THE BILLDinner for two, £66.50, excluding wine
THE SETTING SUN filtered through the drapes and shone directly on to the almost-crisp outer casing of the warm, bitter chocolate fondant like a spotlight. It was a fitting accol
ade for the star of the evening's dining at Bridge of Allan's Adamo hotel and restaurant, but, to be honest, there were plenty of other contenders.
Adamo's new executive head chef David Maskell has created a menu using fresh ingredients from sources as local as he can find them. The result is so appealing that it's difficult to know where to start, but you can be confident that whatever you end up choosing is going to be worth waiting for.
Maskell's appointment to head up the kitchens at Adamo and its sister hotel in Stirling is a sign of the investment the owners are prepared to make to ensure the fledgling group is able to stand shoulder to shoulder and slug it out with Scotland's hotel heavyweights. The unassuming Ayrshireman has worked with some of the biggest names in the business at prestigious venues such as One Devonshire Gardens and Cameron House Hotel. Sharing a kitchen with Gordon Ramsay gave him a baptism of fire he remembers with mixed feelings and he brings to Adamo the kind of attitude and commitment that wouldn't shame the celebrity chef, but without the incendiary temper that goes with it. You won't hear the F-word coming out of Maskell's kitchen doorway.
Adamo sits at the west end of Henderson Street about 50 metres from the aforementioned bridge. Bridge of Allan is a small community that's not quite sure whether it's a village or a town, nestling among trees at the foot of the Ochil hills just outside Stirling. It's a prosperous place with an even more prosperous enclave perched on the hillside above the road, where million pound homes jostle for position around the former Victorian spa. But ask any of the well-heeled residents to point you in the direction of Adamo and you're likely to be greeted by a puzzled frown, followed after a short interval by: "Oh, you mean the Queens." Adamo has only been Adamo for a few months; prior to that it was the Queens Hotel and you suspect that for most locals that's the way it will stay. But the old Queens has had a substantial makeover which has turned it into an upmarket boutique hotel with a dozen individually designed rooms and, of course, the Adamo restaurant.
Dark wood and beaten copper combine to give Adamo a relaxed, informal atmosphere that's enhanced by the low murmur of light jazz music channelled gently from hidden speakers. The service is attentive, without being overwhelming. The food is exactly what David Maskell's pedigree would lead you to expect.
We opted for warm salad of woodpigeon (£8) and smoked haddock (£8.50) as the starters, leaving the duck terrine (£6.50), roasted hand-dived scallops (£8.50) and consommé (£5.50) for our next visit. The haddock fell apart into snow-white flakes cooked to perfection; moist, full-flavoured and accompanied by a leek and chive risotto and rich, lightly poached quail's eggs. It should have been difficult to beat but the woodpigeon managed to equal it: four substantial slices artfully presented with glazed shallots and small cubes of black pudding that offset the delicate pigeon to good effect.
Game and fish for starters were followed by game and fish for the main course. No forward planning here, just the draw of the menu. This time the game was loin of Perthshire venison (£19.50) and the fish braised halibut (£18.50). The waitress warned that the venison came rare and must have noticed a tiny alarm signal in my eyes. I had a recent encounter in Spain with a piece of veal that may or may not have been waved in the general direction of a flame, and it obviously showed. She offered to have the venison cooked differently, but I reasoned that if that was the way the chef wanted to present it, that was the way I should eat it. It was one of my better decisions. The meat was delicately pink in the centre, soft, juicy and tender without being bloody, and it melted in the mouth in a way venison seldom does.
I was only allowed a nibble of the halibut, which, like the haddock, had had enormous care lavished on its preparation; comfortably solid and cooked to get the utmost from the flavour, which was complemented by tangy asparagus spears.
Game and fish. Red or white? The answer was a Central Otago pinot noir (£28) that surprised by being less grapey than is normally the case in a mainstream New Zealand pinot noir, and actually tasted more like a quality burgundy. Easy on the tongue and lingering on the palate, it was tannin heavy with just the right amount of bite. It was bottled in Bannockburn, which raised a few eyebrows, and had been aged in French oak barrels which accounted for the flavour. The Adamo wine list has been lovingly put together by general manager Rodney Doig with the help of Woodwinters, the award-winning Bridge of Allan vintners who have a shop almost next door to the hotel.
And so to the grand finale, that warm chocolate fondant with lavender sorbet and ginger toffee (£7). I actually wrote down "heavenly" but that's over the top even for an apprentice restaurant reviewer. So let me just record it was very, very good – and so was the fluffy, moist carrot cake with orange and ginger sauce (£5) which I managed to steal a bite from when nobody was looking.
Ask him what he wants to achieve at Adamo, and David Maskell turns his eyes north and mentions Andrew Fairlie's Michelin-starred restaurant at Gleneagles. Not the star, but the standards Fairlie has set.
"Bridge of Allan needs a restaurant that works to that kind of standard. I'd like us to be known as somewhere people can come and feel comfortable. Not just a special occasion venue, but part of the community. A place where you know you can ask for something that was on the menu last week that you might fancy tonight."
Adamo is Latin for "to fall in love with". Give this restaurant a try and you just might!
