Steve and Claire Love announced this week that they will close the doors of Loves Restaurant in Birmingham for the final time on May 31. After a hugely successful six years of running their restaurant in the city, they will serve their last meals at the end of the month.
The couple moved their namesake restaurant from Warwickshire in 2009 with the intention of making waves in the city and did exactly that. Gaining 3 AA Rosettes within four months of opening and retaining a prominent listing in the Top 100 Best Restaurants in the UK for the past four years. Owner and chef Steve Love, former National Chef of the Year winner, a Master of the Culinary Arts and Roux Scholar from 1997, said: "After some careful consideration, it was decided not to renew the lease at the end of its 6 year tenure this year. Claire and I have had an enormously successful and really enjoyable time here in Birmingham. However, there are so many things that we have going on and maintaining the restaurant in the city was going to become increasingly more difficult." The couple set up their own consultancy business “Loves Consultancy” a couple of years ago with the express aim of targeting independent restaurants like their own. They offer advice on menus, kitchen design, front of house training and creating wine lists. Loves Consultancy has grown exponentially in the past 12 months and Claire said: “We could literally work eight days a week just on this part of the business. Ironically, after 15 years of running our own business, we are now finding so many people like us, small independent businesses that all need support in some way. I think because we have been there, and experienced what our clients are experiencing, they have confidence in us.” One reason that prompted their decision was the announcement that Steve has been chosen as part of the UK team for the internationally acclaimed Bocuse d’Or competition due to be held again in January 2017.
The competition is legendary not only for being the best international competition of its type in the world, but also for how tough it is to compete. Steve said: “This was one the factors that Claire and I had to consider when looking to renew the lease in Birmingham. I will need to devote a great deal of time to preparing for this competition and felt that this was best served being away from our own restaurant for a period of time”. This isn’t the end of Loves Restaurant. The couple plan to re-open Loves Restaurant back in Warwickshire in the near future. They hope to purchase a freehold property and are currently looking for a backer. The site will offer a complete dinning experience with their signature fine dining, lounge and bar food concept, guest bedrooms and a wine tasting room where Claire can focus on her wine tastings and teaching on site. In the meantime, they are looking forward to a series of “pop ups” in the Midlands in the next 12 months.
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