Sadness as the Sauce Factory restaurant shuts

8:40am Saturday 5th July 2008

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A Worcester restaurant is to close its doors for the final time tomorrow.

The Sauce Factory, à la carte restaurant, brasserie and tapas bar in London Road, will serve up its last lunch from 12.30pm.

Chef David Thatcher, who runs the restaurant, said: “I am very, very sad.

“The restaurant has been my life for the last seven years and now I have to close it.”

Mr Thatcher leases the building from Pete Styles, who is currently out of the country and was therefore unavailable for comment. It is understood that he wants to turn the building into flats.

Mr Thatcher, who was recently awarded a Culinary Order of Merit from the World Master Chefs Society, is now looking for alternative premises.

He said: “I hope to stay in Worcester.

“Next week, I will negotiate with a restaurant in the city. If the negotiations don’t produce a result, I will either go to Sussex for a restaurant partnership or to Coventry. There I have prospects of a management position while being the head of the kitchen.”

He said: “Actually, we have known for more than two years that the site could be developed for housing.”

Mr Thatcher is now planning to sell the colourful tiles covering a huge part of the restaurant’s walls, including a map on the ceiling. The map shows Great Britain during war time.

A farewell party took place on Sunday, June 29.

Tomorrow’s lunch will be a last opportunity to go along and enjoy the diverse range of food on offer.

Mr Thatcher, who spent 10 years in Berlin, one in Paris and more than four years in Alicante, Spain, said: “Everybody is welcome.”