A CELEBRITY chef has ended his association with Chester’s ABode hotel as he pursues other business ventures.

Michael Caines holds a Michelin star and appears on TV as a judge on BBC Two’s Masterchef Professionals and is a regular on Saturday Morning Kitchen.

He last visited his fine dining restaurants in the ABode group, which included a site in Chester, on December 8, before he said it was the “end of an era”.

He will now pursue other ventures in Devon, Wales, Shropshire and Abu Dhabi. 

All of the ABode restaurants will be rebranded.

He later tweeted: “I’d like to thank all the many guests that have frequented my restaurants within the @abodehotelsgrp, which I co-founded back in 2013.

“Also massive thank you to all the dedicated staff too that worked within the restaurants here @abodehotelsgrp I wish all well in the future.”

The restaurant is located in the Chester ABode hotel in the HQ building.

He will now open his own hotel and restaurant in Devon that would be ‘a total Michael Caines’ venture’ and he needed to give “100 per cent of his time to it”.

His spokesman added: “The new venture is opening next year (2016) and will be an incredible venture but he has had to give up other things he has been associated with in the past.”

Mr Caines, 46, lost his right arm in a car accident in 1994 but was back in the kitchen within two weeks.

He has previously performed demonstrations at Chester Food Drink and Lifestyle Festival and in 2013 helped prepare food for VIP guests at Chester Racecourse when Prince William took part in a polo event, including A-listers such as Bond actress Naomie Harris and Mad Max: Fury Road star Tom Hardy.