At last the first phase of the refurbishment programme has been completed and it looks fantastic, even better than we had hoped for.

The restaurant has been completely re-vamped. Gone is the big tiled fireplace, and gone too is the useless cupboard in the corner replaced with an elegant arched alcove. We had the wood throughout the dining room and the hallway removed, that’s doors, door surrounds, skirting – everything, it all went off to be dipped then replaced and repaired where necessary. The years of paint that had built up had left no definition to the woodwork also all that paint had been applied to a varnished surface so just the slightest knock and it chipped. Now the wood looks fantastic, all its definition is back, the finish is stunning and the carpenters that did the work were better than we could have hoped for.

Everything was then redecorated, some new picture lights added, striking carpet and new curtains and the transformation was complete. While I would like to see the next phase, the rest of the ground floor, done before Christmas it may not be possible as I think we will have to close for a couple of weeks to do it and we do not have a clear two weeks between now and Christmas to fit it in.

The sooner the better though as now we’ve finished part one we just can’t wait for it all to be done.

On the 1st March we were at the Scottish Hotel Awards dinner in Glasgow, a rare night off. Just as well we went to it though as we came away as winners of the Dinner Quality & Value Award and I was awarded a Gold Medal for Excellence!

The menu continues to evolve and the latest change is the breakfast menu. We have a new one, introduced just a couple of weeks ago it features alternative breakfasts such as:

• Marrbury Smokehouse of Newton Stewart Smoked Salmon with Scrambled Glenken’s Free Range Eggs
• Peat Smoked Fillet of Haddock Topped with a Poached Glenken’s Free Range Egg
• Scottish Rarebit of Loch Arthur Creamery’s Crannog & Dunsyre Blue with Grilled Plum Tomato

We also now have a new member of staff; Rebecca has recently started with us as Assistant Manager and has joined us from The Linen Room in Dumfries where she was Restaurant Manager. Sadly the Linen Room has now closed and as one of the very few good places to eat in the area we will all miss it.

We also have our cookery school about to start; we have set a dates of: 18th March, 21st April, 21st May, and 18th June for now but if you would like to come but can’t make any of these dates then let me know and I’ll see if we can fit another one in to suit. These classes are a demonstration followed by lunch of what’s just been shown. They are one day classes but you could stay over and enjoy dinner the night before or that day.

The river is now open for business as the fishing season opened on the 16th March. It is early yet but I have seen a lot of people out there with rods in their hands. While there probably aren’t that many salmon around there are plenty of trout and grayling to provide some sport.