Having spent several years working in large corporate hotels, Lawrence and Julia Murphy decided to ‘go it alone’ with their first Restaurant, Fat Olives which opened in January 2000. A combination of Lawrence’s earlier career, spending time in kitchens in France & Switzerland, along with Julia’s front office sales skills, gave rise to them becoming ‘The News Restaurant of the Year’ runners up in their first year of opening. Featured in the five main food guides for 2008 and recommended in Egon Ronay's Top 200 Restaurants.