Rhodes and GM run for ascot third

Gary Rhodes and Gardner Merchant are working on plans to open a third restaurant within months at Ascot Racecourse.

Rhodes at Ascot, as the restaurant is likely to be called, will follow the partners' other joint ventures, City Rhodes in London, which opened a year-and-a-half ago, and Rhodes in the Square, which is set to open in London's Dolphin Square, SW1, in June.

"We are looking at Ascot closely," said Rhodes. "But we are not sure when the restaurant will open. It is likely to be at least six months away because we won't do it until Rhodes in the Square is up and running well."

Rhodes added that he and Gardner Merchant were looking at more potential sites. "We'd like restaurants all over - in Manchester, Oxford, Edinburgh or Glasgow," he said.