The long-awaited opening date for a fine-dining restaurant and art gallery has been announced.

The team behind a trio of award-winning eateries are to open another branch in Rainham High Street on September 1.

Cafe Nucleus, which has three hubs in Rochester and Chatham, has taken over a former solicitor’s office in the town.

Complicated paper work and red tape has held up the formal takeover of the striking white weather board building which was expected be welcoming visitors by the spring.

A planning application for change of use has been submitted to Medway Council and owner Aaron Sergejenkovs Telford is keen to start a full £400,000 plus refurbishment project.

If approved, the main dining area will be called the Parlour and the wine room will be called The Wine Chamber.

They already have seven members of staff on the team and are hoping to make it 20. A soft launch for pre-booked guests will take place in August.

Like its sister venue, the former Conservancy Building in Rochester High Street, a top-end menu will be offer on limited days of the week.

A dedicated room offering up 2,000 hand-picked wines - which will be called The Wine Chamber - a lounge and toilets will be on the ground floor. A take-away service offering coffee and snacks will also be available.

Opening hours will be 9.30am to 6pm, Sunday to Wednesday and 9.30am to 11pm Thursday to Saturday.

Aaron, who went to school and used to live in the town, and his partner Sergejs Sergejenkovs, have been looking at properties in the area for years.

Hot on the heels of the success of their other establishments, they were encouraged by Medway Council to consider a move to either Rainham or Gillingham and their survey has shown that nearly a quarter of their existing customers live in the ME8 postcode.

Managing director Aaron, 34, said the restaurant and artistic side of the business were equally as important.

But added: "Everybody's got to eat. The cafe acts as a stepping stone for some people to visit the galleries."

Like the Rochester site in the old listed Conservancy Building in the High Street, two rooms will be given over to fine-dining on Friday and Saturday with chefs already being recruited from top London hotels.

Aaron has worked for Nucleus for 10 years and oversees the running of the Continental-style Chatham eatery, which is tucked away off Chatham High Street and opened 20 years ago.

He's also in charge of the Rochester branch which has celebrated its fourth anniversary and the cafe in Military Road opposite the Pentagon.

He said: "I feel I have an affinity with Rainham, even though I don't live there any more.

"We ask people who come to other sites to leave their postcode and 24.8% said ME8, so in some ways we have a ready-made client base."