Four-rosette restaurants merge under transferred La Rive name

La Rive restaurant in Hereford, which only weeks ago was promoted from three AA rosettes to four, has closed, and its premises are being merged with the neighbouring Floodgate Brasserie.

The town's other four-rosette restaurant, located within the Castle House hotel, has meanwhile been renamed La Rive in a bid to attract diners loyal to the restaurant that has closed.

All the restaurants concerned are owned by the Left Bank Village group and fall under the stewardship of executive chef Stuart McLeod. He will continue to oversee both the new-look La Rive at Castle House hotel and the Floodgate Brasserie, as well as a tapas bar and the Left Bank's conference and banqueting operation.

"It simply didn't make sense to have two high-quality fine-dining restaurants owned by the same people and located within a mile of each other," a source close to McLeod told Chef. "Effectively, they were competing for exactly the same market - and in a small town like Hereford that isn't huge."

Both McLeod and the management of Left Bank Village were unavailable for comment as Chef went to press.