Tradition and ambition

Since his appointment as executive chef just over a year ago at the four-star Inchyra Grange Hotel near Falkirk in Stirlingshire, Gordon Dochard has notched up the hotel restaurant's first AA rosette. But Dochard, formerly of London's Savoy and Gleneagles hotel in Auchterarder, is not stopping there. "I would love to be the first hotel in the Macdonald Group to achieve three-rosette status," he says.

In his menus, Dochard aims to reflect the wealth of produce available in Scotland, using both traditional favourites, such as game, fish, Aberdeen Angus beef and locally sourced seasonal vegetables, and more exotic ingredients to produce Oriental tastes, such as a steamed fillet of sole with egg noodles and a hoi sin and sesame dressing, which appears on one of the table d'hôte menus.

Dochard has recently introduced nine new table d'hôte menus, which change daily so that regular customers and hotel residents staying for a few days do not always have the same menu. Each menu offers a choice of four starters, a sorbet, four main courses and four desserts, and costs £29.50per head.

Starters include a hot mousseline of smoked haddock with an oyster mushroom and chive sauce, and a warm salad of roasted wood pigeon with glazed apples and a tarragon dressing. These are followed by a pink grapefruit, melon, orange, lemon or blackcurrant sorbet.

For main courses, there are seared nuggets of monkfish with spinach and ricotta raviolis and a tomato and balsamic dressing, and roast saddle of lamb stuffed with apricots and thyme served with a Madeira gravy. Each is accompanied by a selection of vegetables such as gratin dauphinoise, braised red cabbage and buttered broccoli hollandaise.

Chocolate and lime steamed pudding served with pistachio ice-cream is a popular dessert, as is strawberry cranachan served in a tulip basket with a sugar trellis. Additionally, there is a cheese selection.

New a la carte menu

The new à la carte menu introduced last month offers a smaller selection than previous à la carte menus because Dochard wants to concentrate on quality, not quantity. Of the four starters, the most popular so far has been a carousel of leeks with a confit of maize-fed chicken and a mushroom, garlic and soy sauce (£6.95).

Prime cut of Aberdeen Angus fillet steak, served with a timbale of ratatouille and a shallot gravy (£21), is one main course that has been retained from the previous menu because of its popularity.

Desserts include an array of Scottish sweets presented with a classic butterscotch sauce (£7). This dish consists of three or four miniature desserts that vary depending on what is in season, but usually includes a cold milk pudding and a traditional Ecclefechan tart, a type of fruit tart.

During the day the Priory restaurant is not that busy, but in the evening it serves an average of 90 covers. The kitchen brigade has been increased from seven to 20 since Dochard came on board, as business has increased by 40% against this time last year. Average spend in the evening is £19.50.

The nine-strong front of house team is led by food service manager Vero Vezzani, who has been at the hotel for 30 years, and Chris and Josie Bautista, restaurant manager and head waitress respectively, who joined the staff in 1977.

Inchyra Grange Hotel, Grange Road, Polmont, Falkirk, Stirlingshire FK2 0YB. Tel: 01324 711911