For two nights Calum Montgomery, head chef at Edinbane Lodge, will cook onboard SeaflowerSkye, a five-star luxury catamaran, owned and run by Ewen Grant and Janice Cooney.
On the evenings of 26 and 27 April, Skye native Calum will be cooking a special tasting menu, which will be served with accompanying wines selected by Edinbane Lodge’s restaurant manager, John Grant.
The two trips will celebrate the reopening of hospitality and tourism returning to the Hebridean Island for the first time since December.
Calum said: “We have a fantastic relationship with SeaflowerSkye.
"We’ve both always wanted to work together and with the restrictions lifting on outdoor dining, it presented us with this unique and exciting opportunity to allow us to do something particularly special.
“I want to bring our dining experience of using the freshest seasonal produce over multiple courses to a completely different location.
"This beautiful setting will certainly be different.
“Guests will be treated to a champagne reception with canapes as the boat sets off towards the island of Rona.
"This menu will include locally reared beef, barbecued on the deck, served with langoustines creel caught by Ewen’s family.
“A number of restrictions remain in place which, for the moment, are preventing us from offering our full dining experience at the lodge itself; however, we will open at the end of May.”
SeaflowerSkye offer a range of luxury trips allowing visitors to experience unique sights of Skye, Rona and Raasay, which can only be seen by boat, and the chance to spot wildlife on land and sea.
Ewen and Janice were accredited with five stars by Visit Scotland in 2019.
Ewen, also a local of Skye, said: “Coming from a fishing family, we have been lucky to grow up enjoying all that the Scottish coastal waters have to offer.
“We love being able to share this beautiful local produce with our guests, right where it is caught.
"We often pass the family fishing boats during our regular trips and enjoy showing guests where their lunch has come from and how it gets to their plate.
“Our shellfish has also made it’s way to Calum in the lodge on many occasions and we are always proud to see it on the menu.
“Skye truly has some of the best seafood in the world, so diners will be in for a treat."
The connection between the two businesses has been strong since opening in 2018, while the personal relationships go back over 30 years as Ewen and John are cousins, and Calum was a childhood friend of both.
SeaflowerSkye will take bookings from May 1 and Edinbane Lodge will reopen on May 29.
Calum, an AA three rosette chef, is chef/patron of Edinbane Lodge which has won several awards since opening in 2018 and is one of only four shortlisted for Scottish Restaurant of The Year at the prestigious 2021 CIS Excellence Awards.
The casual fine dining restaurant with rooms is set within a 16th-century hunting lodge and has gained a reputation for the use of local ingredients and close connections with Skye’s best food suppliers.
Voted Scottish Sous Chef of the Year in 2015, Calum is considered one of the country’s emerging talents after successful spells at Uillinish and Kinloch Lodge on the island and the renowned One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow.
The young chef, who took over Edinbane in 2017 and now runs it with his wife, wanted to make his own mark by establishing a dining destination on the island he loves for people to come and try the very best in fresh seafood, game and vegetables sourced locally on Skye.
Describing their offering as “A Taste of Skye”, Calum said the menu reflects “a heartfelt passion” for the island and the exceptional, sustainable, seasonal ingredients which can be “found, fished, farmed and foraged” on Skye.
Tickets are priced at £200 per person for an Evening Cruise leaving Portree Harbour at 5pm aboard the Seaflower including Five course Tasting Menu with Accompanying Wines provided by Edinbane Lodge.
Limited spaces are available and will be on sale online from 10am Monday 19 April 2021.
