Viner adopts casual food in new venture

Former National Chef of the Year Kevin Viner is turning his back on fine dining to open a restaurant in Cornwall that will offer a casual eating experience.

Viners Bar and Restaurant is set to open in the village of Summercourt, six miles inland from Newquay, at the end of March.

"I've done a lot of consultancy work over the past three years and there is an increasing move towards serving quality fresh produce in relaxed surroundings," said Viner, who carried off the national chef title in 1999.

"That is what we will be doing here," he said. "Diners won't be expected to eat a full dinner menu if they don't want to; there will be lots of casual snacks and shared foods, like meze."

Viner said the menu would be influenced by local ingredients with an emphasis on fish and well-hung meat. "I'm more likely to offer a good-flavoured rump steak that has been hung for a week, rather than a piece of fillet steak," he said.

Diners who do choose three courses will pay about £25 a head.

The 100-seat restaurant, which is within the grounds of the Carvynick Golf & Country Club, is housed in a building that dates to 1669. Until recently it was a pub called the Fox's Revenge. It is currently being refurbished and a new kitchen, incorporating a Charvet stove, is being installed.

Viner and his wife, Jane, are investing £130,000 in the property, which has a 10-year lease. He is hoping the new business will give him a fresh start after a brief spell last year when he headed up the kitchens of Sevens, a fine-dining restaurant in Truro city centre owned by David and Jane White. The job didn't work out, and Sevens has now been incorporated into the adjoining brasserie, Caf‚ Citron.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 4 - 10 March 2004