 covers comfortably, offers some of the most stunning, panoramic views in the area.

On arrival, we stepped into the restaurant reception, which is home to a beautiful open gallery with unique paintings hanging on every wall. Hosting a drinks reception, both Eden Mill and Kingsbarns Distillery produced delicious welcome drinks for all of the guests to enjoy. Not the greatest of whisky fans, I turned to Eden Mill which had created a tasty gin-based cocktail with their new Golf Gin 2016. It was spot on, and yes, I had far too many of them.

Turning our heads to dinner, we were then invited to the bottom floor of the restaurant which boasted an outdoor demonstration area. Head chef and Masterchef professionals winner 2014, Jamie Scott, organised a pre-dinner cookery demonstration, showcasing two of the dishes which were on our Kingdom of Fife tasting dinner menu. 

As he cooked away, he educated us on the incredible offering the restaurant has on its doorstep, from wild seaweeds and beach plants, to berries and leaves further in-land, and told us about the local foragers who collect some of the most unusual ingredients for him and his team to get creative with in the kitchen. I loved the idea of using nature so close to home in the kitchen, and as much as I would really enjoy cooking with foraged ingredients, it's extremely important you know exactly what you're foraging as many things which look safe, can actually be very toxic and poisonous - good thing I was going foraging the next day and could pick up some top tips.

Moving upstairs for dinner we got a glimpse of the menu for the first time. Intrigued as to how these dishes would taste, I can honestly say Jamie and his team did not disappoint. The favourite dish of the evening seemed to be the salad, which is incredibly unusual, however speaks margins for the standard of food which was produced. The meat was cooked perfectly, and the homemade bread melted in your mouth. A delicate, delicious meal at that.

Course one consisted of numerous canapés including an Anster cheese goujere, Puddledub pork bau - which was unbelievably juicy, buckwheat, flowers and curds, and a St Monans crab rarebit - this was also delightful.

The second was a light, Autumnal Salad featuring a selection of the seasons offerings, including fresh locally foraged produce - my favourite dish of the evening, and for someone who usually never orders salads, this was unexpected.

Course three was Pittenweem mackerel with Pittormie tomatoes, oyster and basil. This dish was also very refreshing and light.

The fourth course was Starr farm beef featuring a lovely piece of smoked shoulder, short rib, which was cooked rare, my personal preference would have been medium rare, but the rib was beautiful and soft, served with a selection of alliums - flowering onions, garlic, shallots and many other types of plants including chives and leek too, just in case you didn't know...

And finally, course five was Newport plums and popcorn panna cotta with white chocolate and a liquorice sauce. Probably my least favourtie dish due to my undying hatred for black liquorice, but nonetheless the plate was almost clean - I love dessert and minus the liquorice, this would have been one of my top dishes.

Overall the menu was absolutely incredible. Jamie and his team went up and beyond to ensure every dish was served with the utmost of perfection, be that both in taste and in presentation. His passion for the local larder oozes throughout the menu and his dedication to the food and drink industry is very admirable. With his outstanding palette and attention to detail, Jamie brings a fresh outlook on food and drink to Newport and works hand in hand with local producers to create some of the best dishes Fife possesses. A huge thanks to Jamie, his team, and the staff at Fife Tourism and Fife Council for organising this fantastic event.

Big shout out to my fellow Aberdeen bloggers Lesley and Michelle from Lost in Food who were also on the trip, these fabulous ladies had both Sarah and I in tears of laughter throughout the meal.

  For Now...

Just Julia

Feast of Fife: Day 1 (AM)

Last weekend was a weekend full of many firsts. Not only was it my first trip to St Andrews,  and my first blogger experience working with a council, it was my first experience of the outstanding larder Fife has to offer.

Working alongside Fife Council - Welcome to Fife, I was lucky enough to bag myself a spot on their very first two-day food and drink conference event which was packed full of foodie fun. Hosting bloggers from across Scotland and Northern Ireland, the guys at Fife Tourism Partnership had organised one hell of a weekend for us to get stuck into. Obviously I wasn't going to leave my blogging bestie behind, so I invited Sarah from Blogs, Vlogs, Etc along for the trip - after all I wasn't going to caraoke all the way down to St Andrews on my own was I!?

Arriving at her grandparents house (which used to be popular, jam packed B&B in St Andrews) I was already excited about this weekend, and I'd only just seen my room - which in case you were wondering was absolutely gorgeous, with on suite and all!

Heading to Eden Mansion, we strolled around the grounds for a bit and headed inside to meet the other bloggers. Grabbing a cuppa and eyeing up the chocolates on our tables, we caught up with the like-minded foodies discussing all things blogging and Scottish food and drink. Of course my go-to conversation was focused around gin, and a wee mention of all the Aberdonian gins left everyone with gin for thought.

Moving into a gorgeous dining room, we were welcomed by the Fife Tourism team and Fife Food Ambassador Christopher Trotter, who updated us on the outstanding larder Fife possesses. The most interactive part of the conference was without a doubt William Curley's chocolate tasting. William, who is a Patissier Chocolatier, and who's chocolates are also stocked in Harrods, talked us through his passion for chocolate, taking us on a journey of his childhood and how he decided on the chocolates he has in his range today.

My favourite chocolate without a doubt had to be William's Sea Salt Caramel Mou - delicious salted caramel which just melted in your mouth. Other flavours included Jaffa Cake, Bounty, Piedmont Hazelnut, Millionaire Shortbread, Juniper and Cassis, and a Japanese Black Vinegar flavour, some very interesting and complex pairings to say the least. William also told us about his experience with seaweed and chocolate - to say it was rather fishy is an understatement.

Next up was digital-guru, Stephen Whitelaw, who delivered his talk on social media and the digital age at such a pace it was almost hard to keep up with his witty jokes. Some great blogging tips, and we all took something useful away from it.

Following Stephen's whirlwind presentation, we all stepped outside to indulge in some ice cream and sorbet by the infamous Jannettas Gelateria. With flavours including Scottish tablet, berry and pear and other refreshing options, there was something to suit everyone's tastes.

Stepping back inside, Drew and Helen McKenzie-Smith took to the stage. I was delighted to hear of their impressive plans to develop and open a new distillery and visitor centre at Lindores Abbey, the spiritual home of whisky. Seeing what the distillery is expected to look like was extremely exciting, and they have definitely taken the visitor experience into consideration. With Helen's expertise in customer service and marketing, she will be heading up the visitor centre at the distillery, and I truly cannot wait to see how she executes their ambitious plans.

After all of the presentations we were then invited through to another room to indulge in afternoon tea courtesy of Eden Mansion.

The sandwiches served, which were made on a selection of breads from Fisher and Donaldson, included:

• Loch Fyne smoked salmon & dill cream cheese
• Anster cheddar & Arran fruit chutney
• Ham & Pommery mustard mayonnaise
• Free rage egg & cress
• Cucumber & cream cheese

The cakes available included:

• Gaurdbridge plum fool
• Russet apple leaf
• Fig lattice with crème patisserie
• Ginger cake & wild brambles
• White chocolate & raspberry mousse
• Strawberry & spiced banana cake
• Fruit and plain scones with Arran strawberry jam and clotted cream.

After lunch, we then headed back to Sarah's grandparents in St Andrews to re-charge our batteries (quite literally), and got ready for the evening event - dinner at The Newport Restaurant...

You can read all about my Newport experience and Day two of our adventure in my following posts, and trust me, you'll want to check it out just for the pictures themselves.

   For Now...

Just Julia