The croft stands seventy miles away from Glasgow. It is whitewashed and sits by the southern shores of Loch Fyne facing the remnants of a castle built in the fifteenth century. The structure was previously used as a boat house. Before then, this spot served as a trading point for around three hundred people who lived there. For years, it has played different roles. Since 2015, it has been known as Inver.
A Dream Sketched in London
Chef Pam Brunton and her partner Rob Latimer first met in London twenty-five years ago. Both Scots, both living in London, but both having a strong desire for life elsewhere – somewhere quieter, wilder, and closer to the sea. Brunton left her studies in philosophy and started her career as a chef working at Restaurant Tom Aikens and The Greenhouse, but couldn’t resist the lure of something greater.
A quest for a suitable site took the couple far away. Working as head chef on the Isle of Iona, where the restaurant shut down for four months during winter, gave them a chance to travel and explore. They worked at Noma in Copenhagen, at Fäviken in the north of Sweden, at In De Wulf in Belgium. These were not side trips but their actual education. “We live in a remote location in a landscape that is very similar to the Nordic countries,” Brunton told FCSI, “we share ingredients, we share history, so we went to those restaurants quite intentionally to learn to use products from the landscape.”
In the meantime, in 2014, while they were still working in Belgium, a message from a friend came that the property called Inver Cottage became available for sale near Loch Fyne. While they were about to fly back for Rob’s grandmother’s funeral, they made a trip and stood on the shore looking at the ruins of the castle on the other side of the bay and knew. “Places like that are very hard to come by,” Brunton said to Homes and Interiors Scotland.
The Land, the Water, the Kitchen
The kitchen at Inver is defined by its surroundings. Cockle beds right across the bay. Wild sea greens gathered from the beach. Langoustines from the loch right at the doorstep. Venison from the hills. Mushrooms collected from the forests. Vegetables from the croft of their neighbor Kate, down the road. And lamb from farms nearby.
“I see myself in a long line of cooks who have cooked on the bay, steamed cockles and ground hazelnuts,” Brunton said in TOAST Magazine. This tradition is no mere romantic notion; it dictates every aspect of their menu. “Inver celebrates the wild Scottish larder through food sourced from the loch, the forest, and their friends and neighbors’ farms,” says their website.
This is precisely how Brunton herself has made her views clear. It is not about locavorism, she explained to FCSI. “We’ve traded with the rest of the world for hundreds of years, and suddenly starting to serve only our local lamb and barley would be stupid,” she continued. “I’m a huge fan of spices, and I use them – also citrus and wine that we buy from outside.” Ethics, not geography.
Scotland’s Only Michelin Green Star
The Michelin Green Star for sustainable gastronomy awarded to Inver is unique for Scotland. Inver’s approach to earning a Michelin Green Star is pragmatic rather than performative. Vegetables are farmed in ways that help protect local biodiversity. Seafood is sourced through means that do not harm the marine environment. The animals used in the kitchen are sourced responsibly, with no part of their body going to waste. Employees work well below industry standards. Employees are paid well. Care is the principle of management in Inver’s kitchen.
Inver also received the title of Best Restaurant in Scotland at the National Restaurant Awards and is placed on the World’s 50 Best Discovery list. Brunton’s book Between Two Waters: Heritage, Landscape and the Modern Cook has received the Fortnum and Mason Food Book Award 2025, is nominated for the Guild of Food Writers Awards, longlisted for the Highland Book Prize, and included in the Financial Times’ Books of the Year.
Staying the Night
Other than the restaurant, Inver has now extended its services to provide Bothies and Shepherd’s Huts along the shoreline. Breakfast is served in a hamper. The scenery in both buildings includes the Loch and Old Castle Lachlan. It is the type of place that attracts many people who travel several hours just to go there and cannot leave in good time.
“I am inspired by stories,” Brunton said to Monoware, “produce, people, and the stories that connect them together and their landscapes, near and far. It is the type of stories I like telling through my Inver menus.”
