The Carriage in Ballater marking its first birthday

The team at a Ballater eaterie, which forms part of a restored Deeside landmark with a royal link, is set to celebrate its first anniversary this week.

It is one year since The Carriage, a bustling cafe, bistro and tearoom founded by The Prince’s Foundation, opened for business in a bid to help Ballater regain its footing following flooding and fire in the village in 2015.

When the village was hit by Storm Frank in 2015 and the Old Royal Railway Station was all but destroyed by a fire a couple of years later, it hit the local community hard.

Through his charity The Prince’s Foundation, The Prince of Wales opened the Rothesay Rooms restaurant in 2016 to help drive tourism to the area and, in turn, provide employment and training opportunities for local people. This charitable outreach initiative was expanded in August 2018 with the opening of The Carriage and a Highgrove shop located inside the former Royal station.

In the first year, 10,000 pots of tea, 6,173 bowls of soup, 8,734 scones and 4,478 slices of cake have been consumed, with 2,720 visitors opting for the famous afternoon tea and 3,869 enjoying an evening of dining at the bistro. In the Highgrove Shop, sweet treats and pampering products proved to be most popular with 1,053 jars of preserves, 961 bars of soap and 282 scented candles purchased.

The Carriage interior (Photo: Richard Frew)

Carolina Cochrane, group manager of The Carriage and Rothesay Rooms, said: ‘It’s been an incredible first year for The Carriage, for which I am very grateful. Ballater is such a beautiful village and The Carriage is such a great place to work.

‘We are lucky to have a great team of staff working at both The Carriage and Rothesay Rooms and I am very proud of all we have achieved during The Carriage’s first full year.

‘The Carriage is incredibly popular with both locals and tourists from all over the world. The Old Royal Station has always been a busy tourist destination but now that our executive chef Ross Cochrane at the Rothesay Rooms across the road has won a series of prestigious food industry awards and the restaurant has made it into the Michelin Guide, we have been put on the map for our food as well.

‘Bartek Bukowski, head chef at The Carriage, is a pastry genius and he works very closely with Ross to create delicious dishes for our bistro and afternoon teas. At the heart of everything we offer is seasonal ingredients from local suppliers.’

Head chef at The Rothesay Rooms restaurant, Ross Cochrane

The Carriage tearoom is beautifully restored and full of authentic Royal touches. The fine English bone china has been designed and made exclusively for the Royal Collection inspired by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s Chelsea Porcelain collection in Clarence House, which dates back to 1750.

The Royal Waiting Room is a meticulously preserved private dining space retaining almost all of its original details.

Robert Lovie, deputy executive director of The Prince’s Foundation, said: ‘It has been truly wonderful to see how popular The Carriage has become over the past year. The Old Royal Station has always been such an important part of Ballater’s rich cultural heritage and it is very rewarding to see people enjoying it again.’

Profits from the sale of Highgrove products are donated to The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation, a grant-making charity which supports a wide range of causes and projects.

For more information on The Carriage, visit http://thecarriageballater.co.uk/

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