TWO Oxfordshire restaurants have been secretly taken over for the next series of Raymond Blanc's reality TV series The Restaurant.

Sahara in Blue Boar Street in Oxford city centre and the Ben Johnson pub in Northampton Road, Weston-on-the-Green, near Bicester, have been handed to budding restaurateurs as part of the BBC2 reality series.

The two venues are among eight which have been given to couples vying to prove their skills as businesspeople to M Blanc.

The couples have to attract customers, choose dishes and cook and serve them during a succession of challenges for the show.

After each challenge, one of the couples is dismissed, until the winning pair are given a restaurant financially backed and supported by M Blanc, the celebrity chef who owns the Michelin starred Manoir aux Quat' Saisons restaurant in Great Milton.

Sahara - named The Blue Goose for the show - reopened yesterday under its temporary owners - a couple from outside Oxfordshire.

A barmaid at nearby pub The Bear, who asked not to be named, said she was also working at The Blue Goose but could not comment because she had signed a confidentiality agreement.

A member of staff at The Tanning Shop in Blue Boar Street, said: "I have seen them with the cameras."

Linda Jones, a hairdresser at Blue Boar Hairdressing salon, said: "We knew they were filming The Restaurant but we haven't seen anything."

Ciaran McErlean, co-owner of Sahara, said: "We were approached by the BBC.

"They took it for a period of four to nine weeks. It is good publicity to be honest. It is quite high profile and it is obviously on the BBC at prime time, although not until September."

The first series of The Restaurant - and M Blanc in particular - was a hit for the BBC when it was aired last year.

That series was won by former Army chef Jeremy Hooper and his wife Jane.

Mrs Hooper was brought to tears during the programme but the couple were rewarded with the opportunity to take on the Eight at the Thatch restaurant in Thame in November.

However, the pair quit after just seven months at the helm.

Last night a BBC spokesperson admitted Sahara and the Ben Johnson were being used in the series but declined to reveal the other locations or whether any couples from Oxfordshire were involved.

She said anyone wanting to eat at one of the venues should email restaurantbookings@bbc.co.uk.

  • Do you know of any other venues being used in the show? If so call 01865 425423 or email news@oxfordtimes.co.uk