A POPULAR continental restaurant in Old Town has had to temporarily close its doors once again, following the unexpected departure of their head chef and front of house manager.

The much-in-demand Bistro Les Chats on Wood Street is currently closed, but a poster in the window directs customers to the nearby Los Gatos, which shares the same owners.

But diners need not panic, as owners Phil Saunter and Shareen Campbell are busy working on getting the restaurant open again.

The poster in the window of Bistro Les Chats reads: “Apologies, but due to unforeseen staff shortages we are temporarily closed.”

Les Chats is normally open for lunch and dinner on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Speaking on Thursday afternoon Phil told The Adver: “Our Italian chef and front of house person have left us unexpectedly and we plan to build a new team. We are advertising for replacements but in the meantime the restaurant is temporarily closed and we are not taking reservations until we have a new team in place.”

Los Gatos in nearby Devizes Road remains open and customers are invited to dine there instead.

In September of last year Phil and Shareen made the difficult decision to shut the French restaurant and to focus their attentions on the successful Los Gatos instead after chef Simon Barsby moved on in August after almost five years on Wood Street.

But after a public outcry they decided to resurrect the Wood Street bistro as a pan-European restaurant, appointing new chef, Alessandro Gianati, who has 10 years’ experience in the industry and has trained for three years under Michelin-star chef Paolo Frosio. His partner Valentina Vergari is an experienced front of house waitress and manager.

Speaking at the time Shareen said: “We were inundated with entreaties to reopen it as soon as possible. People emailed, phoned, got in touch on Twitter saying they wanted it back, that they missed it.

“The message we received loud and clear was Swindon needs Bistro Les Chats.”

Chef Peter Matysek, who previously worked at the French restaurant before moving to Los Gatos, and Miles Andrews, well known for his cheerful service, both returned to the Bistro also for its reopening in November.