When is a new restaurant not quite a new restaurant? When it changes its name, smartens up its interior and alters its menu every few weeks to give customers something fresh and different to taste.

That is what the former Monty’s diner in Pitts Bay Road has done. It now goes by the name Bouchée, and the French-inspired name is not the only thing that has changed.

Co-owner Walter Simons has a passion for French cuisine and wines and has reinvented the dinner menu to reflect this. However, loyal customers who enjoyed popping into Monty’s during the past 10 years will still find favourites on the brunch and lunch menus.

Bouchée is a diner that changes during the day. In the morning and at lunch it has a light, airy and relaxed feel. In the evening the mood changes as the table linen and candles come out.

Step into Bouchée today and be prepared to experience refreshed surroundings and a much more discernible French taste. The changes are the result of a business plan written a decade ago between the three owners.

Mr. Simons explained: “My wife Emma, my brother Wilmot and I sat down 10 years ago and wrote a business plan. After five years we would renovate the place — we actually managed to do that after three years — and after 10 years we knew we wanted to do one of two things and that was to see where we were and to either sell the restaurant or reinvent ourselves,” said Mr Simons.

“No-one has made us an offer (for the business) that we think is worthwhile.”

So that left option two, a reinventing of the restaurant.

When staff returned from their usual three weeks off, during which time the premises were spruced up in preparation for the forthcoming season, they found to their surprise the restaurant’s name had been changed.

One of the potential pitfalls for any restaurant altering its menu is the risk of scaring off its clientele, something Mr. Simons is acutely aware of and one of the reasons why the changes are not too radical.

“For lunch we still have comfort foods, we’ve changed the name of some things such as ‘Le Hamburger’. And the one thing we could not change was the fish sandwich because that is very popular,” said Mr. Simmons.

That is not to say there haven’t been changes to the lunch time fayre, such as the European bread.

“Bouchée is Bermuda-owned but French influenced. The chef suggests exciting things that we can do and we are gradually introducing more.

“When we started we did what we knew. We knew comfort food and we did it very well. It was successful for us.”

However, Mr. Simons has a love of French cuisine and mixing wines and foods. His passion for wine has led him to visit vineyards in France, Australia and California. When a customer asks for advice on a wine to go with a meal he is able to give a far more insightful answer as he has probably actually tasted many of his 2004 vintage selection at the various vineyards when the wines were still in the barrel.

And if he doesn’t have the answer he has the next next thing — he’ll call his knowledgeable top chef friend in France for guidance.

Over the years Monty’s has slowly introduced French cuisine to its customers through daily specials.

“There used to be a huge dinner menu with four chicken dishes and beef served three ways. Now we still do the staples; chicken, beef, lamb, duck and chow food, but we have one variation of each and we change the menu every three weeks. The ingredients are there but we just do it differently.”

The success was immediately clear. On the first night of the new menu customers collectively ordered everything that was listed.

“That was exciting. It was an accomplishment achieved between the chef, my friend in France and myself,” said Mr. Simons.

Live music and entertainment at weekends, which proved a winner for Monty’s, continues with the new look Bouchée.

“Dining should be an experience to be remembered. I want people to know that when they come here it is going to be an experience.”

Monty’s acquires French flavour