A top brasserie chain is joining the Chester restaurant revolution with an opening scheduled for spring 2017.

Côte Restaurants, which has been recruiting a general manager and an assistant, has targeted 36 Bridge Street formerly occupied by the Christy linen shop.

The company gained change-of-use planning and listed building consent as well as a premises licence over the summer.

Permission was granted by Cheshire West and Chester Council for a rear extension, internal and external alterations, extraction equipment, outdoor seating and an awning.

A document accompanying the plans explained: “Côte is a well renowned restaurant, the concept of which is based on the many famous bistros of Paris. Inspired by new trends, Côte is dedicated to serving authentic classic brasserie dishes with a modern twist, using high quality ingredients at great prices.

“Côte are open every day for breakfast, through to lunch and dinner. Côte’s atmosphere is informal and friendly.

“Accordingly, unlike some other, more formal restaurants, Côte provide for a range of diners. This creates a high degree of pedestrian flows, including customers consuming a full meal through to those purchasing a simple snack.

"Thus, Côte’s customers comprise a mixture of dwell-times, which would not only encourage pedestrian movement but also promote linked trips with other uses within the city centre.

Côte Restaurants has gained planning permission to set up a new restaurant at 36 Bridge Street, Chester.

“Given the nature of Côte’s operation described above, a new restaurant would contribute to the vitality and viability of Bridge Street and the city centre.”

Recruitments ads reveal the general manager will earn a salary of up to £40,000 plus overtime and a £15,000 potential bonus while the assistant manager will take home up to £28,000 plus overtime.

The ad for the top job reads: “As one of the UK’s fastest growing restaurant groups, Cote Restaurants is the ideal place to take your career as a restaurant general manager to another level.

“We enjoy a hugely loyal following due to the quality of our fresh food and the standard of service which we work tirelessly to maintain.”

Genevieve Sparrow, Côte’s head of marketing, said the chain would ‘very much like to open in Chester’ but there had been a delay in reaching party wall agreements in connection with the extension. Building work was due to begin in November although the restaurant may not open until next spring.

Chester MP Chris Matheson recently raised concerns about the number of restaurant chains targeting the city centre as he fears the local economy could become imbalanced.