Chef Shaun Rankin reveals plans for new Jersey restaurant, London next on agenda

Rankin, who announced his departure from Michelin-starred Bohemia​ last September, will open Ormer by Shaun Rankin in St Helier in May. 

The three-storey venue, whose name takes inspiration from the shellfish found in the waters around the Channel Islands, has been designed by restaurant interior designer Martin Brudnizki and will include a ground floor bar and a first-floor cigar terrace along with the 50-cover restaurant and 20-cover terrace located at basement level. 

Lee Smith, Rankin's sous chef at Bohemia for six years, has been employed as head chef and there are also plans to take on two apprentices who will spend three years being trained on-the-job under the chef's watchful eye. 

Focus on flavour​

While Rankin has built up a reputation as a fine-dining chef, he told BigHospitality he was taking a new focus with the style of the food at Ormer, but would still be working with the same suppliers used at Bohemia. 

"I've scrapped the term 'fine-dining' from all PR and marketing around the restaurant," he said. "It will be a much more approachable style that will focus more on delivering quality ingredients that are big on flavour.

"I've spent several years building up relationships with suppliers in Jersey and it's important that we keep those relationships together. Ormer will be a very different product and a very different look from what I've done before, but there will still be an emphasis on using quality produce." 

Solo project​

Although Rankin opened Bohemia in 2003 and was well-known as the face of the restaurant, being a chef-proprietor is a new step for him. However, he told BigHospitality it was one he was relishing. 

"I've opened a restaurant for someone else, but I've never been involved in the detail like this and it's exciting to put your own stamp on it," he said. "I'm opening this with a private investor - you can't do this kind of thing on your own - but it is my first solo project and is the start of some exciting plans we have for the Shaun Rankin brand."

Rankin said expansion was already on the cards: "Our next venture would be into London," he said. "The plan is to have Jersey as our flagship and then take what we are doing here elsewhere with London definitely where we want to go next."

Career​

County Durham-born chef Rankin trained at The Mayfair in London under Michael Coaker before heading back up to the north of England to work at the Black Bull in Moulton. He moved to Jersey in 1995 to work at the Longueville Manor for eight years and followed with a stint at the hotel's sister restaurant Sumas in 2003 before going on to open new restaurant Bohemia at the Club Hotel & Spa.