TV chef Richard Phillips is opening a pub in Whitstable, Kent.
The chef, whose CV includes being head chef for Marco Pierre White at the Criterion, Mirabelle and Les Saveurs, is to open Enterprise Inns lease the Pearson's Arms on 1 December.
The site will be refurbished by the chef, who also runs restaurants at Chapel Down vineyard in Tenterden, and the Hengist in Aylesford, Kent. Phillips appears on shows including GMTV, Saturday Kitchen and Daily Cooks Challenge.
His aim is to offer a community pub while retaining a welcome for tourists and those in search of a great night out.
He said: "I am very excited to take on a pub and 'the Pearson's Arms by Richard Phillips' will be a totally different Richard Phillips experience, but will retain the quality, passion, and attentive service for which my restaurants are known. We will be as passionate about our ales and drinks as we are with our food offering." The pub will hold 60 diners.
The menu will focus on produce from Kent such as fish from Rye Harbour, Hythe Bay smoked eel, Birling Estate partridge, Aldington beef, Chart Farm venison, Tenterden-grown potatoes and Hawkhurst cheeses.
Phillips added: "We want a lively and fun atmosphere where people can feel as comfortable coming in for a drink as those looking to dine. Overall, it's a pub with great food."
