A £1MILLION steak and lobster restaurant from a Michelinstarred chef will be bringing “affordable luxury” to Southend seafront.

Mark Baumann will open the first of his newBourgee steak and lobster restaurants, on Eastern Esplanade, on September 15, and has already offered diners a mouth-watering taste of what to expect on Twitter.

The tweet from @Bourgeeltd showed a picture of a bisque-like soup being poured over a deep red tail of lobster, seated on a bed of greens with the caption “Cheeky taster for you...Bourgee Bang Bang Lobster Soup coming to our beautiful Southend venue September.”

Maldon and Burnham Standard:

A taste of things to come: Bourgee Bang Bang Lobster Soup

Mr Baumann featured in ITV series Baumann Goes to Market and on UKTV’s Great Food Live.

Together with business partner James Welling, they picked Southend to open their flagship restaurant, because they consider it an up-andcoming town with a large amount of regeneration investment and is set for bright future.

They added: “We are thrilled to finally see our vision of the Bourgee concept launch in the UK and are confident our innovative menus, sumptuous and vibrant destinations coupled with our sensible pricing strategy, will strike a chord with diners across the country and prove that there is no reason why superb product, service and venues should not be available to everyone.”

The businessmen are opening another Bourgee restaurant in Billericay.

The newest addition to the seafront has been met with a positive response from its neighbours.

Sam Ali, assistant manager at MFA Bowl in the Kursaal, said: “It’s going to be good for business.

“It will bring more of a footfall, being a restaurant with a top chef, attracting more people who might want to make a night of it by going for a meal and bowling.

“It’s going to be better for everyone.”

Maldon and Burnham Standard:

Mark Baumann is selling his Michelin-starred brasserie in Coggeshall to focus on the restaurant

Matthew Chambers, manager at Kursaal Functions, was also enthusiastic.

He said: “We’re all for it and wish them success. It’s a brilliant idea.

“It’s nice to haveawell-known chef open up in Southend and I don’t think there’s even anything similar.”

Their praise was echoed by Paul Thompson, chairman of the Seafront Traders’ Association, who runs Pebbles One Cafe across the road.

He said: “Everyone’s quite excited about it opening.

“No one really specialises in steak and lobster in Southend and the place is starting to look really nice.

“It’s a big investment and fantastic for the town.”

Mr Baumann is selling his acclaimed Baumann’s Brasserie in Coggeshall in order to focus on the business.

The British master chef took over the business after the death of founder Peter Langan in 1988, only two years after it opened.