ESCAPES
153
July 2020 | REDONLINE.CO.UKBALLINTAGGART
FARM, SCOTLAND
From top: Ballintaggart Farm
is the perfect weekend
getaway; the bedrooms have
a restful neutral scheme;
there are plenty of pretty
walks on the doorstepS
et in the heart of Perthshire, overlooking
the peaceful greenery of the Tay Valley, sits
Ballintaggart Farm, a Highland haven, retreat and
cooking school. We arrive after an easy drive
through stunning scenery. Owners Rachel and
Andrew show us around the sophisticated stone farmhouse
where the cooking school, an open living room for guests and two bedrooms are located,
each decorated in fresh neutrals and soft tartans. We are staying at the nearby East
End Cottage, a seven-minute walk away from the main estate. It has two bedrooms,
a bathroom filled with Noble Isle toiletries and a modern living room filled to the
brim with family games and carefully chosen books.
We spend the afternoon at a private, Italian-themed bespoke cooking class run by
Leith-trained chefs Andrew and Sara. Together with the children – in their Ballintaggart
aprons – we make fresh pasta, focaccia and pesto with the nasturtium and rocket grown
in the kitchen garden (these are beautifully packaged for us to take home). The children
are kept busy for the entire class as my husband and I become their sous chefs. Later,
we devour a feast at the sister hotel, the Grandtully. We eat smoked haddock croquettes
and beetroot-cured salmon followed by sea trout from Loch Etive and duck with chestnut
- then finish with Blairgowrie strawberry ice cream and rhubarb and pink peppercorn
meringues. We carry the girls to bed with full bellies and happy hearts.
A knock on the door the next morning from chef Sara, and we are welcomed with a
hamper of warm cinnamon rolls, pots of home-made jam and freshly baked sourdough.
As we tuck in, the girls write their postcards and pop them into the bright red box at the
front of the cottage, and
we watch pheasants in
the garden. Armed with
Rachel’s mini guide to
the village of Dunkeld,
which shows us local
walks, we pop into the
quaint Beatrix Potter
exhibition, stroll along
the River Tay and do the
Hermitage Woodland
walk, grabbing a coffee
from the Aran Bakery
before heading home.
We are all smitten by
Ballintaggart and vow
to return. VANESSA
GERBRANDY
TRIP NOTES
Stay at Ballintaggart from £180 per
couple or £300 for a family of four, per
night. Cooking classes from £80 for a
half day, £150 for full day, £50 for mini
masterclasses. See ballintaggart.comThe Ballintaggart
cottage postbox.