A north-east country inn that has been quietly undergoing a full renovation has closed temporarily to transform its dining areas in the final stages of being upgraded.
Owners David and Sophie Littlewood of the Kildrummy Inn near Alford have been working since the start of the year to update the premises in two phases in the hopes of causing as little disruption to customers as possible.
The award-winning business is now closed temporarily and won’t reopen for around three months until early November.
Phase one includes the transformation of the new restaurant, bar, kitchen and outside dining terrace, where phase two focuses on the lounge, whisky snug, bedrooms, toilets and car park.
New restaurant
While the plan was initially to reopen in early September, due to unforeseen delays with upgrading the external power supply to the new restaurant and kitchen, they venue has been forced to remain closed for longer.
David Littlewood, chef proprietor of Kildrummy Inn says the results are going to be “worth the wait”, with the new dining area now lying in the adjacent old Volunteers Drill Hall which the business has been using previously as its function space.
“Drill Halls were originally created across Scotland from the 1850s to train the reserve of men who volunteered for part-time military service. We’ll be turning ours into a space for restaurant tables in order to satisfy demand.
“Before we closed, we had 13 tables in the restaurant with a maximum capacity of 35 to 40 covers. The new area will give us 50 covers. We’re also creating a private dining room which can seat up to 10 and a fair weather, south facing, dining terrace which gives us an additional 20 to 30 covers.”
Whisky snug
When the renovations move into phase two, customers will be able to book the lounge area where a whisky snug will host a range of exclusive and unique drams.
There will also be private whisky lockers for customers to use and there will also be a cigar terrace.
Phase two is said to be completed in spring 2023.
He added: “By expanding the kitchen facilities we’ll be giving the team extra space and a better working environment.
“Once we reopen the restaurant in its new location, we move onto an exciting second phase where, in the existing inn we’ll be creating a lounge area for pre and post dinner drinks and afternoon teas.
“We’ve never had the luxury of space for a lounge, so we’re looking forward to our guests and diners having a relaxed space to move to after their meal.
“There’s going to be much change, but we’ll be retaining all of the character we all love about the building.”
Approach to food
Although the menus will change for both food and drinks by the time the venue reopens, the Kildrummy Inn team’s ethos and approach will not.
Customers travel far and wide to indulge in their offering, and David says the extra kitchen space will allow the team to flex their talent and skills and push boundaries like they never have before.
They also introduced earlier opening times during the pandemic and the restaurant has experienced great success as a result. They now operate from noon to 7pm Wednesday to Sunday.
“We have a loyal customer base who love what we do, and who travel considerable distances to eat with us and, although we’re always trying to learn and improve, we’ll keep delivering the same high-quality food, created from local seasonal produce,” said David.
“One thing we have noticed this year is that our diners are eating earlier. During all the Covid restrictions when we had to close earlier than pre-pandemic, we started to open the restaurant earlier at 5pm rather than 6pm. Our customers still like this earlier opening time and they also like our all day Sunday dining.
“Diners love this relaxed approach to Sundays and it gives is the chance to improve the work/life balance for our staff.”
The Kildrummy Inn dates back to the early1800s and has over the decades filled many roles within the community from coaching inn to farm workers’ accommodation, from post office to a garage.
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