After hours of driving along winding, forest-lined roads, I emerge from the trees and am met by a sweeping tapestry of the landscape ahead—the soaring Cullin mountains, the shimmering sea, and the distant Scottish mainland, stretching on for miles. As I make my way towards the southwest corner of the Isle of Skye, past grassy hillsides dotted with grazing sheep and cows, I spot a vibrant red roof in the distance. It’s a tell-tale sign I’m approaching Café Cùil.
Born in an East London kitchen six years ago, the remote Scottish restaurant by award-winning chef Clare Coghill uses its location to champion the best of Hebridean produce and Gaelic culture. Skye is the largest (and most famous) of the Inner Hebrides archipelago, long drawing visitors from around the world for its dramatic landscapes, with a population of 10,000 that swells to over 650,000 at peak season each year. But more recently, its food scene has been driving the tourism industry, too, with Café Cùil arguably helping lead the way as travelers become increasingly interested in understanding the past and present of Skye through its food culture.
For generations, the island’s diet was shaped by necessity and availability—seafood, root vegetables, meat from animals that roamed the hills—whatever could sustain families through the long, harsh winters. In recent decades, however, improved access to the island and a growing interest in food provenance and sustainable sourcing have sparked culinary experimentation with many of those same local ingredients. Women like Coghill are using their restaurants to uplift local culture, challenge industry norms, and cast Skye in an exciting new light, from helping to preserve the native language of Scottish Gaelic to combating historically toxic kitchen culture.
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When I arrive at Café Cùil, Coghill greets me with a hug before walking me through her space: a light and airy interior with floor-to-ceiling windows, offering diners a glimpse into the wild landscape of Carbost, Skye. Her menus are heavily influenced by the island’s seasonality, and dishes revolve around what’s found nearby. Throughout the spring and summer, foraged plants like nettle, meadowsweet, and gorse are incorporated, in addition to the abundant Hebridean produce scattered across the island. As the seasons transition, cozy autumnal dishes are served, featuring items like black pudding sourced from Harlosh, a western Skye settlement, and beef brisket from nearby Lochalsh on the mainland.
With each delicious bite, I understand her sentiment that much more. I’m still dreaming of the Highland-spiced lamb, paired with flatbread, labneh, heritage tomatoes, and fresh mint; and the Isle of Skye crab, placed atop scrambled eggs, with Cùil homemade kimchi, and crispy chili oil. Not to mention her curried cauliflower with beetroot hummus, summer greens, and nettle salsa, all washed down with a cup of the signature Cùil-Aid: a refreshing spritz of highland strawberries and foraged meadowsweet flowers.
