Killiecrankie House is a contemporary restaurant with rooms in the Cairngorms National Park and makes an ideal rural getaway for food lovers

The cocktail was bright, marmalade orange, long, cold and refreshing. Its name, Made from Girders, an homage to its key, surprising ingredient: Irn-Bru. Invented and delivered by Killiecrankie House’s mixologist, who until recently was serving the cool and creative customers of London’s Clove Club, it set the scene for what was to come during the evening ahead.

Killiecrankie House is no ordinary Scottish country retreat. This white stone house, all dark corridors and hidden corners, in the Cairngorms National Park is now owned and run by young couple Tom Tsappis and Matilda Ruffle, who are trying – and succeeding – to do something very different. In the rooms, there are all the colours of Scotland without the laboured tradition. Walls are painted in Farrow & Ball Haydn Blue – the colour of the deep water in the nearby lochs; the bathroom tiles are a rich pine green. The smart dark wooden floors are complemented by heavy petrol-blue velvet curtains and a blackberry Scottish wool throw on the bed.

Little treats also contribute to the feeling of being thoroughly spoiled. The Laura Thomas Co toiletries with their gorgeous aromatherapy formulations,the Bare Bones chocolate bar by the bed that is handcrafted in Glasgow, and, through the skylightsin our room, the views of gorse-covered hills beyond.Matilda meets and greets, and also pulls together the exciting wine list, while Tom, a relatively recently trained chef, runs the kitchen, serving his own takeon Scottish classics which – as is the way these days – focuses heavily on local ingredients.

The couple met in Tokyo, where Tom worked in finance and Matilda in advertising. Back in the UK they decided to reinvent themselves as hoteliers (although Killiecrankie calls itself a restaurant with rooms), and the rest, as they say, is history. The results of their hard work are exquisite dishes, served (if you wish) with a modern and unusual flight of wines and other drinks alongside a soundtrack of hip-hop and rock in a cool, sparse dining space.

The one menu, served to all guests simultaneously, kicks off with canapés in the cocktail bar, then moves to the dining room. Highlights were the turbot skink – a comforting riff on the classic cullen skink; the dripping fried porridge (slabs of total wickedness); and lamb Scotch broth, an elevated version of the classic with tender meat and deep, savoury sauce. There is humour in the menu and the dessert that tickled me most was the North Ronaldsay sheep – a sheep-shaped meringue with seaweed ice cream and sheep’s milk dulce de leche – all inspired by the seaweed-eating sheep of the Orkney Islands. Matilda’s wine matching kicked off with a sparkling cremant from Alsace, visited China for a red wine served with the lamb, via Japan for some sake with a fish course.

Breakfast starred more homemade and locally produced fare. Plates of venison salami, sheep’s milk cheese and sourdough croissants all made an appearance, but it was the plum and rhubarb jams that I remember most. Zingy in flavour and bright in colour, they were almost as vivid as the previous evening’s cocktail and had certainly seen as much fun, passion and love of good ingredients in their creation.