July 2008 Archives

Chef proprietor Malcolm John has been winning fans, both large and small, for his latest eaterie Le Cassoulet in London's unloved commuter suburb Croydon.

The restaurant critics of the national press have lavished praise but it's also closer to home (and the ground) that the eaterie has really impressed with none other than local hero and Two Ronnies star Ronnie Corbett a regular at the outfit.

No confirmation if Corbett issues monologues from his chair when it becomes time to place an order, or even if he requests an extra large cushion to act as a booster at the table but John isn't complaining.

A celebrity endorsement is a celebrity endorsement even if your regular doesn't have the largest of appetites.

So it's goodnight from me, and it's goodnight from him.

Malcolm John's Le Cassoulet could be the perfect neighbourhood restaurant>>

Terry Durack at the Independent finds Malcolm John's Le Cassoulet has all the ingredients to be the perfect neighbourhood restaurant.>>

Last week, London pub the Endurance was banned from allowing drinkers and smokers outside its premises from 6pm in the evening after losing a case against Westminster Council.

Kitchen Rat hears that the Soho-based pub faces a future of competing against its local rivals without the appeal of outdoor drinking thanks to the complaints of just three residents, with one in particular making an almighty fuss.

The resident in question - who presumably was not forced to live in Soho - mounted a vocal campaign against the pub because of the noise its customers were making outside.

It has emerged that she also complained about the market stall traders of nearby Berwick Street shouting phrases such as "strawberries, £1 a punnet" and "get your bananas here". How terribly inconvenient it is for market folk to try and make a living in the heart of London and not believe that they are in a private, gated, community in Surrey.

The Blue Post pub, on the other side of the road to the Endurance, is yet to receive a complaint and its punters can drink outside to their hearts content. Presumably customers at the Blue Post only speak outside in whispers or are all proficient in sign language. At least they are not trying to drink and sell strawberries at the same time.

It seems Mark Philpott, managing director of City caterer Vacherin, was by necessity a bit of a jammy dodger in his youth.

Although he's now running a high-end caterer feeding hedge fund, PR and marketing types in the capital it wasn't always this way.

Arriving as a fresh faced 21 year old in the big smoke, Philpott saw an advert for work in the south of France and jumped at the opportunity: Namely selling ice-creams on the beaches of Saint-Tropez and Cannes based at the prestigious Carlton hotel.

Full of dreams of becoming a film-star Philpott arrived in a gloriously hot south of France only to find out that he'd be camping in a field near the hotel and selling doughnuts!

Needless to say demand for doughnuts in the sweltering heat wasn't high and Philpott encountered rival gangs on the beeches that - no doubt on a sugar fuelled high - chased him from their patch. 

Yes, it was either a hasty retreat or the risk of getting Krispy Kremed.

London caterers rejoice. It appears greed has been the downfall of Raffles the gentleman thief.

If you remember, last month Kitchen Rat brought you the breaking news that a gentleman thief had broken into contract caterer Vacherin's London office at Bedford Row.

The gentleman thief ignored the techy stuff like computers and instead stole four suits, 12 laundered shirts (leaving the one that had been worn), two pairs of shoes and a quantity of ties instead (director of business development Phil Roker is a keen cyclist).

However the scoundrel's taste for the finer things in life was apparently unquenched and he made a decision that will haunt him to the end of his days: Namely, to return to the scene of the crime.

Yes weeks after the original misdeed Roker had the indignity of losing ten recently replaced shirts (still in their packets), some more shoes, further booze (to celebrate another successful job) and some rather splendid cufflinks.

Raffles also swiped Vacherin managing director Mark Philpott's fine pen.

As the UK's largest pub operator, there is always plenty going on at Punch Taverns and so to keep us journos and other industry watchers abreast of all the news, the company helpfully sends out a weekly e-mail, known as the Grapevine.

In last week's edition, we learnt that the Green Man in London is installing an ATM machine, in a project dubbed 'Hole in the Wall' (catchy). Meanwhile, in the managed division, Spirit, the Wheatstone Inn in Gloucester was re-opening while the Half Moon in Worksop was hosting a charity talent contest.

All good stuff, no doubt, but for some reason, the e-mail did not carry the rather bigger news that the head of the Spirit division, Andrew Knight, left the business rather abruptly (or so it seemed) last Monday, and was replaced by former Whitbread heavyweight Mike Tye

The rumour mill kicked into overdrive as whispers began that Knight had not exactly been preparing for life after Punch - in fact Caterer spent the day with Knight last month discussing his plans for the future of its managed houses.

One wonders if Knight was pondering the words of the late, great Marvin Gaye. "It took me by surprise I must say, when I found out yesterday, I heard it through the grapevine."

He's got the restaurants; he's done the telly thing; he's put his name to various products, including gin, tableware and communications. Surely the Gordon Ramsay brand can't diversify even further?

Of course it can. News emerges today that the fiery chef has now put his name to a computer game based on the Hell's Kitchen series, he is currently fronting in the US.

Apparently, the game - created by Ubisoft - will allow players to "experience the show's high-pressure kitchen and dining room challenges" as a faithfully rendered 3D Ramsay watches their every move.

At least that's what a certain businessman's PA would have people believe. After a recent friendly attempt to get to know this hotel-guru from the provinces, the person in question was told by his PA that she had "never heard of" them. She then proceeded to detail all the reasons why the man would not want to speak to them...

He's "extremely busy" (accepted), he's "not on the premises often" (permissible). Then came the belters, "He's a very important man" (...), "He runs multi-million pound businesses" (ok...)
and finally the fist-bitingingly embarrassing clincher "You asking him about hotels is like asking Sir Alan Sugar for advice about computers!"

It was all the caller in question could do to stifle their laughter and not tell this gloriously
self-important woman "YOU'RE FIRED!"