New Scottish restaurant takes step back into the Golden Age
This new restaurant and 40-bedroom Art Deco-inspired hotel is located just outside Blantyre, South Lanarkshire. The main attraction is the 'entertainment-led dining experience', inspired by the heyday of Scotland's old dance halls – including its namesake Trocadero in Hamilton, fondly known as 'The Troc', which offered up escapism, music and dancing every night of the week.
My friend and I glammed ourselves up in our 1920s-inspired bedroom, with as much vintage style and red lipstick as we could muster, before descending for a night to remember.
Guests emerge through a rich velvet curtain to witness underground prohibition decadence. We stepped into a vast but darkly intimate bar, with candlelit dining and a sweeping stage, channelling vibes of speakeasy glamour, like something straight out of an American movie. Here was rich soft furnishings, curves and geometric shapes reminiscent of Art Deco style, and dapper waiting staff ready to take your cocktail order.
Mixologist Panos Damou has curated a cocktail list inspired by the Jazz Age. I toasted the night with a Plum Crusta, rich in fruity flavours and dramatically presented in a smoking glass case. The venue's motto 'Where Champagne Flows and Anything Goes' means a healthy bubbles menu too.
Feeling like the Marvellous Mrs Maisel, we were led to our stage-side table as an 11-piece band took the night by the horns. Sequinned flapper-style dancers stepped, kicked, swivelled and shimmied in Charleston fashion.
In these opulent surroundings the food could take a back seat, but it certainly does not. The menu is overseen by renowned chef Michel Roux Jnr and the kitchen is under the auspices of executive chef Kevin Barron.
We could have indulged in dishes synonymous with luxury, such as caviar, oysters and steak, but I opted for lighter ones – a starter of Shetland crab, followed by a shallot tart tatin with blue cheese and pear.
I particularly loved the sheer joy of the traditional dessert trolley steered between the dancers to reach our table, where, from myriad treats, I chose a hazelnut milk chocolate tart.
After a night of decadence we walked upstairs to our room and curled up in bed with the Trocadero's newsletter, lulled to sleep with stories of couples who met in the original Hamilton Troc and fell in love.
The following morning, breakfast was dished up in Foveran's. Its green hues with a palm motif felt like a calming oasis after the hedonism of the night before.
Foveran's serves breakfast, lunch and dinner for guests who desire a quieter dining experience. A yoghurt and juice bar kickstarted our detox, with fresh fruit and bakery items brought to the table.
After tucking into Loch Fyne kippers, a walk to the nearby Four Angels waterfall blows the cobwebs away.
I immersed myself in Trocadero's transatlantic glamour but there's no denying this is a proudly Scottish project. Most of the food is sourced in Scotland, ideally within a 50-mile radius.
The owners, Steve Timoney and Alison Reid-Timoney, are Scottish, with Steve growing up in Easterhouse. Much of the veg and honey served in the hotel comes from the owners' Perthshire estate. And the employment opportunities here are vast, tapping into Scottish music agents, an expansive roster of bands, singers, musicians, dance troupes and choreographers, alongside front of house staff and those working behind the scenes.
Trocadero's is a £20 million project and the spa (scheduled to open late this year) is devising its own line of beauty products with AS Apothecary on the Isle of Harris, using ingredients/botanicals from the Timoneys' estate and the castle's 14-acre grounds.
Trocadero's represents a golden age in hospitality and a destination like no other, so grab your glad rags and hot foot it to the liveliest spot just outside town. It stages entertainment seven nights a week but browse the music calendar if you seek big band vibes. We saw the fantastic Champagne on stage.
Also look out for Soul Sundays – a traditional Sunday lunch with added live music performances.
To find out more, visit crossbasketcastle.com/trocaderos
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