The Secret Supper Club

We don’t eat out very often.

Especially in the summer months when the restaurants in the vicinity are usually booked solid with tourists. We both prefer good food experiences to be stress free and uncrowded so that we can really savour the experience, so we tend to avoid going out much in July and August.

But recently we noticed that one of our favourite chefs, Verity Hurding, had opened up a scattering of evening supper clubs with her partner Jenny at the Eolach restaurant in Kyle of Localsh.

This restaurant is very unusual, and beautifully quirky. It’s located right in the train station at Kyle, alongside the tracks and the pier, right by the water.

The dining room is the old station waiting room, although Jenny and Verity have worked their magic on it and have turned it into a warm and utterly charming space with sheepskins on the chairs and many plants, candles and flowers. It has exactly the ambiance that I’d hope for if hosting friends at home. Inviting, unpretentious, comfortable.

The format is one sitting around a communal table with a handful of other guests. There’s no choice, just a set menu of dishes that change frequently and are based on what Verity has foraged or selected from local producers on the day.

When we arrived (early to bring some herbs for them) the candles were just being lit and the record deck was set up.

Jenny is the host and manages to change the vinyl selection seamlessly between serving drinks, bringing and removing plates of delicious food and chatting to the guests with an easy grace and charm.

Verity manages the kitchen all on her own, and when you see what she produces you’ll be astounded at what she makes possible.

The set menu that we had was truly remarkable. I loved every course . Everything was beautifully cooked, with imaginative and unusual flavour combinations, and it was all stunningly presented with flair and precision.

I’ve eaten in many Michelin star restaurants in my time and believe me when I tell you that this meal was up there with the very best of them.

We shared the table with a lovely American couple who were on the last night of their vacation, and to our surprise our friends Lynne and Darren. It was total serendipity that they were there too on that night. It made for a truly magical evening.

I’m not sure that our American friends were quite prepared for the exotica of our conversation. Cleaning hen poop from indoor floorboards, duck antics, Hebridean sheep, welly tales and all the weather. We were on top form..

Poor things. Certainly an evening’s conversation that they were unlikely to have experienced anywhere else in the world 😋.

Lynne is an excellent and very professional elopement and food photographer, and with her permission I’ve used her photos from the evening below, as mine were total pants in comparison.

Do check her work out at the links below.

http://lynnekennedyfoodstories.co.uk

lynnekennedy.co.uk

If any of you ever get a chance to eat at one of Eolach’s supper clubs, or need catering to an exceptional level for private functions whilst you’re up in the Highlands, do consider using Eolach. Two people at the top of their professional game, delivering beautiful cooking and service. And lovely people to boot.

https://www.eolachcatering.com/