CELEBRITY chef Raymond Blanc has been in town this week for the opening of his brand new Brasserie Blanc at the Marriott Highcliff Hotel.

The Bournemouth eatery is the 20th site for the French restaurant group led by the Michelin star chef, but this restaurant also celebrates a lot of firsts.

It is the first Brasserie Blanc to open in Dorset - the closest ones are in Winchester and Portsmouth.

And it is also the first Brasserie Blanc to open inside a hotel.

According to Raymond the partnership between the group and the Marriot has been at least two year in the making in order to find the perfect location.

"We looked for many years for the right location, we needed to find a beautiful position," he said.

"There's always an element of luck when it comes to finding a great location but the team worked very hard to create a relationship with Marriot and to look at the possibility of a partnership.

"They have the very best position here and it's an excellent hotel.

"It's a wonderful relationship where Marriot give us the most extraordinary platform to create our Brasserie Blanc within their hotel.

"But it helps them as well because we will be in charge of all the food in the restaurant from breakfast, lunch and dinner."

The menu for all the firm's brasseries is created by executive chef Clive Fretwell, who honed his skills at Raymond Blanc's two Michelin star hotel restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Oxfordshire.

Dishes include beef bourguignon, king scallops provencale and ‘le grande’ steak frites. There are even snails on the menu, served in a garlic herb butter with a baguette.

But as well as the classic dishes served across all the brasseries the Bournemouth restaurant promises plenty of fish and vegetarian dishes.

Raymond explained that recently there had been a trend in people wanting more from vegetarian dishes and chefs have had to answer that call.

It might be a Raymond Blanc restaurant but it isn't formal – there are no table cloths on the tables although they are laid with napkins and cutlery. Waiters are dressed informally too. You can sit in the brasserie area to eat or on the patio.

The restaurant even has its own entrance from St Michael's Road so people don't have to traipse through the hotel.

For Raymond, who called the opening of the Bournemouth brasserie on Wednesday a dream, he hopes this hotel restaurant will be the beginning of a great relationship.