MasterChef: The Professionals finalist Steve Barringer to open Ampthill restaurant
Steve Barringer, the former head chef of Flitwick Manor hotel and BBC MasterChef: The Professionals 2011 finalist, is to launch a new 24-cover restaurant in Ampthill, Bedfordshire.
The move comes after Barringer and his wife Amy sold the lease for their village gastropub, the Anchor in Tilsworth last month.
The new restaurant will be called Eileen's by Steve Barringer, after Steve's grandmother, who inspired him to take up cooking.
Set to open in early August in what was a coffee shop behind Lola Bears Boutique on Dunstable Street, the restaurant will offer relaxed fine dining.
Barringer told The Caterer that he hoped the new, smaller restaurant, would fit in with the needs of his young family while also allowing him to place an even greater focus on his food, which helped the Anchor to earn a Michelin plate in the latest edition of the Michelin guide.
Because of the size of the kitchen at the new restaurant, it will offer two dining options to begin with - a five-course tasting menu (priced at £50-£55) and a seven-course tasting menu (£75).
Barringer is still working on the menu, but dishes will include carrot cooked in lamb fat with variations of carrot and yoghurt and coriander.
"Ampthill doesn't really have this kind of dining so we spotted a bit of a niche and we want to offer fine dining food without the fuss. I think the area is crying out for something like what we want to do - really nice wine, good food, but somewhere where you can dress how you want and feel relaxed," Barringer said.
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