New ballroom at Everglades Hotel be grandest in the north

Neil Devlin, manager of the hotel, at a Spanish gourmet evening last week, spoke of the success and growth the Everglades has seen in the past four years.

“The success of the Everglades has been the result of creating partnerships and friendships,” he said.

Mr Devlin told the invited guests which included the Mayor Hillary McClintock, that one of the partnerships the college is most proud of, is working with the pupils from St Cecilia’s College.

In the past twelve months pupils from the schools have been at the hotel for an overnight stay, been given work experience opportunities and been given the chance to make and create their own ingredients.

One of those ingredients, cabbage, was used in last week’s main course of oven roasted breast of Thornhill duck with infused cabbage and a plum tomato and balsamic dressing. Guests were told that the cabbage they were eating was grown by the pupils.

Neil Devlin revealed that the ballroom in the hotel would be closing for a few months for refurbishment but when it reopens it will make the ballroom one of the grandest in the North. He also told guests about the current refurbishment of the second floor bedrooms.

Following a champagne reception on Tuesday night, guests were treated to chorizo and chickpea soup, followed by pan seared halibut, and then the Thornhill duck.

Guests also got the chance to try delicious wines from the Marques De Riscal range.

Mayor of Derry and Strabane Hillary McClintock told the crowd how the hotel was looking fantastic and was providing a warm welcome to visitors. She said she was now even considering using a Hastings voucher she had been bought for her birthday in the Everglades.