So long and thanks for all the fish

The Snake Road, which winds it way from the A896 outside Lochcarron in Wester Ross, Scotland, begins with a warning: 'road impassable in snowy conditions'. Perhaps the sign was written by an American and should have read 'impossible' but either way there were some nasty drops, some hairy hairpins and some very narrow stretches of road, not forgetting breath-taking scenery, before we dropped down into the village of Applecross where the Inn takes centre stage and provides the weary traveller with much welcomed food and drink and a decent room for the night.

Arriving at the Applecross Inn after dark can be illuminating because it is not until the following morning, when you draw back the curtains and look out across the bay, out towards Inner Sound, that you realise you are staying in the pub at the end of the universe. Or so it seems.

When you discover that Rob Macrae, one of this country's top pub chefs, is in charge of the kitchen and is himself 100 million light years from the Royal Oak at Yattendon, Berkshire - the pub where he made a name for himself - you might be forgiven for jumping with joy and longing for lunch time.

The aptly named Judith Fish has been in charge of the Applecross Inn since Friday 13 January 1989. She moved here with her brother and husband but now runs the place alone. Remoteness can do strange things to man; her brother left after two years and returned to Huddersfield and her husband followed suit some time later.

Judith had spent 17 years in the school dinners service and then ran a teashop in Huddersfield which gave her a taste of working for herself. While Judith wanted to sell toasted teacakes there was pressure from market traders who demanded hot food but the business was a success and paid for countless holidays in Scotland.

Judith and husband Bernie eventually bought a holiday home on the island of Harris and soon found they preferred the wild beaches and mountains of the Outer Hebrides to the relative gloom of their native Huddersfield.

It took them three years to find the Applecross Inn and when they moved in they thought they might have to supplement a meagre income by offering a dry cleaning service and a video library. They were mistaken. "It got busier and busier. It was quite surprising how many people had heard of the place. We got a lot of repeat business and built up a reputation for food immediately," she explained.

Judith describes herself and as a good, basic, practical cook but admits to having a few 'scary' moments in the early days when local fishermen presented her with, among other things,, octopus. Prior to Judith's arrival, the Applecross was known for its bar food and Scottish staples like mutton pie and macaroni, both served with chips. Both are still available but fresh seafood dishes now take centre stage and frozen chips have been replaced by home-made.

Haddock in a crispy home-made batter was one of the first of many seafood dishes which would make an appearance on the Applecross Inn's blackboard. Judith admits she was amazed to discover how other local pubs relied upon frozen prawns when there was so much fresh fish available from local fishermen, many of whom were customers of the Applecross Inn.

"One of our locals farms king and queen scallops," said Judith. With good local suppliers, Judith claims that she can keep a wide menu on because she can top it up on a daily basis if need be.

Demand for fresh seafood increased and very soon the Applecross switched from conventional lunch time and evening sessions to all-day opening. In addition to local village custom, the Applecross began to attract people from farther afield, thanks to the picturesque, natural beauty of the surrounding country side and coastline - and tourists.

According to Judith 'people up here' tend not to eat out twice a week like she used to, so how could she encourage them to do so? She advertised in the village and put up posters advertising special tourist prices and special dishes but steered clear of newspaper advertising. Result? A large number of tourist customers but also MOD divers working in the area, employees of the Red Deer Commission and even the local optician. "And because there is good food and accommodation they will stay over," said Judith.

The Applecross is busy from March to October and then slows down from November through to February, giving Judith and her team time to chill out. During the summer months, tourists rule the roost. There are plenty of Europeans as well as people from all over the UK especially young people flying up from London.

The guide books have proved invaluable to the Applecross. Judith says the is in the Good Pub Guide, the AA Pubs & Inns guide and Alistair Sawday's Special Places to Stay which, despite having just come out has already attracted four bookings.

Judith stopped cooking when husband Bernard left the fold and she had to take on the front-of-house role. "I had to be available and it was important to make sure the customers were happy," she said.

She employed a Yorkshire girl, Debbie Carr, who 'turned up out of the blue' and brought plenty of ideas and a flair for presentation with her. Judith is the first to admit that here own style of cooking is based on offering good but basic food very much in keeping with her school dinners experiences.

When Debbie left, Rob Macrae arrived fresh from outstanding success at the Royal Oak in Yattendon, Berkshire. He joined the Applecross Inn as food consultant and things have changed rapidly. Apart from the obvious improvement in the food offering, food safety and hygiene procedures and practices are now up to scratch, staff training has been formalised and there is less reliance upon frozen food.

"I wanted to keep the seafood bias," said the aptly named Judith Fish, but she was prepared to allow Rob's classical training a free hand. "Rob does all his own stocks. Are there any pubs which still do their own stocks?" she asked.

For Rob, however, home-made stocks are merely the tip of the iceberg. His range of soups are amazing too, according to Judith, including as they do his rocket, spinach, sweet chilli and parmesan - and don't forget home-made pasta, the aforementioned home-made chips and mainly home-made desserts. The only bought-in dessert is chocolate fudge cake from Alveston Kitchens.

Rob says he likes being at the heart and soul of the operation. He relies entirely upon local fishermen for the Applecross Inn's seafood output and likes to source the raw ingredients and then cook them himself. "I've been out on the boats watching them dive for scallops," he told Pub Food.

Rob sees his role at the Applecross as that of 'enhancer'. He changes the specials regularly and likes to think he can do everything. Terrines are his speciality and the plan is to offer 100 per cent fresh food from a slightly smaller menu than at present. Judith admits that she bought a lot more frozen food prior to Rob's arrival. Now she realises that a predominantly fresh menu is purely down to organisation.

As far as Rob's old pub, the Royal Oak at Yattendon, Berkshire, he believes he had taken the place as far as he could and that it was good to be back in his native Scotland. Rob's father lives in Applecross.

The Royal Oak menu offered a mix of modern British, French and Mediterranean food. The Applecross is 50 per cent seafood and 50 per cent meat and vegetarian dishes. "I've still got a lot to learn about what people up here want. At the end of the day it will always be a pub by the sea so I need to offer a broad spectrum, covering everyone's needs without going over the top," he said.

Two years ago, Judith embarked upon an ambitious development programme which involved adding four new rooms, building a new bar and renovating the kitchen. The original kitchen was narrow and long like a ship's galley and was equipped with a domestic cooker, two microwave ovens, a table top fryer and some domestic refrigerators.

Despite such inadequate facilities, the Applecross was somehow managing 25