Cave du Cochon to become The Wright Place under new owners

Josh and Victoria Overington - the duo behind the award-winning Le Cochon Aveugle restaurant and Cave du Cochon wine and pizza bar venues in Walmgate - have announced they are to close the latter venture at the end of this year.

They closed Le Cochon Aveugle in November - after nine years running the highly-acclaimed French gastro site which served adventurous tasting menus, stating at the time “we have creatively outgrown the space and are looking to explore a number of new avenues”.

They have now announced that the Cave, which specialises in gourmet sourdough pizza and wine, will also close at the end of the year.

Cave du Cochon in Walmgate, which is closing

However, they revealed that the venue would re-open in mid January under new owners, who would continue selling pizza and wine but also run the business as a bakery and coffee shop during the day.

In a statement on social media they said that two members of Le Cochon Aveugle team would be taking ownership of the Cave site: former restaurant manager Steph Wright and sous chef Lui Wright, who are a married couple. The new eatery will be called The Wright Place.

On Instagram, Josh and Victoria posted: "We have some big news! Cave du Cochon will be closing at the end of December.

Earlier this year, we handed the reins over to our former restaurant manager @steph_wright03 and sous chef @lui_wright from @lecochonaveugle and next year they will be reimagining this space. Don’t panic though, they’ll still be serving your favourite wines and pizza in the evening!

"Excitingly, they will also be opening a bakery and coffee shop in the daytime, with bread, pastries and coffee on offer to eat in or take away including the Cochon-favourite seeded sourdough.

"We hope you will support them in this new venture and continue to enjoy your favourite spot for wine and pizza!"

Top York chef Josh Overington (Image: supplied)

"We'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years, all our incredibly loyal and hugely fun guests, our dedicated suppliers and producers and, of course, our team both past and present without whom Cave would never have existed."

Steph and Lui, who originally hail from Lincolnshire and have worked all over the UK in the food and wine business, said they were looking forward to opening the new venue.

The posted on their website: "We are delighted to bring you our brand new opening, offering bread, pastry and coffee in the day with pizza and wine in the evening. We have combined Lui's love of baking and Steph's passion for wine to create one business where you can find both!"

Lui said they hoped to open mid January and serve a selection of bread and pastries along with some coffee from Harmony Coffee Roaster during the day with wine and sourdough pizza served for the evening.