Upgrade expectations

John Burton-Race has sold the lease on Bar Oporto, the premises in London's High Holborn that he and his wife Kim bought two years ago. Speaking at the latest Chef Eats Out lunch, which he hosted at L'Ortolan in Shinfield, Berkshire, Burton-Race took guests by surprise by announcing his decision to sell Bar Oporto, L'Ortolan's intended sister operation.

He explained that the bar was not large enough to fulfil their dreams of turning it into a brasserie.

"We wanted to operate it as a brasserie but, having had several plans drawn up, we realised it wouldn't work. That done, we are now looking for another site in London," says Burton-Race, adding that he and his wife will receive £25,000 more than they paid for the lease two years ago.

Although L'Ortolan is very much at the top end of the culinary scale, Burton-Race believes he could make more money "churning out large numbers". At the lunch, he spoke candidly about the difficulties he has experienced over the past five years in maintaining a high-quality establishment.

"When the recession hit, we lost 21% of our turnover," he said. "I had about 32 key clients at the time - 27 of them went bust, and the remainder stopped coming. Although at the time we had been operating for five years, we were faced with starting again."

Burton-Race went on to tell readers how ITV's The Big Story, which depicted L'Ortolan condoning kitchen violence, left him disillusioned. "It caused me a lot of heartache," he said. "The first month resulted in about £30,000-worth of damage and the next two months' figures showed us trading at a level similar to those experienced mid-recession."

Although Burton-Race says he would like to make his millions with big numbers in the City, it is no secret that he is chasing his third Michelin star for the Shinfield restaurant. He plans to achieve this by upgrading furnishings at the 55-seat venue. Soft furnishings have been changed in the bar area's conservatory and the main restaurant area; and the conservatory, which leads off the restaurant, is next in line for improvement.

The car park has also been re-landscaped, as part of a deal with Millgate Homes which saw three-quarters of an acre of land sold off. Six mews-style homes are being built there.

Following the three-course meal, Chef Eats Out guests were given a tour of L'Ortolan's kitchen and the cellar.