Aiden Byrne to launch British Grill at Macdonald Hotel Craxton Wood

Aiden Byrne, chef proprietor of the Church Green in Lymm, Cheshire, and the Collingwood in West Kirby, is to launch a third restaurant, Caterersearch.com can reveal.

The chef has teamed up with Macdonald Hotels and will open the Aiden Byrne British Grill at the group's Craxton Wood hotel near Chester.

The new restaurant, which will open on 29 July, will be housed in the hotel's former restaurant, the Garden Room, which has been refurbished and now accommodates up to 120 diners. The food will be in line with the modern British style of cuisine Byrne serves at his existing venues, including a range of dishes from the Josper grill.

Byrne, who previously worked at Danesfield House in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and the Dorchester's Grill restaurant in London, told Caterersearch.com the aim of the restaurant was to be relaxed.

"As it's the hotel's main restaurant we didn't want to do a brasserie or bistro, but a bar and grill seemed too American and not really appropriate for the area. So I came up with the concept of a British grill," he said.

"Macdonald Hotels and I share the same ethos when it comes to food - they are really interested in provenance and regionality. They have given me carte blanche when it comes to the restaurant and the menu design."

David Guile, CEO of Macdonald Hotels, added: "The food and beverage culture within the collection has been particularly strong in recent years. Bringing Aiden on board allows us to diversify with unique skills we know our hotel guests will find memorable and ultimately enjoy."

Byrne and his partner, Sarah Broadley, will train the existing front-of-house and kitchen teams at the hotel to run the restaurant. "The restaurant is all ready to go but the hotel has agreed not to open for another six weeks so that we can get all the necessary training in place," Byrne said.

Alan Swinson, food and beverage director at Macdonald Hotels, said the group was looking to enter similar restaurant partnerships with chefs in the future. "There are locations around the UK which lend themselves very well to joint ventures with top chefs. Delivering added value to our hotel guests is key to what we do."

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By Kerstin Kühn

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