A Michelin-star chef has launched a new restaurant at Hamilton’s Rosedon Hotel.

Lucy Collins, a former contestant on TV’s chefs’ competition Chopped on the Food Network channel in the US, is in charge of Huckleberry — the fine dining arm of Take Five, the company behind the Buzz chain, Devil’s Isle and the Village Pantry in Flatts.

Jon Brunson, a director of Take Five, said: “There really wasn’t a restaurant here before, so this is quite a new concept for Rosedon.”

Huckleberry is spread over two rooms and the terrace at the Pitts Bay Road hotel, owned by brother and sister team Lee Petty and Scott Kitson, and offers a mix of Bermudian-influenced dishes European cuisine, plus a flavour of the US south.

Mr Brunson said: “The terrace is quite beautiful — the aesthetics are nice.”

He added: “We are really excited to be working with Lucy — part of the unique feel that Huckleberry has to offer is the skills that a Michelin-starred chef can bring to the restaurant.”

Ms Collins, originally from South Carolina, but who worked in New York for eight years, said: “I’ve created the menu and I’m trying to create a standard of service the way I was taught to run a restaurant.

“It’s something that’s more of a dining experience that an in-out turntable.

“It’s all about really making our guests feel like they’re in their own house.”

Mr Brunson added: “We are trying to offer a fine dining experience where people can enjoy the journey through the menu options we offer without any rush or pretension.

“We want to give the customer our quality time and service. It’s more about really focusing on our customers enjoying themselves.

“It’s a diverse cuisine, from something as simple as chicken breast to hand-rolled pasta and more elaborate dishes.”

Mr Brunson said: “We really try and focus not just on the quality service and dining experience — we also invest the same attention to detail when it comes to how we choose the produce and products we use.

“We are using healthy options to prepare the food and these are a lot of the speciality skills Lucy brings to the table.

“It’s important for us to try and give a dining experience for anyone, a vegetarian or a vegan. Without being all things to all people, we provide a service that takes into consideration dietary needs.”

The new venture is a move upmarket for the Take Five group, best known for its fast food Buzz chain, also operates Devil’s Isle in Hamilton and the family-friendly Village Pantry,

Mr Brunson said: “As part of our dining experience for Bermuda, we have added more of a fine dining alternative and we have brought on board with Lucy someone who really understands what that means.”

He added: “Gabriel Cristea, the restaurant assistant manager, was very instrumental in getting it all up and running. He did a lot of work.”

Ms Petty, a trained artist, revamped two former lounges at the hotel, creating a blue room and a green room, while the spacious terrace is also used for dining.

Mr Brunson said Huckleberry was named in honour of American Mark Twain, a regular visitor to Bermuda and his character Huckleberry Finn, as well as being a nod to Ms Collins’s roots in South Carolina.

He added: “Given the relationship that Mark Twain had with Bermuda we thought it was fitting to make that connection, as well as the southern twist that Lucy brings to her work.”