A popular Carlisle fine dining restaurant is set to close as its restauranteur owner takes on new challenge. 

James Hill has announced that his award-winning restaurant Lounge on the Green in Houghton will close in the autumn as he sets his sights on his new project - The Oak in Curthwaite. 

Lounge on the Green has achieved a lot in the seven years it has been in Houghton, but when the opportunity came up to take on the premises of the Royal Oak Inn, Mr Hill jumped at the chance.

"I think sometimes you can get a bit, not caught up in your ways, but you sometimes need to develop with a new challenge," he said. 

"The opportunity to, in the future, own the building and have that written into a contract that we had was obviously appealing. Plus, it's a beautiful premises.

"But just the actual building just lends itself really well to kind of who we are and what we're wanting to do."

Mr Hill and his team hope to maintain elements of the Lounge's style with a tasting menu but they won't be losing the pub aspect of things. 

If locals fancy a drink, they can still pop in to sit at the bar and have one of the drinks on draught - but The Oak will be more food led. 

Alongside the tasting menu, they will also serve an a la carte menu that sticks with the theme of pub dining. 

Mr Hill added: "It's going to be in our style and then obviously on top of that, we are going to still have drinkers in and people can come for a pint and sit at the bar. It is going to be more food led."

They're aiming to open The Oak in October but have a couple of modifications to do to the interior of the building first to make it a unique experience for diners. 

Although the Lounge on the Green is Michelin rated and holds AA rosettes, The Oak will need to earn these titles on its own merits. 

"Our priority is to offer something that is just really enjoyable, that's really nicely presented and tasty food, that is our style, that our team enjoys doing, that customers enjoy eating.

"That's our main goal with it and if the accolades come along with it, then great. We're happy about that."

You can keep up to date with how things are progressing with the restaurant by following @the_oak_curthwaite on Instagram.