Karina Bowlby is the new licensee at The Fat Pheasant in South Queensferry, formerly The Newton Arms, which she has ‘countrified’ after a two-week renovation.
Karina told DRAM, “The pub has been owned by Billy MacLean for the past 30 years, and latterly, he had a series of short-term tenants.”
MacLean put the pub up for sale and had a buyer. Explains Karina, “I had it in the back of my head for a few years that I’d like to buy it and when I found out it was sold my heart sank – that’s when I really knew that I wanted it. Luckily for me, the sale fell through and I quickly snapped up the freehold.”
Karina, who also runs a property business, as well as a polo club, has appointed head chef, Andrew Thomas Hughes, who worked at Gordon Ramsay’s Maze in London, Cromlix House and the Richmond Park Hotel in Bo’ness.