‘Massive’ row shuts popular gastro pub
A successful gastro pub near Taynuilt has shut after ‘a fallout’ between its owner and tenants.
The Kilchrenan Inn, originally an 18th-century trading post, closed last month with a number of jobs being lost.
Visitors on Tripadvisor raved about food and service at the inn, only renovated two years ago by businessman Scott Gibson. Last August the inn also got a mention in the new Good Food Guide.
Tenants Jordan and Lesley Foster took over the lease to run it in 2016 but told The Oban Times ‘a massive fall-out’ between themselves and Mr Scott had made it impossible to stay open.
Mr Foster, who was also head chef there, had worked in some of the world’s top restaurants before being selected to take on the Kilchrenan Inn with his wife who had a wealth of frontof-house experience working in restaurants from Loch Lomond to Bristol, Sydney in Australia and London. Mrs Foster said: ‘When we signed the lease two years ago, we never thought it would end this way. It was a successful business, we had amazing staff and great local support. It’s fair to say there’s been a massive fall-out. We couldn’t carry on like that so we closed it.’
The Fosters want Mr Gibson to end their lease early. Solicitors are involved on both sides now.
Mr Gibson said he was ‘in the dark’ about why the pub had closed and said the reasons for doing it were ‘beyond him’. He said Mr and Mrs Foster had been doing ‘a brilliant job’ and it was one of ‘the nicest and finest gastro pubs in the west of Scotland’.
Customers are hoping the pub will open again. One who lives nearby said: ‘We heard it was something to do with the lease but no one knows for sure what happened. It’s a big shame to see it shut after all the hard work that’s gone into it.’