Boath House

Looking at this elegant vision of Palladian design by the celebrated architect Archibald Simpson, it is almost impossible to imagine it gone to rack and ruin, but that's how it was in the early 1990s before salvation came in the form of Don and Wendy Matheson. They set about a restoration that not only saved a national treasure, but has provided Scotland with a world-class country-house hotel. Wendy Matheson is a garden designer so it will come as no surprise that the 20 acres of grounds are rather on the impressive side, with walled gardens, an ornamental lake, sweeping lawns, woodland, streams, and pathways to link them all together. The gardens play their part in supplying the kitchen - bee hives afford honey, the earth brings forth a myriad of organic fruits, herbs and vegetables. The house is designated an art gallery, displaying the works of 30 or so Scottish artists (there are sculptures in the gardens, too), and the public rooms are decorated with warm colours and furnished with an eclectic mix of handsome antiques. It is in this magnificent setting that chef Charles Lockley has worked since the hotel opened its doors. An advocate of slow food, what cannot be grown in the hotel's gardens or foraged from the woods is sourced locally by the chef with due diligence, and what appears on the plate is refined, intelligent dishes where flavour is king. The six-course fixed-price menu is served up to a maximum of 26 people in the candlelit dining room, with its generous Regency proportions, fine features, and French windows looking across the gardens to the lake. Carrot soup with black olive crumb has an intensity of flavour that shows what this kitchen is all about - the carrot is not overwhelmed or lost, simply enhanced by its pairing with olives and crisp crumb. Acute technical skills and well-thought-out combinations run through from pig's trotter with snails and wild garlic, to breast of ruby veal with lingot beans and celeriac. The seldom seen chickweed comes with scallops, leek and hazelnuts, while halibut is partnered with langoustines, spelt and celery. There's a cheese course before dessert - Ticklemore goats' cheese with crispbreads, for example - which might be a deliciously moist pistachio cake with a pineapple shooter. Charles Lockley's cooking shows considerable balance and a rare appreciation of nature's bounty.