A FORMER East Oxford boozer is on the lookout for local produce from allotment holders in the city after undergoing a £60,000 transformation into a gastro pub.

The new managers of the Magdalen Arms, on the corner of Iffley Road and Magdalen Road, have stripped out the pool tables and TVs and trebled the size of its kitchen to serve British food with an Italian twist.

And now they are set to put posters up in the city asking growers whether they have any excess fruit or veg to help them provide accompaniments to their speciality dishes, which are all homecooked using fresh ingredients.

Landlady Florence Fowler is hoping the recipe for success will help it to attract star food critic Giles Coren after he hailed their sister pub, The Anchor and Hope, as one of the most exciting new restaurants in London.

Miss Fowler said the pub, which makes its own bread and ice cream, will follow the Hope and Anchor’s blueprint by offering sharing dishes such as slow cooked shoulder of lamb for five and seabass for two.

She added: “Swapping some nice local produce for a Ploughman’s or pint breaks down barriers and was a great success at our last pub. It also makes great use of fresh local produce.

“The pub will be old fashioned and traditional, but we’re a bit old fashioned and in a city like Oxford we know it’s all about community.”

Miss Fowler, who lives with her boyfriend and business partner Tony Abrano in Littlemore, said: “People keep telling us we’re in the wrong area and we should be in North Oxford, but we completely disagree. Just because we’re a gastro pub doesn’t mean we have to be in an affluent area or out in the country, Iffley Road is a brilliant place and I love it.”

The 200 capacity pub which has room for 80 covers was completely gutted during the renovation.

Mr Abrano, 36, said: “It is a beautiful pub.”

cwalker@oxfordmail.co.uk