Wednesday 7 January 2009

Happy New Year.

Happy New Year to all!

One of the questions we are being asked a lot is “where is your restaurant?” the answer is, we still don’t know.
We are looking for a premises and it is a big job in itself to find the right place.
All we know is that the restaurant will be not too far from Great Milton in Oxford where Raymond Blanc is based. We are both really looking forward to finding the right place and as soon as we do we will let you know.
We are currently still working in Brasserie Blanc but concentrating a lot more on creating all the paperwork needed for our restaurant. We will be creating a restaurant with the same kind of atmosphere as we did on the show, relaxed and welcoming and filled with cheer. During the show we were supposed to create our dream restaurant, but as you know we didn’t have a choice of location or a very big budget or much time to makeover the restaurant so we created as close a representation as we could with all the constraints we had. The food will be British ‘brasserie’ style, simple recipes but beautifully cooked with fresh ingredients, similar to that created on the show but again we will have a lot more time to plan and prepare dishes. Russell is currently working on creating you delicious menus.
Our aim is to be open by May but it really depends on when we find the right premises.

5 comments:

Lily Phoenix said...

Hi Michele & Russell Happy New Year and good luck in your new venture!
I used to go to college with Michele in Southend, "I think you still have my tailors dummy!!!!" Yes it is Lynn, working under the name of Lily Phoenix at the moment check me out on facebook. Would love to chat to you again, shame we all lost touch after college. I just happened to catch a glimpse of you on the programe and was hooked from then on, I was thrilled when you won! Would love to hear from you if you get a moment. Wishing you all the best, L xxxx

cowdog said...

Happy New Year to you too!
It was obvious that on the show you didn't have many resources nor time to create a restaurant exactly as you wanted. Now you have a really great opportunity to realise your dream. Therefore... I wish you a great year packed with thrilling experiences and fun!

Anonymous said...

Hi
Good to see you are still around
must say very dissapointed at how the show ended with Raymond taking two couples on. Hoping you do get the restaurant you so rightly deserve. Can I ask what alasdair and james are up to now are they still at le manoir?
Wishing you well in your ventures and looking forward to trying out your restaurant

MICHELE ENGLISH said...

Ali and James were taken on to do three months work experince at 'Le Manoir' after the show finished. James is loving it!
We don't know what they will be doing after that but they are hoping to get as much experience in Michelin stared fine dining restaurants as possible, I know they were hoping to go over to 'The French Laundry' in the USA.
We are looking for our restaurant at the moment, I will be adding a new blog about our search very soon.
Thank you very much for you support!! We can't wait to get our own place started.

J and B said...

Hello Michele and Russell

Its May now and we were just checking your blog to see how things were going. My son and I loved watching the show and are hoping that you two are continuing to live your dream. Wish they would have a reunion show so that we could all catch up with your competitors!! all the best -