Tim Allen’s Flitch of Bacon Inn to reopen this month, boss announces

A Michelin star restaurant in Little Dunmow will reopen this month, after electricity problems forced the celebrated eatery to close in March this year.

Tim Allen's Flitch of Bacon Inn, the only restaurant in Essex to hold a Michelin star, will reopen on May 22.

Co-owner and operator, Tim Allen told the Broadcast he was "really excited" to start serving customers again.

Tim decided to close the restaurant after repeated electrical faults. During the worst of the issues, diners would be enjoying their meals when the power would go off, tills would sometimes stop working and staff couldn't use kitchen equipment.

The problem lay with a nearby electricity substation, with insufficient power being produced to run the restaurant.

However, after an extensive amount of work to fix the problem, which left the restaurant looking like a "building site", Tim and his staff are now readying themselves to reopen the eatery.

Asked how he feels about getting back in the kitchen, Tim, who joined the restaurant last year, said: "Honestly, I can't tell you. I just want to cook. Running all around a building site that is your restaurant is a different kind of challenge but we are all about producing great food and trying to give great service. We are just starting to work on the dishes and menus, we have started to make stocks and sauces. I just want to get moving. I am a workaholic. I get out of bed to cook."

Once reopened, the restaurant will just be serving dinner and offering the a la carte menu for the first few days. That weekend staff will start serving lunch again and within the week all the menus will be available.

More than 1,200 reservations had to be cancelled because of the closure, which let more than 3,000 people down, Tim predicts. However, over the next week, employees will be busy contacting the disappointed diners, to inform them of the reopening.

As well as the extensive building work, which included changing the restaurant's power access point, the guest bathrooms have been redone and vegetables have been planted in the garden, which will be used in the menu.

Tim said: "There is still a lot to do between now and the reopening. We are getting there. By the time everyone gets there the restaurant will be spick and span and looking beautiful."