Nick Nairn opens Nick’s at Port of Menteith in Stirlingshire

June 25, 2021 | Food and Drink

Nick and Julia Nairn will open an exciting new restaurant with a focus on outdoor dining at Port of Menteith in Stirlingshire today (Friday).

With a relaxed indoor area and large garden, Nick’s at Port of Menteith is on the site of the Nick Nairn Cookschool on the shores of Lake of Menteith in the heart of the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park.

With Nick himself often in the kitchen, the menu will change daily focusing on the availability of seasonal produce: from langoustines and lobster to perfectly aged beef.

Seafood will be sourced from acclaimed fishmonger Willie Little in nearby Crieff with the best catch of the day featuring in dishes. Other suppliers include Leckie Farm’s eggs and Fife’s Buffalo Farm mozzarella & ice cream.

In addition, specialist pizza chef, Paul Hughes, will take the helm at the pizza oven. Paul, who has focused on pizza cookery with Nick Nairn for five years, will serve up a range of Roma-style pizzas made using five-day aged dough. Toppings include Great Glen venison salami, Campbells haggis, Katy Rodger’s crowdie, and a North African-inspired speciality with Chicken Shwarma, rose harissa, chermoula, toasted pine nuts, brandy-soaked raisins and pomegranate.

Nick Nairn’s beef fajita

Nick’s at Port of Menteith will seat 40 inside the light-filled dining room, with glass doors opening onto a further 100 covers outside under a stretch tent, and a series of pergolas clad with festoon lights. The space has been landscaped with new raised beds and is likely to be popular for families, with youngsters able to explore the gardens overlooking open fields.

Interiors have been a labour of love for Julia who had felt, for some time, that the building was too corporate, she used local designer Iona Crawford’s designs to transform the space.

A new lifestyle store features a range of cookware classics, cookery books, carefully selected tableware and interiors items; from locally made lighting (Jaggy Thistle Crafts) and textiles (Amy Britten) to glassware and candles, honey from nearby hives (Callander honey) and beers (Harviestoun), alongside Nick’s own gin.

North African pizza

Lockdown has given Nick and Julia a newfound passion for gardening and this is reflected not only in the garden and shop but throughout the building.

Nick said: ‘This has been an incredibly tumultuous year for our family and our business so Nick’s at Port of Menteith heralds an exciting moment for the whole team. We’ve developed things that we, and many others, have taken pleasure from during lockdown – from outdoor eating in beautiful natural surroundings to the simplicity of enjoying really great food and drink in a relaxed setting.

‘I’m really looking forward to sharing this special place and being able to develop dishes from the best ingredients I can source on a daily basis.’

Nick’s at Port of Menteith is open from Friday 25 June (Thurs – Sat, noon–8.30pm and Sun, noon–6pm).