Kirton Cottage is a little restaurant with a big heart where customers are individuals receiving personal attention. The restaurant has had a little personal attention of its own recently – and emerged with flying colours.
It is among the latest food establishments to undergo routine inspections by Boston Borough Council’s environmental health experts and be awarded the top food hygiene rating of five.
Kirton Cottage owner and chef, Ambrish Chandarana, sources fresh locally-farmed ingredients from suppliers in Spalding (meat) and Spilsby (fruit and vegetables), reducing food miles and delivery times, and customers now have the added confidence of knowing that with a food hygiene rating of five everything is tip-top in the kitchen.
He said: “Ingredients arrives quickly, fresh from the suppliers and, as far as we are able, all locally grown.”
Even the choice of drinks includes a range of gin and beer from the Fuddy Duck Brewery at nearby Kirton End. Other beverages are available, such as Lucky Buddha Chinese lager, which comes in a fun Buddha-shaped bottle. Rub his tummy and he may bring you luck!
Ambrish has spent his career in hospitality – 16 years as a consultant for the Thistle hotel group, sent to temporarily manage ailing establishments and put them back on their feet. He was co-owner of a big restaurant before discovering the Cottage in the centre of Kirton, which was then for sale as a fruit and veg shop. In its time it had also been a private residence, a bicycle shop and a fish and chip shop.
He said he had been cooking for so many customers that they had just become numbers and he wanted to provide hospitality in a much more intimate atmosphere.
Joining him in the new endeavour two years ago was Laura Spring, who worked with him at the bigger restaurant and gives attention to detail at Kirton Cottage as front-of-house. There are also two part-time staff.
Ambrish said: “As soon as we walked into the building here we could see the potential. There was a lot of work to be done and it cost around £100,000, but we have what we aimed for – a crisp, clean environment but with intimacy for diners. It was redesigned and fitted out to our own scheme.”
There are two small dining rooms on the ground floor with seating for 26 at tables with Kirton Cottage hallmark crisp, white linen and gleaming glasses and cutlery, with the compact kitchen (room for only one chef) just a few steps away, and a bar upstairs where guests can relax in two intimate rooms and enjoy a drink while browsing the extensive menu of traditional English cuisine.
A sample menu and email booking form can be found on their website http://www.kirton-cottage.co.uk/about-kirton-cottage/ You can also phone on 01205 722311. Kirton Cottage is at 15 High Street, Kirton, and is open on Mondays from 11.30am to 3pm, Tuesdays to Thursdays from 11.30am to 3pm and 5.40pm to 11pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 11.30am to 3pm and 5.30pm to midnight and Sundays from 11.30am to 4pm offering starters, main meals and desserts, a dinner main menue and Sunday lunch menu. It is also open with special menus for special occasions such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The latest borough establishments to receive the highest food hygiene rating from Boston Borough Council’s environmental health inspectors are: Burton House and Premier Inn, Wainfleet Road; Little Acorns Day Nursery, Skirbeck Road; Iceland Foods, 38a Wide Bargate; London Road Bakery, 49-51 London Road; Peter Paine Sports Centre, Rosebery Avenue; L & C Foodmarkets 2, 15-17 Forbes Road; Swineshead Pre-School Centre, North End; Lincolnshire Co-operative Ltd, Woodville Road; Carlton Road Academy; Lincolnshire Co-operative, Meadow Way, Old Leake; The New Inn, Pen Street; Oldrids and Downtown, 11-17 Strait Bargate; Pizza Perfection, 5 Artillery Row; Butterwick Stores, 5-7 Brand End Road; H Dawson & Sons, 31 Market Place; Greggs East, 1 Pescod Square; Pilgrim (CPU) Hospital; Dunham’s Butchers, 11 Red Lion Street; Speedy Pepper, 19 West Street; Bucharest, 95 West Street; Boston Shop, 118 West Street; Becky Griemink Catering; Claire Fairman; Boston Nursery School, Church Road; Boston Rugby Club, Great Fen Road; Bridge House Primary Campus, Great Fen Road; Krugers Biltong; East Lincs Seafoods; London Road; West End Cinema, 32-44 West Street; Manor Farm Shop, Baythorpe, Swineshead; Mayfields Extra Care,Broadfield Lane; Freiston Village Store, Church View; Vauxhall Court, Freiston Road; Boston News, Freiston Road; Cafe Pausa , Grantham Road; Jessops The Bakers, 13 High Street; Kirton Cottage, 15 High Street, Kirton; MFG Sutterton, Holbeach Road, Sutterton: Iceland Foods, Unit 1 Horncastle Road; T J Gymnastics Academy, Lealand Way; The Pincushion Inn, 289 London Road, Wyberton; Stump and Candle, Market Place; The Folly, Market Place; Greggs, Pilgrim Way, Wyberton; The Little Kitchen, Red Lion Street; Continental Restaurant, 8 Red Lion Street; Centrepoint Outreach, 15 Red Lion Street; Farm Kitchen Canteen at Staples Vegetables, Sea Lane, Wrangle; G P Stores, Sea Lane, Wrangle; The Gardens Residential Home, 88 Sleaford Road; Kirton Primary School, Station Road, Kirton; Starbucks Drive Thru, Sutterton Way, Sutterton; The Four Crossroads, Swineshead Road, Frampton Fen; The Chain Bridge, Swineshead Road, Wyberton; The Unicorn Inn, 18 Tattershall Road; The Trussell Trust,Taverner Road; A W Curtis and Sons, 23 West Street; One Stop Stores, 59-61 West Street; Tapas Lounge Restaurant, 73 West Street; Zhu Guang, 136 West Street; Country Gourmet, 47 Wide Bargate; Willoughby Grange Care Home, Willoughby Road; Meadows Edge Care Home, Wyberton West Road.
The council’s environmental health officers rate premises in line with the Food Standard Agency’s Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.
The scheme helps consumers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland choose where to eat out or shop for food by giving them information about the hygiene standards in restaurants, takeaways and food shops.
You can search for information about hygiene standards at restaurants, takeaways and food shops at http://ratings.food.gov.uk/
Where the magic happens – Ambrish in his compact kitchen which has the highest food hygiene rating.
Ambrish and Laura outside Kirton Cottage, opposite the war memorial in the centre of Kirton.