Restaurant sale spells the end of idyllic Michelin-starred dinners

The only restaurant in Scotland with two Michelin stars is never likely to reopen, depriving diners of a memorable culinary experience.

The Altnaharrie Inn on Loch Broom, accessible only by boat, was sold for about £500,000 after a year on the market to a couple who want to use the building as a family home.

The restaurant made an annual profit last year of £103,000 despite opening for six months a year, serving meals using local produce costing up to £245 a head. But Gunn Eriksen, the chef, suffered serious back problems and decided to relinquish the business, which she started with her husband, Fred Brown, in 1980.

Diners would take a 10-minute boat ride from Ullapool, in the west Highlands, across the loch to get to Altnaharrie – which was one of only four restaurants in Britain to be rated 9/10 by the Good Food Guide.

It overlooked spectacular scenery and was a favourite destination for adventurous gourmets. One food critic described the boat trip as "rounding Cape Horn".

Yesterday, an Edinburgh estate agency said the restaurant was sold for "a little more than the £500,000 asking price".