Simon Hulstone's The Elephant closes The Room restaurant

Simon Hulstone's Michelin-starred restaurant, the Elephant in Torquay is to revert back to a single ground floor restaurant as it closes The Room restaurant in a bid to move with the times and relieve some of the pressure on its staff.

The decision to return to a single storey restaurant is all part of giving the diners a new eating space to reflect today's modern trends of eating as well as improving working conditions for the team without the pressure of running two restaurants during busier periods.

Chef proprietor Simon Hulstone said: “With dining becoming less formal, even at the highest standards, we felt the time was right to create a dining space that reflects modern eating out trends and gives our guests a wider food offering throughout the year but maintaining our ethos for quality ingredients and fantastic service."

He added: “Working at this level is always hard work so moving back to one restaurant will also provide welcome relief to the team during the busy summer months.“

The 55 cover ground floor was refurbished earlier this year, bringing in lighter decor that reflects the local surroundings and showcases the provenance of the ingredients used in the kitchen. Many of the ingredients come from the restaurant’s dedicated farm in Brixham.

The Elephant, which has held a Michelin star for 11 years and remains the only Michelin starred restaurant in Torbay since, opened The Room on the first floor in 2008, to enable a more casual service to continue in the original restaurant.

The ground floor became a brasserie serving a range of freshly prepared, simple dishes whilst The Room served only the tasting menus. Following the recent change, the tasting menu will be offered alongside a seasonally changing à la carte menu in the ground floor restaurant.