The People

I first meet our Head Chef, Mike Finlay, in May 2004. We started talking about the idea of an English restaurant, with a small menu that changed frequently and uses as much local produce as possible. Several drinks later, The Long Room Restaurant was conceived and by the autumn of that year was born.

Mike brought a vast amount of experience and expertise to the operation. He trained at Southport Technical College , before moving south in 1986 to work at The Avisford Park Hotel until 1991. Following on from there were stays of duty at Howards Hotel , Arundel, The Lamb at Pagham and The Chequers at Rowhook through to 1995.

He then moved to the Red Rossette Tottington Manor Hotel as Head Chef, working alongside the owner, David Miller, a former Head Chef at The Ritz Hotel.

When David retired and vacated the hotel in 2004, Mike thought that the time was right to move onto a new challenge, which was fortuitous, to say the least, for me.

We are also fortunate to have the help of a team of greatly experienced girls ‘out front' in Hannah, Jo and Alexa all of whom maintain a cheerful disposition throughout a busy evening. We also have Carl who has worked behind bars since he was smaller!

My wife Jenni also helps out in the restaurant and, more importantly, keeps tabs on the bills!

Oh, for my part, I worked for some twenty years in international wines and spirits before becoming involved in the restaurant trade.

RICHARD