Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who in a few short years has gone from Naked Chef to national hero, is now turning his attention from British school dinners to bringing la cucina Italiana to the local high street.

The first collection of restaurants serving quality, authentic and affordable Italian food under the name, Jamie's Italian, opened in Oxford this month. Jamie has plans to extend the collection of neighbourhood restaurants into Bath, Kingston, Brighton and Cambridge within the next twelve months. The Oxford restaurant sets the style - a retro yet rustic look with exposed brickwork combined with modern graffiti art gives the eaterie a truly stunning and unique look, as you would expect from this young cutting-edge restaurateur.


The kitchen is open-plan and is of course visible from the dining area so you can see what theatrical culinary events take place there. The interior has been described as 'funky, modern, young and hip', but totally in keeping with the traditional ambience of the Italian bottega. This has been achieved via a partnership between the designer Justin Hardy of Martin Brudnizki Design Studio and du Boulay Contracts who were responsible for fitting out the interior.

Du Boulay, who work on a regular basis with other blue chip clients such as Caprice Holdings (J Sheekey, The Ivy, Daphne’s) Paul UK, Ping Pong, Strada, Village du Pain, Wagamama, and lots more took up the challenge at the end of January this year and completed the interior of Jamie's Italian in Oxford within 16 weeks. They will be working with Jamie as the collection expands throughout the South East and across the UK. Jamie's attention to detail is evident in the choice of natural materials - Reclaimed French oak floors running throughout the restaurant, red lava stone top counters and fuschia banquette seating, through to the antique brass fittings in the Edwardian style bathrooms.

Michael Reed, Contracts Director of du Boulay, said how great it was to work with Jamie Oliver and respond to his challenge to create something quirky that was an extension of his personality but at the same time totally in keeping with the high street of this old university city.