July, 2024 THE BUSH TELEGRAPHMeet our duo competing in The Great British Bake Off: The Professionals!
This is more than just a baking competition, it is about tradition, creativity and innovation in the world of delicious pastry! Balbirnie's Head Pastry Chef Neil Dunlop and Pastry Chef de Partie Nicole Rafferty have just featured in the new series of the Great British Bake Off: The Professionals airing on Channel 4. Neil and Nicole with their wonderful banter and friendship proudly represented Scotland into the third round of the series. Neil has more than 20 years of experience as a pastry chef, while Nicole took up the profession in her 30's in order to pursue her love of baking. Neil and Nicole reached the third round of the competition Neil said: "We knew we were going home. We're sad that we're going because we've made such good friends here. Give it a year or two, we'll come back, and see if we can go further next time." Neil & Nicole
In each exciting episode, teams of talented pastry chefs' step into the kitchen to showcase their skills and creativity and this wonderful duo did not disappoint! You can watch it on Catch up on Channel 4. We at Balbirnie are so proud of them and what they have accomplished! Until the next time!
Balbirnie MD Nicholas Russell achieved his 7th consecutive Ironman finish, which is a new record for the amazing, local, friendly and inclusive Glenrothes Triathlon Club, in Austria earlier this month. The IRONMAN consists of a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle, 42.2km marathon. Every section is timed and if you fall behind the clock you are out. The event must be completed within 17 hours. You can read all about it here.
The 2024 Balbirnie Duathlon, organised by Glenrothes Triathlon Club was a wonderful event held here at beautiful Balbirnie on Wednesday the 19th of June. 5K Run, followed by a 20K Bike finished with a 2.5K Run! Marshalled courses for both run and cycle. The event is sanctioned by Triathlon Scotland. A big thank you to the organisers and to piper Dean Saunders who played for the participants before the race and also to Rob Thomson from Lifetime Photography who captured the day video and photos. You can check out images on our Facebook account. Balbirnie Park Duathlon 10th year!
Thank you kindly to Haute Grandeur Global Awards for this article feature of Balbirnie House that has been published in their on-line magazine, pages 128-129.You can read their global magazine here: Global Press Alert
NEW menu launching Thursday the 4th of July The Orangery offers phenomenal value for dining out in the heart of Fife! We are delighted to extend complimentary parking for all new bookings for Afternoon Teas and Orangery private dining. Please note your car registration in the designated tablet at reception. The following fabulous offers are available ALL week: Come and try our Modern Age menu Orangery. With 2 courses priced at £30.00 and 3 courses priced at £37.00per person. Steak Nights: For two guests, our steak deal offers; two Josper-grilled 10oz rump steaks, with tomato, watercress, chips, a choice of sauces, and a bottle of Balbirnie's House wine for £75. We serve Scotland's finest steaks which are cooked on the mighty Josper Grill - legend of charcoal gastronomy, you don't want to miss out! You can reserve your table here!
KAYLEIGH & DARSHAK How did your love story begin? We met at a small airfield where Darshak was a flight instructor and I worked in the cafe on site. I thought he had the nicest smile ever so I’d always give him free cake or extra hot water in his coffee .. and it turned out I made the worst cup of coffee ever, but he never once moaned haha! He’d pop in and see me every shift and we quickly became very good friends - he also took me flying and somehow convinced me that pilots have to pedal planes? Finally, after about a year of friendship (which was us just basically being inseparable) Darshak FINALLY took the plunge and asked me to be his girlfriend and 10 years later, the rest is history! He’s still my best friend. Why did you choose Balbirnie as your venue? So, we chose Balbirnie because it felt right. We were actually set to get married in 2020 and then 2021 but had to postpone both times due to the pandemic. After that, things with our original venue didn’t work out and we were heartbroken. We viewed so many venues and nothing felt right. Darshak proposed in Edinburgh so we decided to look at somewhere that’s special to us - and we remember scrolling through Google past all the venues and Balbirnie just catching our eye. I remember calling Katy and admittedly not expecting good news, but being blown away by the kindest and most caring person on the phone who promised she would do everything in her path to make our day perfect. 5 days later we drove up to Scotland, and boy - Katy wasn’t kidding, not only was Balbirnie house beautiful itself, but all of the staff were too and we instantly felt so valued and safe. It is hands down our best decision, and actually although our wedding journey was bumpy we believe it was fate. What is your advice for future couples? Advice for future couples planning your day - I think in the moment you get so wrapped up in pleasing guests - don’t forget to do things that you as a couple love! Pick the cake flavours you love! Wear the dress or the shoes that you want! Pick the songs that make you as a couple smile! Because ultimately, it’s your special day about your love, your bond and your journey, and everything should be about you! Everyone who will attend loves you for you, and if you’re happy, they will be happy! Don’t stress over the minor details, things will go wrong and you won’t notice! Schedule some time for just you two as a couple!
Mydress:Wed2B-VivaBride ‘Grady’ Veil(cathedral) =Amixi ‘Rococo’/(short) =AmixiBellatrix Shoes: PerfectBridal Company (laceMary Jane’s) Hair: LauraAndersonHair Make-up:HelenMcNeil Celebrant:StewartStruthers Photographer :Derek Christie Entertainment: KingdomStringQuartet EventDressing: Style a chair Cake:PhillipaRose CakeDesign Videographer:LeeRichardson Ideasandspecial touches forourday: Pet Treat Pick and Mix - we rescued our fur baby 3 years ago who means the world to us; he’s rather large and not a fan of parties, so tohonourhimandour love for animalswedidapick andmix stand fromour furbaby forour guestspets!(Sothey’renot forgotten!) We handmade basically every piece of decor for our wedding - a floral arch,flower centrepieces and pew ends, stationary,favours, memory ladder, our name sign - we just did this because it felt like “us”. We wanted our wedding to be filled with the little things that we loved, and sitting together and making them with our favourite movies on ended up being amazing. We may have laughed, cried when things went wrong and scratched our heads trying to build that flower arch - but honestly, we loved the journey and it made our day so special! We also now have some of the flowers around our house and some of our loved ones have them as gifts too, so the memory of our special day can be seen and thought of everyday. Memory Ladder: Since our original wedding date in 2020, we’ve sadly lost some of our family members and wanted to honour them. We found a vintage pair of decorator ladders and Darshak spent days stripping, salvaging and painting them to turn them into something beautiful and full of life. I knew we wanted to honour our family members so did some photos (and that included our heavenly fur babies, because they are family) but also decided to make them their own table, so they could celebratewithus too!
Memories are made of this!
Magical Weddings
At Balbirnie we offer fabulous affordability, beautiful rooms and wonderful hospitality. It is the perfect place to hold your special occasion such as a baby shower for aloved one. We have wonderful packages with our private dining experience. From afternoon teas, buffets, barbeques or a full sit down three or four course meal. We have you covered! You can choose from three wonderful menus “The Modern Age” , Classic Balbirnie or The GRILL. To find out more please email: [email protected] Make it special! Make it Balbirnie
Afternoon tea is served in our beautiful Orangery which is sumptuously decorated in shades of soft greys, taupe and a slight touch of blush. With floor to ceiling lunette windows and a glass roof ceiling, The Orangery offers a delightful Afternoon Tea experience whatever the occasion of your visit. Daily (bookings are subject to availability) Monday - Thursday 13:00pm – 15:00pm Friday - Sunday 12:00pm – 16:00pm Book your table for this wonderful experience, you can do so here. Afternoon Tea! I T I S T IME F O R
Saturday, 10th of August 2024 Arrival @ 7pm, fizz and mingle. 3 course, Greek inspired dinner @ 7.30pm. Lady Jayne DJ entertainment. Carriages @ 1am. £55.00perticket. Email: [email protected] MENU: Starter Course: Mediterranean vegetable terrine whipped feta, tapenade, oregano focaccia crostini Main Course: Braised lamb ‘kleftiko’ Stuffed aubergine, tzatziki Dessert Course: Rose panna cotta Orange blossom & strawberry salsa, pistachio tuille ABBA Night
Sunday 27th of October 2024 Balbirnie House are very proud to collab, with Paula Obrien Psychic Medium for an Ballroom Afternoon Tea with Paula O'Brien on Sunday, 27th of October 2024 at 1pm 1pm, for Paula starting at 1.30pm. £45.00 per person, which is inclusive of your afternoon tea and two hours of mediumship. Tickets available now, please contact, Katy Ronaldson on [email protected] for more information.
Calling on Fife based charities and good causes We are delighted to reinstate monthly charity vouchers for local charities and good causes. Please note we will not be able to accommodate all requests as we will only have a certain number of vouchers we can allocate monthly. Please email your requests to : [email protected]
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