THE Cheerful Soul is an appropriate name for the restaurant run by Michele English and Russell Clement.

It was the name they gave their temporary eaterie in North London for the duration of the BBC’s reality show the Restaurant, at the end of which the Colchester couple were crowned champions.

Their prize was to open a restaurant with one of the country’s most celebrated chefs, Raymond Blanc, and that’s exactly what they did a few weeks ago in a pub formerly called the Hare and Hounds, just outside the picturesque Berkshire town of Marlow.

Fans of the show will be more than familiar with the name as it was the restaurant used by fellow finalists, Ali and James, but to look at it now you wouldn’t recognise the place.

It has been completely gutted, with the historic beams sandblasted, some of the walls opened up and now with the most warm, beautifully decorated, interior, complete with exotic lightening, rustic furniture and frescos on the wall.

You could not find a more cheerful couple than Michele and Russell at the moment, living their dream in an idyllic setting.

Not that things have been plain sailing. After winning the reality show, they were set a training schedule at one of Raymond's Blanc Brasseries in Bristol.schedule at a Raymond Blanc brasserie in Bristol.

In the run-up to the opening they have been working very long hours.

Michele said: “It has been very hard work and we know it’s going to be like this for at least a few more months.

“But things are getting better already as we train up our staff and we all find our feet.”

Russell added: “Since we opened, it has been non-stop. I have been going to bed at 2am and then getting up at 5am.

“I am pretty tired, but this is what we have dreamed about and to see it up and running is just incredible.”

Despite the restaurant being 99 miles from Colchester, there are still some things to remind them of home, like the quirky milepost outside to Britain’s oldest recorded town and the hand screen printed knife and fork napkins, created by Colchester Institute student Anna Howlett from an original idea by Michele.

Michele said: “My cousin Holly, who lives in Chelmsford, painted the pictures on the wall and my mum, who also lives in Chelmsford, helped us to design the interior. She sourced all the lightening.”

Colchester is never far from their thoughts, especially their house in Lexden Road.

Russell added: “We love it too much to sell it. We think of it now as our country retreat.

“We came back just before we opened to take a break and prepare ourselves and it was great just pottering around the place, mowing the lawn.”

But for now it’s the Cheerful Soul which needs their undivided attention and with people flocking from miles to see what all the fuss is about, it will be a while before they will be making another return trip to their north Essex home.

More customers are likely to turn up too with another telly outing for the pair when series three of the Restaurant starts in the autumn.

Michele said: “They have filmed a one hour documentary about us, which I think will be going out as the first programme in the new series. It’s a kind of what we did next for the viewers.”