Bank House Brasserie. Getting the kitchen open!

Oliver and I (and our two children) have lived in Sturminster Newton for the past 15 years. We love our town, but we have always thought it needed an eatery that offers something different from the take-aways and pubs. We are passionate about food and ever since we worked running Chalets in the Alps, we knew at some point we wanted to start a restaurant here when the time was right. Although we have been planning and working on our ideas for the past 6 years we had to wait until the right building became available. Two years ago we finally managed to find the perfect venue - this is when the fun began! We have had many, many hoops to jump through to create the space we needed; change of use, pre-planning, planning, conservation, fire and sound regulations, new gas and electricity utilities, then Covid hit! We had both wound down our previous jobs and decided that we had to push on to get something open as soon as we could so get some cash flow. We have been working frantically working towards opening... even roping in my mother-in-law to help paint!

Basically, we need your help to raise funds for the final push. To make our business viable we need to get the kitchens finished and take the next step to being able to offer our food - which we are very excited about.

We have managed to open the bar, 14 days now and things are going really well. We have had a lot of very positive feedback, however, the one thing that keeps being asked is "When will you be serving food?". My reply, "When my husband finishes building it!". In truth, we are not that far off; we have managed to build the space and have purchased the majority of the equipment, we just need a little financial stimulus to help us cross the line.

Once we have completed the kitchen and stocked up, we can then employ some nice folk to assist us with the cooking and service and perfect our menu.

Your help and support at this time would greatly assist in speeding this up, then we will finally be able to offer the town something new and exciting.