Caprice staff to run new Wentworth restaurant

The owner of celebrity restaurant group Caprice Holdings is opening a new eaterie at exclusive Surrey golf club Wentworth.

Staff from London restaurants the Ivy and Le Caprice will run the club's new 120-seat restaurant and bar when it reopens in March, following a £450,000 refurbishment.

Steve Tonkin, sous chef at the Ivy, will take the helm as executive chef, while Pepe Merdzan, currently manager at Le Caprice, will oversee front-of-house. His new deputy, Phillipe Brier, moves from J Sheekey.

Wentworth and the three London restaurants are owned by entrepreneur Richard Caring. The restaurant's makeover is part of a £900,000 refurbishment of the clubhouse's lounge area.

Wentworth managing director Julian Small said: "This is much more than a cosmetic exercise. The aim is to introduce our members and Surrey to a restaurant of the same quality as the Ivy and Le Caprice."

The newly-named Wentworth Grill will use the same food and wine suppliers as the London eateries and used the same interior designer.

A three-course dinner and half a bottle of wine will cost an average of £35.

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