He is one of Wirral’s most famous and talented chefs but is Simon Rimmer about to open a new restaurant on home turf in West Kirby?
As we reported on our Facebook page in December, the acclaimed chef and star of Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, could be the new face of The Hilltop pub, on Black Horse Hill.
A request for planning permission to extend the pub was submitted by a company called the Flying Pig & Lobster, of which Simon is a director.
The application has now been approved by Wirral Council. It includes plans to build a single storey kitchen extension at the back of the pub, make improvements to the beer garden & install a larger window at the front of the pub.
Flying Pig & Lobster currently operates the highly-rated gastropub The Elephant, in Woolton Village, in Liverpool.
A post on the Twitter account for The Elephant seemed to confirm the news and announced that the new pub would be called The Viking.
Father-of-two Simon was born in Wallasey in 1963, and is well-known for his love of Liverpool FC.
A self-taught chef, he opened his first restaurant, Greens, in Didsbury, Manchester, in 1990. He set up EARLE, in Hale, Manchester, in 2006 and runs it with his wife Ali and friends, footballers Jason McAteer, Jason Koumas and football agent Dave Lockwood.
He is currently the host of Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch television show alongside Tim Lovejoy and has also appeared on BBC 2’s Something For The Weekend, Great British Menu, Celebrity Mastermind, Grub’s Up, Recipe for Success, BBC1’s This Little Farmer, Saturday Kitchen, Richard and Judy on Channel 4, Cooking the Books and Breaking into Tesco.
He has written four books – The Accidental Vegetarian, Rebel Cook and Lazy Brunch (with Tim Lovejoy) and Seasoned Vegetarian.