Award-winning restaurant owner Nihat Oymak has taken the opportunity to clarify that he has no plans to move his businesses out of the city of Dunfermline. 

Nihat, whose businesses include Antioch on Bridge Street and Amorist Bar Bistro on High Street, previously told the Press he was concerned about for the lack of progress in Dunfermline since it was granted city status, and the impact this has on local businesses. 

But he explained that further comments to the Press about moving award-winning Turkish restaurant Antioch or any of his other businesses out of Dunfermline to Edinburgh were not the way he intended them.

Nihat stressed he is keen for Fife Council to make appropriate improvements to the city centre of Dunfermline to make it more attractive for residents and to encourage tourists to visit. 

“I love Dunfermline, I have been here for many years and have built successful businesses thanks to our loyal customers, and I am extremely grateful for their support," he said.

“We are part of the community here, we are involved in supporting good causes and local charities, and we want the best for Dunfermline.

“That’s why I spoke out about the state of the city, the need for the High Street pavement tiles to be re-done, and the big problem of ugly and overflowing bins on the street.

“I want the best for our beautiful city, and it upsets me to see the state of it. Hopefully we will see improvements soon.”

Nihat has recently moved his family to Edinburgh and is making moves to open a new bar bistro in the capital. He clarified that, if his plans do get the go-ahead, this would be in addition to his businesses in Dunfermline. 

“I wanted to get across my frustration about how nothing has changed since city status was granted, and that things are not getting better,” he explained.

“That makes it difficult for businesses operating in Dunfermline, and I wanted to highlight the comparison with the city with Edinburgh where you could do five times the business turnover you could do here.

“It was not my intention to give the impression that I was threatening to pull my restaurant or other businesses out of Dunfermline. Maybe my words were not quite right and I have been misinterpreted, but I do not plan to move any of my businesses out of Dunfermline.”

Nihat added that he wanted to actively encourage more people to visit and enjoy Dunfermline. Last year, he lodged plans with Fife Council for a 17-bedroom hotel above Amorist bar bistro on the corner of High Street and Douglas Street. If given the go-ahead, Nihat believes the hotel will be successful even if initially this is because visitors to Edinburgh would take advantage of cheaper rooms in Dunfermline. 

But ultimately his hope is that people will stay at the hotel because they want to visit Dunfermline.

“I hope we can make our city more attractive for people to visit,” he said.