A CELEBRITY chef’s gastro-pub chain is due to open its doors in Highcliffe next month.

As reported, planners green-lighted a new branch of a restaurant owned by Raymond Blanc’s White Brasserie Company earlier this year.

The restaurant will open at the site of The Galleon in Lymington Road, which has been shut since spring last year.

Residents had speculated several potential uses for the site, including knocking down the existing building for a block of flats.

However, it has now been confirmed that brasserie The Oaks will open on July 1.

Representatives from the White Brasserie Company say the menu will feature chicken liver parfait, Wyke Farm cheddar cheese soufflé, duck confit, boeuf bourguignon and chateaubriand.

Diners can also try gunpowder chicken with papaya salad, Moroccan lamb tagine and Malabar fish curry with toasted coconut, as well as smoked salmon and haddock fishcakes, pie and Sunday roasts bottomless gravy.

Three colourful beach huts will stand outside of the venue, and there will also be a decked outdoor seating area with festoon lighting.

Dogs will be welcome in the bar and garden.

The company is currently taking on new staff.

Mr Blanc launched White Brasserie in 2014 after the expansion of his established Brasserie Blanc restaurant chain.

Chef and chairman of Highcliffe Food Festival Mary Reader, who has worked with Mr Blanc, said: "Most residents are really looking forward to The Oaks opening.

"We had a talk from the company at the food festival, and it was very well-attended.

"It'll be fantastic for people living in Highcliffe to have more options. In the evenings particularly, it can be a bit limited.

"We were given menus at the festival and it looks fantastic. We have our fingers crossed but we're very hopeful that it'll be a great addition."

White Brasserie currently operates 17 pubs in England. The majority of these are located in and around London.

The business’ website says: “Our pubs are warm and welcoming with a unique combination of a traditional pub serving French brasserie food with an English twist. Something a little different, somewhere reassuringly familiar.”

In 2016, White Brasserie was named the Pub Company of the Year in the national Restaurant R200 Awards.