Dinner At The Cupola Visitor Centre And Kitchen, Stoney Middleton
Published On Sunday 22 Dec 2024 by Sticky Beak
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Never before have I sat at my keyboard feeling such discombobulation; and yet here I am, feeling quite out-of-sorts. The reason for this is a recent visit to The Cupola Visitor Centre and Kitchen (and an overnight stay at the adjacent Rock Mill Luxury Holiday Apartments) in historic Stoney Middleton. There is only so much fabulousness my little brain can compute and, frankly, it had reached overload within the first half hour of being there!
The preceding weekend had seen His Nibs and I on our annual short-break catch-up with BB, TBW and Ginger Ninja at Darwin Forest Holiday Village, so we were already feeling pretty wired with festive anticipation as we drove the short distance to Stoney Middleton, where Colin and Alison were waiting to greet us. We walked through the doors of The Cupola building – and what a building it is, if you’ve never clapped eyes on it! – and then sat at a table with a coffee whilst we all briefly got to know each other.
You can’t fail to notice the wood-fired pizza oven in the corner of the open kitchen, and the dining space is large enough to seat 60 folks, with about another dozen at the bar area. To one side is the rather natty (and soon to be even nattier), exhibition space that houses the geographic, historical and Industrial displays of the local heritage, and there’s a whole wall dedicated to local artists and producers. I tell you; my mind was well and truly blown! This is the reason that I sat at my keyboard wondering how on earth I was going to convey all the marvellous experiences we’d had [in only 24 hours!] to you. In the end, there’s only one way to do it, and that’s to break it down into bite-size chunks…so here goes.
Having parked the jalopy in one of the on-site car parking spaces, The Man and I walked over to where Colin was waiting to give us a guided tour through the various self-contained apartments within Rock Mill. Each apartment is very tastefully decorated in calming tones that complement the impressive landscape in which the building stands, and the sofa beds in the dining kitchen/living area all fold out into double beds: perfect for groups of friends or families. Dogs are also very welcome at Rock Mill. I won’t go into minute detail about all the gadgets and gizmos – that would be boring – but rest assured that every mod-con and comfort is at your disposal. If you really want to feel like a star, then go for the two-storey apartment; it’s very spacious and I loved the eaves-slope to one of the bedrooms.
Stoney Middleton and adjacent village, Eyam, are popular with tourists as they offer vast amounts of walking and cycling routes, and this is where Rock Mill proves to be a cut above other accommodation in the area. Located in the car park area is a CCTV-monitored, room key accessed, bike locker with vertical racking to house your cycles…once you’ve utilised the cycle cleaning station to rid your machines of mud and debris. And don’t start feeling left out; us two-legged humans can wash our boots and house them in heated (yes, you read that right…HEATED!) lockers, overnight. ‘Pawrents’ will be able to scrub their fur-babies up, too, in the dog-salon standard bath – and if you forget your doggy shampoo, don’t worry; that’s provided too! Now do you see why I was fizzing with excitement within 30 minutes of arriving at The Cupola and Rock Mill?
There was still plenty of daylight left for His Nibs and I to don our walking attire [it’s definitely a case of ‘all the gear, no idea’ with us pair] and, looking pretty swish, we headed out on the ‘Red Route’: basically, a trot up around the former Goddards Quarry site (now a nature reserve), over the top, and back into Stoney Middleton. We omitted the part that is the other side of the road, which links to the Green Route, as we were going to be doing that the following day.
Colin, as a [rightly] proud Stoney resident, has poured his heart into producing a superb pamphlet of walking routes that highlight particularly pertinent landmarks, historic buildings and even some folklore. The Man Bird had picked up one of these leaflets and scanned the QR Code to use Apple Pay to contribute the £3 suggested donation – after all, these venues cost money to run and [all together now, you lot] “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it” - #supportlocal. Now, Colin had said that this was a lovely jaunt, and it was; what he didn’t tell us about was the set of ruddy steep steps you climb up first to get on the trail! To be fair, regular walkers will find them a doddle; it was just me being a mardy wuss. En-route we took in some stunning scenery, even more striking in the moody, receding light, and it had my interest piqued for the next day.
All that activity had certainly worked up a keen appetite and, having returned to our apartment to freshen up, we walked the 100yards or so back to The Cupola. In the evening dark, we could really appreciate the lights and decoration on the Christmas trees at the entrance. Given that The Cupola serves as an eaterie and visitor centre, it stands to reason that you can grab something tasty to eat and drink throughout the day from 9am – the only time the kitchen closes is between 3pm-4pm after lunch has finished, and before the evening service starts; poor Chef has to have a rest at some point!
The eagle-eyed [and in possession of a good memory!] among you will recall that I mentioned a wood-fired Pizza oven earlier, and Pizza is served to take-out or dine-in Mon-Thurs from 4pm until the last order at 8pm. No surprise, then, that His Nibs and I were delighted to be ordering a couple of those minxes to fill our hungry tums. I opted for The Lord’s Cupola, £16; The Man chose The Spicy, also £16; to drink I had Cupola Gin and Tonic, whilst The Man had a pint of Blue Moon Belgian lager. I don’t usually have G&T with my meal but, having being yapping with Alison earlier about the Ginger and Lime notes in the custom-made Cupola
Gin, I thought I’d go off-piste (or should that be off-trail?!) and try it. Blooming lovely it was, too, especially when paired with Fever Tree Mexican Lime Soda; it was also beautifully garnished with dried Lime Wheels and Juniper Berries.
As a respectful nod to its origins, the Cupola team made the conscious decision to cook food using wood-fired flames; so, to that end, they have the pizza oven and a grill to cook their burgers and poultry dishes that are served at the weekend. Chef also chars bread for the sandwiches and toast, giving it that extra layer of flavour; it also makes it look super appealing. One huge advantage to cooking pizzas this way is that they are done at time-warp factor 10 (or so it seemed), and our marvellous server was winging her way over to us 5 minutes later with our morsels in her hands.
At the dough’s periphery, the air pockets had risen in the heat and their boldness got them some extra attention from the oven’s flames, their surface a deep brown shade. This extra smoky, charred note melded with the rich San Marzano Tomato sauce, tempering its natural richness, and the Fior di Latte Mozzarella’s creaminess was bolstered by the scorched hints of the pizza’s flavour profile. I tucked into plenty of Prosciutto, Artichoke, pungent Parmigiano and peppery Rocket on my choice, savouring each wondrous mouthful. Across from me, His Nibs was just as smitten with the heat from Salami, Pepperoni and Chillies that were assaulting his palate. Thanks to mild, creamy Fior di Latte and sweet San Marzano Tomatoes, the balance of tastes on The Mans’ pizza was bang on the money, and no lip-tingle to be found. As far as Pizzas go, we both said that they were the nicest in the area and that we’d quite happily drive out to Stoney Middleton just to have these again; Hot Wings very happily given here.
With happily full bellies and exercised limbs, we headed back to the comfort of our luxury apartment and the bliss of a deep, slumber-inducing mattress. The next day was lining up to be an active one, so we were certainly going to need a hearty breakfast at The Cupola…
More articles from our visit
Read about our breakfast at The Cupola Visitor Centre And Kitchen
Read about our lunch at The Cupola Visitor Centre And Kitchen
Read about our stay at The Rock Mill Luxury Holiday Apartments
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