WORLD food restaurant chain COSMO has opened its £1 million eatery in York.

The Lord Mayor of York, Cllr Ian Gillies, was invited for a tour of the 248-seater restaurant and to try his hand a hot-plate cooking.

The new Bridge Street restaurant, which has created around 70 jobs, opened its doors to the sound of a Brazilian drumming display, accompanied by an appearance from an authentic Indian tuk tuk and a geisha girl stilt walker.

York is the fourth COSMO branch to open in Yorkshire in just over a year. The restaurant group runs 15 branches across the UK, including Aberdeen, Swansea and Belfast, as well as Leeds, Doncaster and Sheffield, with more restaurants due to open this year, including Nottingham.

James Brion, creative director of COSMO Restaurant Group, said: “We are extremely grateful to the Lord Mayor and his party for kindly opening our York restaurant and for showing what a dab hand he was at teppanyaki cooking.

“We have been looking forward to opening a restaurant in York for some time and, judging by the number of people we have had through our doors, the city is already living up to all of our expectations.”