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Chris Horridge is to leave his role of executive head chef at Cliveden in Berkshire after just one year.

Following industry rumours last week, hotel group Von Essen has confirmed the chef's departure and announced plans for a restructure and refurbishment of the property.

Cliveden will undergo a "culinary team restructure" across its three restaurants Waldo's, the Terrace Dining Room and the Cliveden Club Restaurant, the group said.

Horridge, who has been overseeing Waldo's, will leave the hotel next month.

Von Essen has also unveiled plans for an £8m refurbishment programme of Cliveden, which will comprise the revamp of its 38 bedrooms as well as all public areas including the restaurants. The company also hopes to introduce a new spa which is currently subject to planning permission.

Nick Romano, chief executive officer at Von Essen, said the company "would like to thank Chris for his hard work and wish him all the very best for the future".

Horridge joined Cliveden last spring from the Bath Priory, where he held a Michelin star. He replaced former executive chef Robert Thompson who had left Cliveden after just eight months to set up his own restaurant on the Isle of Wight.

A Great British Menu contestant Horridge has garnered critical acclaim for his health-conscious approach to fine dining without the use of sugar, dairy or wheat.

Luxury hotel group Von Essen is considering a restructure of the restaurant offering at Cliveden in Berkshire. 

The company confirmed that it was looking to potentially reshuffle the operation at the hotel following industry rumours that Chris Horridge, head chef at the property's Waldo's restaurant, was leaving. 

"We are considering a possible restructure at Cliveden and have no further details," a spokeswoman for Von Essen said. 

A restructure of the operation at Cliveden could see the closure of Waldo's restaurant, where Horridge, who declined to comment, has been head chef for just under a year. 

He joined the property last spring from the Bath Priory, where he held a Michelin star, replacing Robert Thompson, who had left after just eight months to set up his own restaurant on the Isle of Wight. 

A Great British Menu contestant Horridge has garnered critical acclaim for his health-conscious approach to fine dining. At Waldo's he offers a nutritionally-balanced tasting menu which contains no sugar, dairy or wheat. 

Cornwall-based chef Nathan Outlaw has closed his Michelin-starred restaurant at the Marina Villa hotel in Fowey and will relocate it to the St Enodoc Hotel in Rock next year.

The move, which comes just months after the Marina Villa was put on the market, will see the chef reopen on 12 February at the St Enodoc Hotel where he also runs his more casual Seafood and Grill restaurant.

Outlaw, who opened his eponymous restaurant in 2007 and has been tipped by Michelin as a rising two-star chef for two consecutive years, told chef networking website Staff Canteen the move would give him more control of his business.

"Over the past six months I have been trying to put Restaurant Nathan Outlaw into a much more secure place from a business point of view, which would in turn allow my team and me to push our standards to a higher level," he said.

Mark Sargeant, Gordon Ramsay's right hand man and former head chef at his Michelin-starred restaurant at Claridge's, has resigned from the celebrity chef's restaurant group.

Sargeant, who has worked alongside Ramsay for 13 years, will leave Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) at the end this month to join pub group the Swan Collection as creative director.

His resignation follows months of speculation after his departure from Claridge's earlier in the year and a rumoured fall out with Ramsay.

It also comes just months after GRH head of operations, Gillian Thomson, left the group to join contract caterer Company of Cooks. And let's not forget the high profile fall out with Marcus Wareing.

Sargeant first joined Ramsay at Aubergine in the 1990s. He went on to work as sous chef at Gordon Ramsay's flagship restaurant on Chelsea's Royal Hospital Road before becoming head chef at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, where he won a Michelin-star in 2002.

He will join the Swan Collection next month. The company currently runs the Swan at the Globe Theatre, London, and the Swan, West Malling, Kent.

It seems Ramsay's original stable of faithful protégés is getting smaller and smaller, with only Mark Askew, Jason Atherton and Angela Hartnett left. Let's hope for Ramsay's sake there won't be any more high profile departures...

Tim Payne, head chef at Paradise by Way of Kensal Green, is leaving the west London restaurant to join forces with Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace.

Wallace is setting up a greengrocer-cum-café concept in Putney together with former Elbow Room owner Justin Carter. The duo has bought the old Red's site on Upper Richmond Road and will relaunch it as Wallace & Co before Christmas.

Payne is understood to be joining Wallace & Co as executive chef after three years at Paradise.

He was executive chef for Marco Pierre White's restaurants for seven years and appeared alongside the fiery chef in his two series of ITV's Hell's Kitchen.

Payne also did a stint with Planet Hollywood founder Robert Earl and as consultant chef for Oliver Peyton's restaurants.

Wallace & Co will feature a range of branded grocery items as well as fresh fruit and vegetables supplied by Secretts Direct, owned by Wallace and business partner Vernon Mascarenhas.

Paradise is owned by Steven Ball and Riz Shaikh, the team behind other London gastropubs, the Old Queens Head in Islington, Queen Boadicea in Clerkenwell and the Westbury in Kilburn. The duo last month launched restaurant and live music venue the Blues Kitchen in Camden.

French chef Joel Antunes has returned to London after more than a decade abroad and has taken on the role of executive chef at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel, which is set to open early next year.

Antunes has worked in acclaimed kitchens including Ledoyen and Troisgros in France and worked in London between 1991 and 1996 as chef-partner of the former Michelin-starred restaurant Les Saveurs.

He moved to the US where he launched his eponymous Joel Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as holding executive chef positions with the Ritz Carlton Dining Room in the city and the Oak Room at The Plaza in New York, where things didn't end so well.

In his new role at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Antunes will be responsible for all of the property's food and beverage operations. His remit will include a 200-seat signature restaurant, a 30-seat sushi restaurant, a bar and pastry counter as well as all conference and banqueting catering and 24-hour room service.

Antunes said: "The [London] restaurant scene has changed dramatically in the decade since I last worked here - people are so much better educated about food and wine and it is now one of the most exciting food capitals of the world."

French chef Jérôme Ponchelle is to join the two-Michelin-starred restaurant at London's Capital hotel as head chef.

The move sees Ponchelle depart from his position of chef de cuisine at British restaurant Wiltons after seven years to step into the foot steps of Eric Chavot, who left the Capital in August.

He will be replaced at Wiltons by Andrew Turner, currently head chef at the Landau restaurant at London's Langham hotel.

Ponchelle will join the Knightsbridge-based Capital next month and brings with him 20 years of experience working in restaurants in France and England including a number of years cooking under Michel Bourdin at the Connaught.

His menu will have a French influence and will include signature dishes including lobster, crab and truffle omelette; and braised filet of wild Scottish turbot with Champagne sauce; next to British classics such as braised oxtail.

Ponchelle said he was excited about his new role. "It was a privilege to work at Wiltons but I wanted to move into a more challenging environment that will put my culinary experience to the test," he said.

He certainly has big shoes to fill at the Capital where Chavot held two Michelin-stars for eight years.

Mystery surrounds the departure of Petersham Nurseries general manager Wendy Fogarty, who has left the south west London-based restaurant and garden centre just weeks after winning a major legal battle with the local council.

Her departure comes after Petersham Nurseries was granted a mixed-use planning application earlier this summer, after it won a four-year dispute with Richmond Council over parking and the level of traffic around the site.

Wendy championed the centre's case and implemented a Green Travel Plan that saw the number of visitors travelling there by car reduced by 25%.

After winning the dispute, she spoke of her relief and delight with the outcome, adding she was now able to focus on driving the business through the recession.

However, a spokeswoman for Petersham Nurseries confirmed that Wendy has now left her position.

"Wendy took some long overdue leave shortly after helping win the case against the council. We were hoping that she would return but she has decided to work on some new projects," she said.

"There are no plans to replace her."

Petersham Nurseries Café, which opened in 2004 and is open for lunch only five days a week, with head chef Skye Gyngell overseeing the kitchen.

French chef Eric Chavot is leaving the two-Michelin-starred restaurant at the Capital hotel in London.

The surprise move sees Chavot leave the restaurant in Knightsbridge after more than a decade behind the stove. He will leave on 15 August.

His departure is one of a series of recent staff changes at David Levin's Capital and Levin hotels including general manager Henrik Muehle, who left to join the St James's Hotel and Club in Mayfair last month.
 
The Capital's restaurant manager, Christoph Thuilat, is also leaving to join Muehle and become food and beverage manager at the St James.

Last year, Levin's son Joe left his long-serving role as managing director at the Capital Group.

Chavot said he made the decision to leave the Capital, where he has held two Michelin stars for eight years, to change his life.

"I am leaving after ten years and my departure is amicable," he said.

"I have done everything I can at the Capital and it's been great. But I feel the time has come for me to do something different with my life. I've been doing Michelin cooking for so long and I'm not sure I want to do this anymore.

"I have no idea what I am going to do or where I am going to go. Some people may call me crazy to do this in a recession but you only live once and now is as good a time as any."

Chavot added that after his departure in August he will take time off to go on a culinary tour of England.

"For now I am going to take time off and go see my friends - Sat Bains, Nigel Haworth, Michael Caines, Raymond Blanc and David Everitt-Matthias."