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Those chicks were too squirrelly, but I guess Mr 8-Course dining couldn't get into the gastro groove either. FLUNKAGE

The Restaurant - Series 1 winners Jane and Jeremy Hooper and their losing story
Submitted by sassy1 on 15 September, 2008 - 14:53.

Married couple Jeremy and Jane Hooper won the first series of The Restaurant and the chance to set up their own restaurant. Together with Raymond Blanc they opened Eight at the Thatch, in Thame, Oxfordshire in November 2007. Their idea was to provide eight courses of locally sourced ingredients. Raymond Blanc's world reknown restaurant "Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons" is situated nearby in Great Milton, Oxfordshire.

An interview with Caterersearch quoted Jane saying "We are not looking at this as a quick flash in the pan. We want to feel at home now in Thame, and make our mark on the restaurant."

In March 2008 Jane gave birth to the couple's first child, a boy. On 5th May 2008, Jeremy and Jane stepped down and left Eight at the Thatch, their brief tenure reportedly "marked by reported rampant arguments and failure". Sadly a far cry from their initial pledge. In a joint statement the Hooper's said: "We feel very disappointed that this hasn't worked out. We feel that we did not have the chance to make our concept work in the environment of a pub. Having said that, we were thrilled to win the prize and we have learned a lot. It has not proved possible to continue at Eight at the Thatch but we have not lost our dream."

Christian Cillia, head chef and general manager of the AA-Rosette winning Brasserie St Nicholas in Sevenoaks had joined the business in January to support the Hoopers. He was apparently employed by Raymond Blanc to mentor Jeremy, but he was sacked on 23 April and he told Caterersearch on May 2nd that the Hoopers "Had been on indefinite maternity and paternity leave after the birth of their first child in March", and they "had quit".

Now renamed The Thatch, the restaurant is managed by Sarah Bates and head chef Ross Whitmill, who was formerly at Raymond Blanc's Petit Blanc.The Peach Pub company, who provided a consultancy to the Hoopers, now manage the restaurant. Co-founder and Managing director Lee Cash was one of Raymond Blanc's inspectors for the show in series one.

The second series of The Restaurant is on BBC2 on Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 8PM