The Potting Shed Cafe & Restaurant, in the Walled Garden of Applecross House, is probably one of the best kept culinary secrets in the British Isles. Over the 2053' Bealach na Ba with its spectacular views of the Cuillin of Skye, back down to the sea....around the sweeping sandy bay, up the glen, into the woods....through the gates, into the garden, and there you'll find Jon, Elaine, Roger, Louise, and Marianne ~ and their friends - growing, foraging, farming, fishing, & hunting, for the freshest food to go on your plate. Vegetables & soft fruit straight from the garden, shellfish from their own boat, venison and lamb from the hill, and wild mushrooms from the woods.
Our project began in 2001 with the aim of opening a high quality tearoom which would finance the restoration of the near derelict walled garden, whilst creating some local employment. The cafe opened for business the following May, and the Restaurant in the spring of 2003. By July 2004 we hade been listed in the Independent as number ten in the top fifty Restaurants for two to eat for less than £50, and featured on the cover of Restaurant Magazine.
Don't be thinking that you'll have to pack your dinner jacket, though, because
despite the accolades, we are really just a bunch of bumpkins, for whom nothing is really serious - except the food. And because we don't have the big budgets of most top restaurants the whole thing runs on a shoestring (it's fair to say that the original tearoom and kitchen cost less than the average commercial cooker).We have to compensate by doing the simple things better - cutlery from Ikea, wine glasses from Tesco....smiles from buckets, and hospitality from the heart.....