Horse racing jockey Frankie Dettori and chef Marco Pierre White are to open a 'Frankie's Italian Bar & Grill' restaurant in Hoylake.

Pierre White has developed a global reputation for his culinary skills and fiery temper. He held three Michelin stars at the age of 33, at the time the youngest chef to have achieved the accolade. Dettori has been a prolific winner of races around the world since the early 1990s.

The duo run six other 'Frankie's' restaurants in London, Dublin and Dubai, including the flagship restaurant in Knightsbridge (pictured).

Reviews are mixed, with some sites rating the restaurants consistently high, others consistently low. Let's hope this venture, being new, will meet the expectations of local residents as well as tourists and do justice to these household names. Sample menu here.

This website does, of course have its own review facility for local restaurants and shops.

The restaurant will be based at the site of the current King's Gap Court Hotel, which is due for a major refurbishment starting in June 2010 with a contemporary glass frontage facing the King's Gap, although the restaurant will be operated as a separate business.

It will be one of a handful of Pierre White branded restaurant ventures opening in the North West.

What do you think? Will the presence of a household-name branded restaurant be good for Hoylake? Might this make it easier for an agent to let one of Hoylake's empty premises, such as the old Boulevard/Tender Loins restaurant, to a quality national or regional restaurant chain such as Gusto or Pizza Express?

Email us at info@hoylakevillage.org.uk