SOUTH Coast-based Dalmeny Leisure is expanding with the opening this week of its latest venture, a new restaurant at Romsey with a Spanish flavour.

It has invested around £600,000 on a complete refurbishment and extension of the old Horse & Jockey, to turn it into Braseria Casa Bodega.

The company, which owns restaurants and caf bars at Ocean Village, Southampton and Bedford Place and has interests in Salisbury and Windsor, has extended the former pub and restaurant to seat up to 100.

"We have designed it on the style of a bodega I know in Madrid,'' said partner Christopher Harrison. Out go formal menus and tablecloths. Choices of food are made from a blackboard and display cabinet of fresh fish and meats.

Day-to-day operation is in the hands of Frenchman Laurent Spinard, 27, who takes over as manager. He has worked most recently at La Piaza at Romsey and the De Vere Grand Harbour Hotel in Southampton. New chefs are David Palmer and Andrew Taylor-Rose.

The company owns Sur La Mer and Mustang Sally's at Ocean Village, the Greenhouse caf bar at Bedford Place, Boticelli's, next door and runs the Milford Hall Hotel, Salisbury and Shooters American bar and diner at Windsor.

Refurbishment work for this week's opening entailed piling work and new building.

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