Palace adds sparkle with new Champagne bar (From Bicester Advertiser)

Palace adds sparkle with new Champagne bar

1:00pm Monday 29th October 2012 in News

BLENHEIM Palace has transformed its catering facilities and opened what is believed to be the first Champagne bar in a stately home.

Catering Design Group has refurbished three areas of the World Heritage Site in Woodstock to create the new restaurants and cafés.

The first phase saw the Water Terrace Café refurbished and the creation of a Champagne bar.

The pleasure gardens deli, next to the Marlborough hedge maze, has also been refurbished to create a family-orientated café.

The Oxfordshire Pantry has been built within the old shop to create a new café and food outlet.

The work was part of a multi-million pound project – the largest at the stately home for more than 200 years – to improve its visitor centre and facilities.

Blenheim Palace property director Roger File said: “The purpose of the refurbishment was to create a destination-type catering facility that would help boost the spend-per-head of visitors and this has definitely been achieved.

“The new facilities have added more than 100 extra covers to the catering operation and, while it is still early days, I’m confident that the new refurbishment is achieving our objectives.”

He added: “The food offer we have now is superior to what it was. Customer feedback suggests they are very impressed and the Champagne bar is attracting lots of attention, perhaps because it is not something they expect to see.”