A REMARKABLE coincidence that echoes down the generations for an Easter Ross chef has been immortalised in the restaurant he created from scratch.
Platform 1864 was opened in Tain back in 2015 by businessman Graham Rooney who saw potential in the derelict shell of what had been a former train station.
The year the station was built – 1864 – inspired the name of a bar and restaurant which has gone from strength to strength on the popular North Coast 500 route.
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And now, a bespoke mural created by talented local artist Ingebjorg Smith has been unveiled, capturing the special ingredients and family history which have gone into the business.
Graham likes to tell people he feels there’s somebody looking after him in light of a spine-tingling coincidence dating back to long before he was born.
Some of Graham’s earliest memories
involve visiting his great-grandad in Glasgow and being shown round his vegetable patch, inspiring his very successful cheffing career years later.
It so happened that the keen train enthusiast was gifted a model train to celebrate his retirement, reflecting one of his great passions.
After his death, the train was passed down to Graham’s grandmother who also passed away a few years ago.
While her children – Graham’s mum and her siblings- were sorting through her things, they came across the train, which to everybody’s astonishment has a small plaque with 1864 written on it.
The fact that the train Graham had never before set eyes on should bear the same year he chose for the restaurant in a former railway station remains a source of wonder for the family to this day.
Graham cannot help but think that perhaps his own journey was mapped
out before he was even born.
This story and the train inspired the newest mural featuring the 12-year
restoration of the railway station. It features all of Graham’s family and the multiple awards he and the
restaurant have won since opening, encompassing everything
he holds dear and fuelling the feeling that someone up there is looking out for him.
For artist Ingebjorg, of Studio Smith, it was a fascinating challenge which she relished.
She said: “Once you have got to grips with power tools, 3D collage is so much fun and you get to upcycle beautiful things!”
She included restaurant awards, “the very special rather delicate 1864 train”, a signalman’s whistle and a beautiful railway lamp amongst many other things, all linking to Graham’s family tree.
She said: “I made the mini beetroots from papier mache for great-grandfather John Anderson McKillop’s famous beetroot wine.
She said she was “very privileged to have been asked to do this”, adding she had “the best time ever” making it.
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