October 2007 Archives

Last week Gordon Ramsay announced that the head chef at his flagship, three-Michelin-starred restaurant on Royal Hospital Road was to be replaced by a 26-year-old woman.

Simone Zanoni is off to Paris so Ramsay’s installing a female chef called Clare to oversee the kitchen. But when asked to reveal more details such as her surname or where she has been working, Ramsay refused to talk and told Radio Four: “I’m not telling you. Someone will poach her. But she’s phenomenal and she’s only 26.”

We at Caterer HQ have been racking our brains who this mystery woman could be but haven’t been able to identify her. So if anyone knows anything about the identity of this phenomenal young talent – tell Kitchenrat all!

Working in hospitality means it doesn’t take much to get on to a TV screen and become an instant celebrity.

One of the judges on Raymond Blanc’s The Restaurant took their staff down to Cornwall as a trip to say thank you for all their hard work during the year. A nice gesture of course but the staff decided to thank the judge in their own way. They trawled the town for locals (some of which can be seen here) and paid them handsomely to go and ask the judge for their autograph, as they had seen them on TV and were “very big fans”.

Our star struck judge was none the wiser and was heard to say– “I can’t believe the show is so popular in Cornwall”.

Are you a camp chef? Maybe you just have a passing interest or are simply curious about what being a camp chef entails.

Well, Kitchen Rat has found the website for you: www.CampChef.com

At CampChef you can see Brian demonstrate fire ring safety for the whole family and view tailgating with CampChef, all hosted by Hot Homes of Utah.

In fact it’s hard to see how your camp chef desires won’t be sated by this truly far reaching showcase. It really will suit you.

Just remember: CampChef, the way to cook outdoors.

A good hospitality feud really does lighten the soul.

If it’s not Premier Inn getting tough love from Travelodge over buyout rumours its chef Christophe Novelli throwing restaurant critic Michael Winner out of his establishment.

One such nicely bubbling niggle was put back on the boil last week when Gordon Ramsay won New York restaurant guide Zagat’s Newcomer of the Year for his first US venture at NYC’s London hotel.

Ignoring some recent creative accounting to do with Ramsay’s Michelin star haul, on the face of it it was further good news for the globe straddling chef.

Last month the Sunday Mirror spilled the beans on Hell’s Kitchen contestant’s Paul Young’s “steamy affair” with the mother of sacked co-star Lee Ryan.

The 1980s singer allegedly dated hairdresser Sheila Ryan after his 20-year marriage ended last year.

Word has now reached the rat that despite the affair being kept under wraps during the series, behind the scenes the tension between Paul and Lee was almost tangible.

Could it be then that this friction between the two men was what forced one co-star to resort to the bottle to calm their nerves both before and during service? Kitchen Rat hears one celebrity contestant’s tea cup was in fact filled with more of a Russian brew than the traditional builder’s variety…

Wembley, Wembley – er, keep it down please, you’ll upset the neighbours.

According to a piece in the Evening Standard (ES) fans are being too noisy at the nation’s recently opened football stadium centrepiece but they’re of the extractor variety rather than scarf wearing, lager quaffing sort.

Yes, it seems the much delayed stadium is unluckier than a visiting team at Old Trafford and following multiple delays in construction, a soaring bill that pretty much bankrupted construction firm Multiplex and trouble finding an executive chef, residents have now complained that the 500 fans used to expel air from the stadium’s impressive assortment of catering outlets sound like jet engines.

The recent National Licensed Business Show gave licensees of all kinds of tips and hints on sticking to the Licensing Act (2003).
The key concern among the publicans was how to deal with test purchases and how they could train their staff to recognise under-18s. Nobody wants to break the law and be fined and many revealed they were at great pains to avoid serving those under age.

As delegates spilled out of the key-note session and onto the show floor, directly opposite was a stand giving away free samples of real ale.

In a touch of irony that would have made Alanis Morrisette choke on her herbal tea, the stand was rather popular with visitors attending the neighbouring Leisure Industry show - most notably local students who ticked most of the boxes marked “scally” or “chav”.

They were all knocking the free samples of beer back without the hint of an ID or age check. Just goes to show that it is not always the supermarkets that are to blame.

Bono, wee world-renown rockstar, sunglasses devotee and poverty campaigner, has upset the neighbours in Dublin it seems with radical plans for his Clarence hotel, which he co owns with U2 guitarist the Edge.

Bearing in mind this is a man who went on tour in the late 1990s with a 40ft tall mirrorball lemon as part of the stage set, Kitchen Rat suspects restraint has never probably been high up the singer’s agenda for transforming the Clarence.

Still even by Bono’s high standards of eccentricity plans to create "Europe's most spectacular hotel" with a spaceship shaped glass dome at the summit of an atrium enveloping the presently modest Georgian façade of the Clarence hasn't, shall we say, ticked all the boxes for traditionalists.