BRIG O’ TURK TEAROOM

At nearly 100 years old, this quaint little tearoom in the Trossachs is sure to capture your heart as well as tantalise your tastebuds. The iconic building also has a special claim to fame, it was used as part of the set for the 1959 remake of The 39 Steps!

CENTENARY

Dating back to 1923, Brig O’ Turk tearoom has been a favourite with walkers and cyclists for nearly a century.

After being closed for a few years, the tearoom reopened in April 2021 after lots of TLC from new owners James and Kay Hill.

Kay said: “In Autumn 2019 I was innocently browsing RightMove which led to us ‘accidently’ buying a tearoom! The full saga of how this accidental purchase came to be can be found on our blog!

“We are a vegetarian tearoom situated in the heart of the trossachs, dedicated to providing tasty and wholesome food, with a good selection of vegan and gluten free options.

“Wherever possible we try to source our ingredients from local and Scottish based producers.

“We prepare a lot of our food on premises ensuring it is as fresh as possible, as well as helping us to reduce a reliance on single use plastic.”

woman and two boys having coffee and cake

RECHARGE BATTERIES

The tearoom is the perfect pit stop for hill walkers and cyclists.

Kay added: “As keen outdoor enthusiasts our vision for the tearoom is to make it a place you would want to go to, after a day on the hills or trails.

“The tearoom is dog and muddy boot friendly, although soggy bottoms are not allowed on the good chairs!

“The menu boasts a range of hearty homemade options, as well as a good selection of cakes and enormous scones that will help you refuel for whatever activities you have planned next.

“Equally, the ambience of the tearoom is welcoming enough for those who want to sit and relax midst a day trip or to nestle down with a book when the weather outside is not inviting.”

FUTURE PLANS

The couple are keen to grow their team to help them realise their dreams.

James said: “At the moment the team is quite small, mainly Kay, and I help out at the weekends.

“Before we bought the tearoom, we had never even heard of Brig o’ Turk. But we instantly fell in love with the area.

“Since moving here the surrounding beauty and nature has kept us going especially on the difficult days of getting the tearoom up and running again.

“We are in the early stages of our business and on a steep learning curve but hope that over the years we can get to a point where we can make as much of the food as possible in house using locally sourced products. This is to reduce the carbon footprint of our products and reduce single use plastic where we can.

“We are currently trying to build up ways to work with other local businesses.”

KITCHEN GARDEN

One of the underlying values of the tearoom is to support customers to make informed choices about their consumption of products.

Kay said: “We recently received Leader funding to work with local business Herbal Homestead to develop a herb garden, so that we can grow our own herbs for herbal infusions and cooking/ baking with.

“As part of the project, we will run herbal tea workshops the purpose of these will be to educate the wider community in regards to the plants that they can grow and forage and process to make their own herbal teas.

“We believe these workshops to be important as not only will they provide the knowledge and skills for individuals to grow and prepared heir own herbal teas, but such knowledge and skills should hopefully empower the individuals to make positive and informed choices about their consumption of products and the impact these choices can have on climate change and sustainability.

“This season we hope to offer a range of workshops and talks.”