THE Ivy has thrown open its doors to The Press - as it emerged that the top restaurant will employ more than 50 chefs, led by a former York College student.

The Ivy - famous in London’s West End for attracting star names from Michael Winner to Joan Collins - is set to bring a touch of glamour to St Helen’s Square when it opens to diners on December 14, says general manager Jon Pinner.

The plush 120-cover restaurant has York-related images on the walls, including historic lithographs of landmarks such as the Minster and Micklegate Bar, a marble top bar, pendant lighting and leather banquettes.

It has also created 124 jobs, including no fewer than 55 chefs, with head chef Steve Scoullar returning to the city where he developed a sound grounding for his culinary expertise at York College.

He also worked at the city’s Ramada Jarvis as trainee commis chef before taking on roles at Middlethorpe Hall Hotel and the Blue Bicycle before working more recently on top cruise lines.

Mr Pinner said yesterday that the Ivy, which started 100 years ago and attracted a celebrity clientele because of its proximity to West End theatres, was now expanding to several selected locations outside London, including Harrogate, and had chosen to open in York partly because of its thriving tourism trade.

“It’s also a physically beautiful city,” he said, adding that the availability of the building in the busy heart of the city centre - in the former Blacks store - was another key attraction.

Mr Pinner said it would be open from 8am to midnight six days a week, and from 9am to 11pm on Sundays, serving breakfasts in the mornings and with afternoon teas also served between 3 and 5pm.

Locally sourced food would include sausages from Masham and freshly caught cod from Whitby.

He said the food would be ‘affordable’, with a two course set menu for £16.50 and three courses for £21.