Staff at The Goose at Britwell Salome, which regained its Michelin star this year, have walked out because of an alleged dispute over turning the restaurant into a pub.
Head chef Ryan Simpson and four other members of staff, front and back-of-house, worked their last service at the Oxfordshire restaurant on Friday (5 February) night before taking the decision to quit.
Simpson, who joined the restaurant in June 2008, said that he and his staff disagreed with owner Paul Castle's future plans for the business, so felt there was no other option but to leave.
"The ownership wanted to change the direction of the restaurant and turn it back into a pub. I don't want to go into things too much, but we didn't agree with the methods used to run it," he said.
Michelin star
The Goose lost its Michelin star in 2009 following the departure of head chef Matthew Tomkinson in May 2008. It was one of 18 "new" one star restaurants in the 2010 Michelin Guide for Great Britain & Ireland.
Simpson said: "It was always our goal to get a Michelin star back and we've run it as a fine-dining restaurant.
"We secured previous customers as regulars and got new ones and developed a great following — from Michelin-starred chefs who'd come and eat here to the locals who live round the corner - so we felt proud of what we'd achieved."
The head chef, who trained in France before returning to the UK to work at Sketch, the Elephant in Devon and Winteringham Fields, said he and the Goose team were keen to start afresh elsewhere.
"I'm looking for any opportunities to come my way. We have one or two investors in the pipeline and I'm hoping that we can relocate to another site within the Thames Valley area," he said.
Big Hospitality attempted to contact the owner at the restaurant but was unsuccessful in reaching him.
Emma Eversham is web editor at Big Hospitality.