A couple from Troon are aiming to taking the dining experience to the next level.

Kevin and Ann MacGillivray launched Velvet Cuisine Scotland off the back of Ann creating White Velvet weddings and events last year.

Kevin was unfortunately made redundant towards the end of last year due to the pandemic, so they put their heads together to launch the business.

He has over 30 years of experience of being a chef at different levels and officiating a variety of events across the world. The idea of creating this unique dining experience was initially Ann’s idea, but Kevin is hopeful they can use their own relevant experience to make it a success. Kevin told the Advertiser: “I’ve been a chef for over 30 years in various aspects so it stands me in good stead. The idea of this dining experience was my wife’s, so we set out one day and set these tables up along the Ayrshire coast and we had a huge interest in it straight away.

Kevin admits he was surprised by how well the idea was received initially, owing the success to people curiosity and wanting to try something new during lockdown.

He continued: “It’s people’s curiosity that can get the better of people. After that, I think the success is down to people wanting to try new things during lockdown and missing being able to go to their favourite restaurant, so they’ve been looking for a unique experience elsewhere”.

The tables can be set up for anything from a normal family dinner, a proposal or celebration, or anything in between.

“Of course it’s all weather dependant, but I don’t think you’ll get many better backgrounds than the ones we get along the Ayrshire coastline.

“We can set it up for someone wanting to propose, it could be for a romantic dinner, or anything at all really and I think that flexibility will help us moving forward because we can cater to what people want.

“We adapt to whatever clients want and we’re happy to do that. We’ve both been in hospitality for long enough to understand what people are looking for and to adapt out services to what they want, as opposed to what we want to give them”.

Kevin says that the support he and Ann have received has been extraordinary and it was the perfect timing for him.

“I’m tremendously grateful, it’s really been fantastic.

“I was working witht he national trust for four years but that unfortunately came to an end with the redundancy, so I’d been out of the kitchen for a while so it feels amazing to get back in there and doing what I love doing”Kevin added.

You can get in touch with Kevin and Ann about having your own unique experience created by visiting the Velvet Cuisine Scotland Facebook page or emailing velvetcuisine@outlook.com