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At home with: David Moore
David Moore is the founder and owner of Michelin-starred restaurant Pied à Terre, in London’s Fitzrovia. With a lifelong career in the hospitality industry, his 42 years of experience include the retention of a Michelin star for 31 years, which is the longest any restaurant has held it. He is regularly on TV and radio including The Restaurant with Raymond Blanc for BBC2 and Masterchef the Professionals . He talks to Lynda Clark about his fascinating career, his first and current home and has some great advice for first time buyers
Main Photo : © JodiHinds
FTB : Tell us about your first step on the property ladder DM: I worked at Raymond Blanc’s restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons for six years and I rented for three years and then decided to buy. It was in the late 80s and property prices had really taken off, so it seemed to make sense to buy somewhere. I bought a two bedroom apartment in Abingdon for £64,000. Then, in 1991 I opened my restaurant, Pied à Terre, in London and there was a big hike in interest rates and I was marooned with the apartment. I held on to it for five years and rented it out very successfully. Eventually I got engaged to Val, now my wife, and I decided to start afresh and paid off the negative equity and walked away. FTB : Tell us about your current home? DM: I got married in 1998 and we lived above the restaurant while we saved for a deposit. It was tough living there, but after about a year we had enough money, together with the help of family. The restaurant is in Fitzrovia, so we drew a circle round the area where it would only take 20 minutes to walk to work. We eventually found a one bedroom apartment, which was in the right area, but it was too small. The estate agent told us that a new show home had just opened and asked if we would like to take a look. We knew it would be outside of our budget and Val decided not to go in. But when I saw it I loved it, as it had beautiful large windows, a conservatory on the roof terrace, and two good-sized bedrooms. I knew we had to buy it, and decided to go and have a chat with the
“THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A SENSE OF HOME AND GETTING YOUR NAME ON THE TITLE DEEDS”
12 First Time Buyer August/September 2024
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