Raymond Blanc’s Brasserie Blanc to open in Winchester

Brasserie Blanc Raymond Blanc’s high-street chain is set to open a new restaurant in Winchester, Hampshire, its seventh site and first in a small cathedral city.

The restaurant company is taking the lease on two revamped Victorian shops in Jewry Street, Winchester's main restaurant location. It is due to open in early 2008.

John Lederer, managing director of Brasserie Blanc, said he was looking for a cathedral city, and were attracted by Winchester's "individuality".

The company plans to spend £750,000 on furnishing the venue, which will have a less urban and more homely feel.

Lederer said: "Raymond will come in sometimes and you'll see him out front, or he might be in the kitchen doing some cooking and instructing the chefs”.

The group’s current locations comprise Birmingham, Cheltenham, Leeds, Manchester, Oxford and Tunbridge Wells, with plans for an eighth restaurant in Milton Keynes.

In March 2006 the management team behind Loch Fyne Restaurants (LFR), including chief executive Mark Derry, completed a buy out with Raymond Blanc of the Le Petit Blanc chain with for £3m and renamed it Brasserie Blanc.

• Raymond Blanc’s two Michelin-starred Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, has been named Best UK Leisure Hotel by Conde Nast Traveller magazine. The awards now in their 10th year are voted for by more than 30,000 globetrotting readers and highlight the best business and leisure locations around the world. Blanc said: “This award is a huge honour for us and is reflective of the dedication of my head chef and the entire team who work tirelessly to provide our guests with the best that a hotel and restaurant can offer.”

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By Andrew Millington

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