It is with great pleasure that I can announce our 2015 Scottish Baking Awards winner is the fabulous “ Hettie's Tearoom “ in Pitlochry.
Pitlochry is a thriving town in Perthshire and is considered to many as the gateway to the Highlands. A stunning Victorian look about the place includes sheltered walkways with lots of bustling individual shops to browse.
Pitlochry is surrounded by attractive mountains including Pitlochry's own - “ Ben Vrackie” I absolutely love this town in the heart of Scotland as for me it has managed to retain all that is great about our country. Its people. Its scenery , great variety of eateries, fabulous Victorian building's, Beautiful Lochs and Dams, Distillerie's , bustling individual artisan shops , a real community feel, individuality, creativity and above all – Hettie's Tearoom.
So much to say about Hettie's that it is almost impossible to get it all out coherently, but here goes. At the beginning of this year I was contacted by Clare , owner and Proprietor from the fabulous Hettie's to judge a Baking competition she had arranged for her staff . I was thrilled and honoured to be asked and I turned up in mid January , braving icy roads to judge a whole team of Clare's waiting staff on their baking prowess . The reason I mention this is for two reasons, one being this is great management and also a great team building exercise in any business . You got a feel that this was a well run small business that took pride in their staff and gave them worth .
I returned again a few months ago to Assess for our Scottish Baking Award which was just outstanding. Again the appearance from the outside is something I love about Hettie's . This beautiful shop is absolutely lovingly looked after on the outside as well. Stunning fresh flower baskets adorn the outside with freshly painted walls and doors and just really everything you would imagine a Scottish tearoom to look like . It looked loved and therefore the customer is drawn in. Of course the mammoth array of cakes in the glass front windows had nothing to do with their success !!
Hettie's now produce their own loose Tea which just adds to the customer journey once inside. There are lots of novelty ideas like timers on the tables to buzz when you are ready to order and not when the waiting staff think you are – I loved this idea as my ( Long suffering) husband takes an eternity to order and always makes me feel uncomfortable when he is never ready to order on demand. Me on the other hand would order instantly given the chance , so this idea is wonderful in
my opinion.
But I digress , The CAKES – Oh my the CAKES. You dont just need to try one here at Hettie's as they provide slider platters which pander to the indecisive like me . You are given a huge slate of every different type of cake , sponge , scone etc etc etc. When mine arrived another novelty came with it as there was a slice of Coffee cake and a shot of espresso- genius.
Hettie's have their own in house Baker by the name of Graeme who bakes up a mean variety of traditional and not so traditional Scones amongst other things. Hettie's are also supplied by Maxwells Desserts to complete their baking extravaganza.
I also love the whole theme here at Hetties's which is given its name because of Clare's beautiful young daughter -Hettie. Hettie is also learning to bake and will soon be an aspiring asset to this superb family run Tearoom.
So in short ,this years decision was hard because of the amount of fabulous bakers we have in Scotland , but Hettie's have the whole package . Long may you continue in the same way , dont change a thing .
Long live Hettie's.
