Couple with Michelin Star experience open wine bar and restaurant in Eastbourne

Journeys Wine Bar and Restaurant can be found in Station Parade. It opened December 7 and is owned by Marina and Amy Stone. The couple has spent more than 10 years in the hospitality industry including time in Michelin Star restaurants.

Journeys specialises in premium and organic wines with a selection of small plates and sharing boards.

Marina’s background is all things wine and she started her career in France, her home country. Since then she’s worked in Michelin Star restaurants all over the world as a professional sommelier - creating wine lists and pairing wine with food. She said: “I went into the industry by accident. My sister opened a restaurant and offered me a job - I fell in love with the industry.”

Amy is in charge of the food and has been working in kitchens since she was 16, first as a porter and then working her way up the ranks to become a professional chef in Michelin star restaurants, high-class hotels and private members’ clubs.

The couple helped open and run a restaurant called the Hide and Fox in Kent, earning the site a Michelin Star and three AA rosettes. Marina said: “It wasn’t established at all before. We worked so hard and it was very rewarding. Seeing that achievement was really inspiring and made us want our own place.”

Amy: “Then it felt like it was time to open our own place and work for ourselves.”

The couple said it was ‘by chance’ that they came to Eastbourne as they were looking at sites in Kent and Brighton. The Station Parade site came on the market around April and when they came to see it, they knew it was right for them. Amy said: “When we walked in we knew that was it.”

Fast forward eight months and Journeys is open with a selection of wines and dishes to compliment each other. Marina said she is on hand to help you pair food and wine for the ‘perfect experience’, or leave you to it - whatever you prefer!

The couple said they’d love to become known as the place to go for good wine and food. Amy said: “Everyone has been so welcoming and wishing us luck. It’s got a really nice feel to it here.”

Reporter India Wentworth went to check out Journeys

Journeys is open daily 11am-11pm.