Ben Porter to oversee Pascere following departure of Johnny Stanford

Ben Porter has been appointed head chef of Pascere restaurant in Brighton following the departure of Johnny Stanford.

Owner, Platinum Business magazine food and drink editor Amanda Menahem, said: "Having worked with him for a number of months at the restaurant, I've been incredibly impressed by his cooking. Ben is an experienced head chef and has worked extensively both internationally and in the UK. His style of cooking is exactly the right fit for my vision at Pascere."

Stanford posted to Twitter: "As of today I will no longer be running the kitchen at Pascere restaurant. I'm immensely proud of myself and anyone who's been part of the team while I have been there, what we have achieved in such a short space of time has been incredible. I'm looking forward to a new challenge."

The 30-cover, two-AA-rosette restaurant, was set to open with chef Tom Griffiths at the helm last year, however Griffiths left just before the restaurant opened.

Stanford, a former senior sous chef at the three-AA-rosette Pass restaurant at the South Lodge hotel in Horsham, Sussex, who was working on menu development with Griffiths, was appointed to run the kitchen instead.

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