Restaurant winners quit the Thatch

Jeremy and Jane Hooper, the winning couple in Raymond Blanc`s TV series The Restaurant, have quit Eight at the Thatch because they do not want to run it as a pub.

The duo, who took over the venue in Thame, Oxfordshire in November 2007, said they did not wish to continue because the pub concept was wrong for them.

However, Jeremy said they had not lost their dream of running a restaurant and were planning to open their own in their home county of Cornwall in the near future.

He 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."

Raymond Blanc said he was happy to have given the couple the chance to run the business and the confidence to go it alone.

"The past year has been very rewarding and I have enjoyed working with Jane and Jeremy,” he said.

Peach Pub Company will take over the day to day running of the Thatch and have appointed Ross Whitmill head chef.

The company`s co-founder Lee Cash was a judge on the BBC2 show and consulted on the running of Eight at the Thatch.

Series two of The Restaurant will be screened in the autumn.