'The Restaurant’ TV show is off the menu - for now at least

It’s the TV series that brought radio presenter Joe Duffy, rugby star Tommy Bowe, magician Keith Barry and many other well-known figures to a kitchen in Glasson to show off their culinary talents.

However, RTE has confirmed that it has no plans for a new series of 'The Restaurant’ programme, which was filmed for six series’ at The Wineport Lodge.

The popular show involved celebrities being put through their paces in the kitchen before having their cooking judged by a panel of experts, including food writers Tom Doorley and Paolo Tullio.

A spokesperson for RTE issued a brief statement on Monday which said: “There are no current plans for a new series of The Restaurant in 2013.
“It’s a good lifestyle series that performs well for RTÉ and we may revisit it again in the future – however, we like to rejuvenate our schedule and provide new, fresh content for our viewers.”
Wineport Lodge owner Ray Byrne said he was hopeful that the show - which was made by the production company Vision Independent Productions - would be back on our screens at some stage.

“I think there is an opportunity for it to return,” said Mr Byrne. “It was a very popular show which was loved by hundreds of thousands of viewers, and we always got a very good reaction from it.”
He said RTE’s statement “left the door half-open” for a return to the national broadcaster, but TV3 had also expressed an interest in 'The Restaurant’ in the past.

“I would be confident that the show, as we know it, will pop up on our screens again at some stage,” he said.
The earliest series’ of 'The Restaurant’ were made in Dublin but it was decided to permanently move filming to Glasson after the success of a Christmas special that was based there.

The filming of the most recent series was completed at the Wineport Lodge in 2011.