The owners of 5* award winning venue, Achnagairn Estate, are this week opening a new restaurant. The venture is a long-awaited and welcome addition to the culinary scene in the Highlands, offering both informal dining and fine cuisine.

This is the latest step in a multi-million pound expansion at Achnagairn, which is part of the family-owned group, Perfect Manors. Achnagairn Castle was acquired in 2007 and two years were spent on rescuing the historical gem from the “At Risk” register of architecturally important properties. Achnagairn is 7 miles from Inverness, the capital of the Scottish Highlands, and 13 miles from Loch Ness.

Husband and wife team Gillian and Michael Lacey-Solymar then acquired nine neighbouring properties in March 2013 which had been constructed by a developer but then left to founder during the recession. Gillian and Michael refurbished them to a luxury level, gaining a 5* award from Visit Scotland to add to that already enjoyed by the Castle. Achnagairn Estate is now the largest luxury hospitality venue in the Highlands, with 61 individually designed bedrooms.

The new restaurant, Table Manors, will maintain those same high quality standards insisted upon by the owners. As Gillian explains: “Life is too short for mediocrity. Our motto is “escape the ordinary” and we feel enormously strongly about that philosophy. We hope that Table Manors will provide guests –both those staying with us and those simply wanting to dine – with an unforgettable experience. Our chefs are innovative, passionate and highly skilled – a fantastic combination.”

Euan Walker, the Table Manors Head Chef, won “Young Highland Chef of the Year” in 2011 and David Macdonald, the Sous Chef, won in 2015. Euan is determined that the food will be extraordinary: “we will source as locally as possible. The vegetables are being grown 200 metres away at Achnagairn Farm and other ingredients will come from as close by as possible. After all, we have the best produce in the world on our doorstep.”

The owners are determined to make Table Manors stand out from the crowd. The décor incorporates the best in global design, with art from Singapore, chairs from Paris and birch trees adorning the walls, which were taken from the estate itself.

Gillian, who has a passion for design, worked for 15 years at as Consumer Affairs Correspondent for BBC Television. She holds a senior teaching fellowship at University College London in Entrepreneurship. She expertly designed the décor for each of the 61 unique bedrooms at Achnagairn and has used her creative flair to great effect at Table Manors.

ENDS ##

For more information, please contact:

Gillian Lacey-Solymar: 07811 376666 or gillian@perfect-manors.com 

Notes to editors

1. Achnagairn Castle was rescued from the “at risk register” by the Lacey-Solymars in 2007. It opened for business as a wedding and conference venue in 2008 and in 2012 received a 5* rating from Visit Scotland.
2. The castle has 24 luxury bedrooms and a unique ballroom built in 1912 for the then owners' daughter's 21st birthday party.
3. Achnagairn currently has a total of 61 luxury bedrooms following a tripling of capacity between 2013 and 2015.
4. Achnagairn has become one of the leading venues in the Highlands, currently hosting 50 major events a year. In December 2012 BBC Alba selected it as the venue for its televised Hogmanay celebration.
5. Achnagairn was recently selected by Harper's Bazaar as the top Wedding Venue in the UK.
6. The Highlands are enjoying a surge in tourism, with British Airways commencing a new daily service to Inverness Airport in April 2016, Easyjet increasing its daily flights from March 2017 and the Caledonian Sleeper service from London Euston to Inverness being relaunched as a luxury service in 2018. Sightings of the world renowned Loch Ness monster are similarly on the increase, with new sightings of Nessie at their highest for more than a decade, with five unexplained eye witness accounts of the mythical beast since the start of 2015. Achnagairn is a few miles up the road from Loch Ness.