FLVR_08 // Andrew Rowley // Ballintaggart

let's get introduced.

Tell us about yourself_

Where to begin with beautiful Ballintaggart? An early stockist of ours, Ballintaggart encompasses a refined, rural amalgamation of welcoming & guest focused destinations - surrounded by the rolling hills of the Tay Valley, at the heart of Scotland’s natural larder, their venues offer the chance to escape, indulge and immerse yourself in the beauty and flavours of this ancient and wild place.

Ballintaggart Farm, where their story began, enjoys an elevated position with spectacular views over the valley. With two individually designed rooms, kitchen, The Cook School by Ballintaggart centred on the finest Scottish ingredients, Kitchen Garden, orchard and ridiculously happy hens, the farm is a luxury, home from home experience. Nearby, East End Cottage has two gorgeous rooms offering alternative accommodation. A short drive along the road and route once favoured by Queen Victoria leads to The Grandtully Hotel, built in 1866. Positioned by the river, the hotel has eight charming & individually designed bedrooms alongside a restaurant, bar, private dining room and outside terrace to boot.

You can expect all that is good and great of Scottish hospitality - a personal welcome, relaxing and charming surroundings and outstanding Scottish food & service as standard.

Led by pioneering and talented brothers Andrew and Chris Rowley, we finally got our opportunity to get up there and be fully immersed in all that they offer. We met and talked shop with Andrew in all the best ways so here’s more from him about his and their journey, and what’s next for this unique business.

Watch The Full Episode Here

PT.1

What brought you to where you are now?

I stumbled into hospitality rather than choosing it as a career as I really didn't know what to do after university. I took the usual discovery path - worked in a bar after uni and realised that I enjoyed certain aspects of hospitality - in particular, speaking to guests and remembering what regulars ordered, and being able to contribute to their happiness and enjoyment.

I travelled around Europe after stints in bars but still didn't know what to do for a career when I returned! What I did know was that I wanted to work somewhere ‘good’, and came back in August just as Ondine were about to open in Edinburgh - a flagship, award-winning, only the finest Scottish seafood centric restaurant led by chef Roy Brett. I joined the team as a food runner - a big turning point in my career as I discovered what proper hospitality was, and the vision and drive that is required to create it. I spent the first three months as a food runner and it provided a solid grounding whilst showing me what you have to do to get there, all in front of the owner and head chef.

The hours were long at Ondine but the food and Roy’s passion were infectious. Over the summer I went from food runner to restaurant manager pretty much overnight - it was a baptism of fire but an amazing experience to learn and adapt quickly, especially as this took place during the Edinburgh Fringe festival. Ondine is where my passion for wine and beer began.

I then completed several stages of other stints in restaurants and hospitality. I joined Andrew Fairlie and on to J Sheekey in London. Andrew Fairlie was an amazing experience but it was with J Sheekey that I identified the most, and realised the type of business I wanted to build. It was an eye opening experience working in London from Edinburgh.

I went on to restaurant manager at Dakota and worked for hospitality icon Ken McCulloch, who invested heavily in me - training me in how to be a leader in hospitality and how to create an amazing team around you. Working directly for Ken McCulloch for many years allowed a lot of experiential and inspiring trips all shaping the learning to perfect the fine art of hospitality.

Through a combination of Roy and Ken, Andrew discovered the passion that you need to run your own hospitality business, and decided that he had it too - opening The Grandtully Hotel is his proudest moment.

PT.2

Can you tell us about Ballintaggart in a nutshell?

We’re a selection of businesses with a shared ethos of thoughtful hospitality and outstanding food at the heart of it.

The food menu is seasonal ingredient led and just really good food with informal plating and seating, with the focus on ingredients and small sharing plates. There is also a six-course tasting menu which guests can enjoy three nights a week.

Drinks are just as important at the Grandtully Hotel and we have a small selection of seasonal cocktails, as well as all of the classics that are done to a high standard. Wine is a big part of what we do, and we feature minimal intervention, small wineries heavily on our wine list, whilst also constantly change our wine menu.

We also feature a small selection of seasonal Scottish non alcoholic drinks that use Scottish ingredients like Rapscallion.

PT.3

What sets you apart?

Our guest experience and providing a level of service and hospitality. That you don’t often see outside of big cities. We do this in a modern and informal way, and we always focus on guest experience first.

PT.4

Why Rapscallion - why do you stock us and how did you come to know about us?

I first discovered Rapscallion when on a journey of hungover discovery in Edinburgh one day - popped into a coffee shop for an espresso and found a can of rapscallion burnt lemon and they instantly helped his hangover, and we've stocked Rapscallion here at Ballintaggart ever since!

We love the idea of a soft drink that isn't super sweet, sugary or filled with fake stuff, and that is Scottish too. We love the branding and we really love what Rapscallion stand for. We’re aligned on values in many ways.

PT.5

Thoughts on the Scottish food and drink scene, and UK more generally?

There has been a big change in the last 10 years with how people dine and the style of people wanting to dine ‘in’. In general younger people want more casual experiences and the focus has always been on quality food but in a more casual setting. There needs to be a sincere emphasis on sourcing good food, wine and beer and sustainability and ethical sourcing too. Over the last five years lots of amazing places have opened but COVID has also helped to cool places that were just cruising along. The best places offer a perfect balance of food, service and drink as a combination - the three need to go together and be done correctly in harmony.

A big misconception is that hospitality can't be a career. This isn't this generation's fault but has previously been thought of as something you did until you got a real job. So much of the industry is underappreciated - if I could change one thing it’s that Edinburgh is five years behind London and then overall we’re currently 10 to 15 years behind everywhere else is the honest truth! I’d like people to be more open minded about what they order and try. So much exciting and thought provoking food is out there but is currently misunderstood.

A big trend we’re noticing is that people are going out less, so expectations are higher because it's become a bigger deal. It can admittedly be really difficult to manage expectations when all of our costs have increased vs the expectations guests have on price. People are much more knowledgeable now on food and drink trends which is exciting to see however.

PT.6

What’s next for you - anything exciting you can reveal, or anything you’re excited about?

Expansion! We’re opening a small shop in Aberfeldy dedicated to wine and drinks . We’re really excited to offer this wine shop to this part of our path - sharing and introducing small minimal intervention wineries to the local community. Longer term we would love to replicate the Grandtully Hotel model somewhere new in Scotland or elsewhere in the world.