April 2006 Archives

Gallic love god Jean-Christophe Novelli has been at it again (perhaps). Responding to a call from the Kitchen Rat the other day about the then developing Winner-gate saga, the charming French chef left a phone message apologising for missing my call. Rather amusingly in the background of the message one could clearly hear a female voice moaning in what we can only guess was pleasure.

TV chef Brian "turnip" Turner was on good form last night at the National Restaurateurs' Dinner in London. Turner made Kitchen Rat and the audience giggle during his opening address. Having mounted the stage, he walked up to the mike he announced in his dulcit Yorkshire accent: "This mike has been set for a midget." As he spoke, he turned to face the seated audience and continued with a twinkle in his eye. "Don't worry, you won't have to give a speech Antony." Unfortunately, no one could see whether Wozza was there!

Kitchen Rat has learnt that the spat between celebrity chef Jean Christophe Novelli and bumptous Sunday Times' restaurant reviewer Michael Winner may have been nothing more than a publicity stunt. JC, not the famous one that walked on water, but the chef who has never been shy of a camera or attracting publicity for his various culinary ventures (NB did anyone see his recent trip across the Andes on Channel Five with a group of celebrity Z-listers?) So rumour has it he set up poor old Winner by inviting a snapper to picture Winner's embarrasment as he was turned away from JC's latest venture at the White Horse gastropub in Harpenden in Hertfordshire. Of course, publicity - whether good or bad - would have been desperately bad for JC's latest culinary opperation, particularly as it's hardly getting great reviews.... see Squaremeal. However, I'm sure there are plenty of restaurateurs who would be pleased to see Winner getting some of his own medecine. Apparently, he once snorted to the general manager at Chewton Glen that some of the guests in the hotel's restaurant were wearing polyester trousers, something he found rather vulgar.

Ginger-haired chef and self confessed ladies man Ian Pengelley is back in action again with a new venture called Gilgamesh. Let's hope his pan-Asian cuisine goes down better at his new gaff in Camden than it did in his eponymous Knightsbridge site, which closed at the end of last year. It'll need to as it has a whopping 680 seats. Good luck fella at least no one has got a clue what the name stands for... if you have an idea then please let Kitchen Rat know.

Gerry "I'll Show Them Who's Boss" Robinson is back in the sector after five years absence. The TV business troubleshooter, the star of BBC Two's reality business programme "I'll Show Them Who's Boss", is back at the helm of a hospitality operation, following his appointment as chairman of Moto, the motorway services operator that was recently bought for £600m (reportedly) by Ozzy bank Macquarie. So at last Robinson, who is described by his agent as one of Britain's greatest businessmen, has got his hands on another hospitality business. Since leaving Granada in 2001, it seems that Robinson has been desperate to get back in the sector following his hostile advances for Rentokil Initital last year. Guess Robinson will be telling Moto chief exec Tim Moss and managing director Brian Lotts "Who's Boss" when they have their first board meeting. Could be fun.

2005 saw Jamie Oliver win the inaugural CatererSearch 100, a list of the most influential figures in the UK hospitality industry, after his Channel 4 programme caused the government to change it's policy on school meals.

Jamie saw off competition from the likes of then-boss of Compass, Sir Francis MacKay. But who do you think has been the most influential person in the UK hospitality industry in the last 12 months? The 2nd CatererSearch 100 list will be released in August, but they want your thoughts on who should be on it. So if you think you know who should knock Jamie Oliver off of the top slot. tell them about it now.

One of Kitchen Rat's favourite industry blogs is the New York blogger Waiter Rant. It has some great stories about a waiters experiences Stateside and his take on what makes the world go round. Check it out if you have minute.

Any waiters out there that fancy doing the same sort of thing in the UK, then post some examples of your work back to Kitchen Rat and maybe we could set you up with a great blogging site.

Talking of industry blogs, the trend is clearly spreading to the luxury hotel sector. Hotel giant Starwood is setting up its own blog called TheLobby.com. It describes it as a content-rich daily travel blog designed to create an emotional connection and foster a sense of belonging among the uber travellers. Ummmmmm.... not so sure, it seems a bit corporate to me and not really what blogs are about!

As we guessed at the end of last week the rumours were right. Chef-restaurateur Pat McDonald is selling his award-winning Paris restaurant in Birmingham to focus on his consultancy work and his Epic and Epicurean restaurants. A deal is nearly done and more details will be announced soon.

Spot the difference ... recently departed chairman of Compass Francis Mackay may have had one eye on his retirement for the past year, but we reckon he's been starring with his double Jim Bowen in Bullseye ...

Jim says: "Go on Francis three arrows for double top and win a £16m pension pot to retire on."

Francis throws his first dart and it's straight in double 20.

"In one," Jim says. "Now you can put your feet up and retire with a few bob in your back pocket!"

Hot news .... chef Chris Galvin has landed a prime spot to open a new restaurant bearing his name. Kitchen Rat has learnt that Galvin will have his name over the door at the iconic Windows restaurant on the 28th floor of London's Hilton hotel on Park Lane. Having had such amazing success at Galvin on Baker Street, which opened last year, who would bet against him making a go of his new site to be called Galvin at Windows. The news puts an end to the endless speculation about what Hilton would do with Windows, which used to be known as Windows on the World. There's little known yet on what sort of food Galvin will be offering, but the smart money says it'll be more towards the fine-dining end of the spectrum than his bistro deluxe on Baker Street. Good luck to him, let's hope his food matches the magnificent views at Windows across the capital.