Michelin-starred restaurant in Fife up for sale

The Peat Inn, a renowned Michelin-starred restaurant located near St. Andrews in Fife, has announced it is up for sale.

Owned and run by Geoffrey and Katherine Smeddle since 2006, the restaurant offers a range of seasonal menus that showcase modern Scottish cuisine.

It has held a Michelin star since 2010, reflecting its commitment to high-quality food and service.

Geoffrey

Geoffrey was educated at Oundle School and studied at the University of Southampton. His career started out working at The Café Royal for Herbert Berger and later under Christopher Galvin, also in London. He has gained experience in a wide range of places and cuisines, including working overseas.

He moved to The Peat Inn in June 2006, running it as head chef and refurbishing the restaurant with rooms. Situated a short drive from the famous golf courses of St Andrews, the Peat Inn has consistently been rated as one of the top restaurants in Scotland, yet chef proprietor Geoffrey has managed to take it further still, winning a Michelin star in 2010 and holding it every year since.

In June 2003 Geoffrey was appointed as head chef at the newly opened Étain in Princes Square in Glasgow, working for Sir Terence Conran.

This was Conran’s first destination restaurant in the UK that he had opened outside of London, and Geoffrey joined here from the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago, where he used to be a senior sous chef.

The eatery received many accolades and much praise, including the Best Scottish restaurant in 2006 in the AA’s annual Restaurant of the Year awards and Geoffrey received the Best City Chef in 2005 at the Scottish Chef Awards.

Statement

Now, the owners have suddenly decided to sell the establishment to new owners.

The restaurant shared a statement on social media, it read: “Following the recent announcement that we have decided to sell The Peat Inn, we wanted to reassure guests who understandably

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may have queries about existing bookings and gift vouchers.

“It is important to emphasise that we are only at the very start of the process to sell the business, so nothing will change overnight. Also, just to clarify, we are not closing the business, we are choosing to sell the business. We shall remain open in accordance with our usual pattern throughout.

“We will continue to welcome and look after our guests throughout the process. Although ultimately there will be a sale, the current day to day activities will be unaffected by the changes that will eventually take place. Looking after our guests remains our absolute priority as it always has.

“Gift vouchers and bookings will of course be honoured throughout this time and once the ownership changes hands, the vouchers will continue to be honoured in accordance with terms and conditions, by new owners, because the value of gift vouchers passes to them as part of the sale.

“We have been privileged to be custodians of this special property and welcome you all for nearly twenty years, following David and Patricia Wilson who did so for over thirty years before us.

“It was always Geoff’s dream to own his own restaurant and to win a Michelin star and after 19 years, we feels these boxes are well and truly ticked! While the business is robust, successful and vibrant, it feels like the right moment to consider a different avenue. We look forward to handing the baton on to someone in the future who will, we are certain, welcome you all as we and the Wilsons have done for over half a century. We want to thank you all for your support over the years and we continue to look forward to welcoming you over the coming weeks and months.

“If you have any queries please do not hesitate to get in touch with us personally and we will be delighted to answer any questions you may have.”

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