Steve Drake's Sorrel to open four days a week

Chef Steve Drake is to open his new restaurant Sorrel in Dorking, Surrey for four days a week.

In line with several other high profile chefs who have reduced working hours for staff, including Sat Bains who took his two-Michelin-starred restaurant to four days a week in 2015, Drake hopes that operating from Wednesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner will give his team the time and space to cultivate their creativity.

The 40-cover Sorrel will open in a 300-year-old building in the heart of Dorking in the spring after a full refurbishment. Named after Drake's favourite herb, it will feature the best of British produce and regular, seasonal tasting menus.

As chef-patron, Steve will oversee a team of 15. He has signed a 10-year lease on the restaurant, which will boast open fires and a lounge with a bar.

The chef, who held a Michelin star at Drake's until his departure this summer, told The Caterer that the food at Sorrel will be inspired by "simplicity and discovery". "It's a style I've been constantly refining," he said.

The 2001 Roux Scholar left his eponymous restaurant Drake's, in Ripley, Surrey, at the end of August as he and his wife Serina finalised their divorce. He continues to own and operate the Anchor pub, situated across the road from Drake's.

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