October 2009 Archives

Celebrity chef John Burton Race has been arrested and charged with drink driving. The head chef of the Michelin-starred New Angel in Dartmouth has also been charged with resisting arrest.

The news comes just seven months after Burton Race was declared bankrupt and in the same year that he suffered a costly divorce.

According to blogger Chef Sandwich, the 52-year-old was stopped by police in a routine check in Strete, near the New Angel restaurant in the early hours of Friday morning.

It said the cook, who appeared on TV show I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here, was breathalysed and then arrested. A spokeswoman for Devon and Cornwall Police told Chef Sandwich: "John Burton Race, 52, was arrested on October 30 at about 1am. He has been charged with driving or attempting to drive with excess alcohol and resisting or obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty."

Burton Race was released on unconditional bail and is expected to appear before South Devon Magistrates on 17 November.

John Burton Race declared bankrupt >>

What's with celebrity chefs turning themselves into cartoon characters at the moment?

Just weeks after it was announced that Gordon Ramsay will be turned into a stop-motion animation character, US enfant terrible Anthony Bourdain has followed suit and turned his life into a cartoon.

All this, of course, follows last year's programme, Little J, which saw Jamie Oliver as a 10-year-old trying to find the secret to becoming a great chef. 

Bourdain's show is a six-part animated web series, entitled Anthony Bourdain's Alternate Universe. According to the Travel Channel's website for it, it will allow viewers a glimpse into his "personal and unique view of the world that lives in his imagination".

Here's the trailer so you can make up your own mind.

Fishy Fishy,  X Factor presenter Dermot O'Leary' s seafood restaurant in Brighton, is eager to please, but needs to try harder, according to the Guardian.

Food critic Matthew Norman says while the restaurant isn't bad or without potential, its cheery amateurism isn't good enough.

"All three starters were poor," Norman says, adding: "The FF fish pie was a miserably under-seasoned, sludgy mess beneath slightly clumpy pastry."

Meanwhile the Sunday Telegraph's Tim Auld is impressed with the Michelin-starred Seaham Hall in County Durham, where Great British Menu winner Kenny Atkinson is the head chef.

"You'd be hard-pushed to eat this well, for so little, in such welcoming surroundings anywhere else in Britain," he says.

The Observer's Jay Rayner says Bjorn van der Horst's Eastside Inn in London has survived the recession because the food is "so damn good", while the Sunday Times' AA Gill feels the food at MasterChef judge John Torode's new restaurant The Luxe is little more than good.

The Times' Giles Coren and the Independent's Tracey MacLeod are both impressed with Mark Hix's latest venture Hix in Soho, with the latter describing it as a great new restaurant that already feels like a copper-bottomed success.

Groves won the competition after a gruelling final under the watchful eyes of judges Michel Roux Jr and Gregg Wallace in which he beat fellow competitors private chef Marianne Lumb and agency chef Daniel Graham.

The judges praised Groves for his innovative style of cooking. "Steve has got what it takes, he oozes talent and really pushes the boundaries," said Roux.

Groves said: "This is the proudest moment of my life. To achieve this is unbelieveable."

The final of Masterchef: The Professionals comprised four days of challenges.

These included a patisserie challenge hosted by London restaurant Sketch and judged by a panel including Michel Roux Snr, chef-patron of the Waterside Inn and holder of the coveted Meilleur Ouvrier de France for patisserie.

Another challenge saw the contestants create a three-course menu for a dinner held at London's Browns hotel for some of the UK's most acclaimed chefs with more than 40 Michelin stars between them. They included Pierre Koffmann, Alain and Albert Roux, Raymond Blanc, Michael Caines, John Campbell and Phil Howard. 

The Masterchef: The Professionals final culminated in a cook off during which the chefs each created a three course meal.

Groves's winning menu comprised a starter of roast quail with morels, asparagus and quail's Scotch egg; followed by roasted venison with potato rosti, watercress purée, roasted beetroot and red wine jus; and mille feuille of raspberry and bitter chocolate and honey lavender ice cream. 

French chef Joel Antunes has returned to London after more than a decade abroad and has taken on the role of executive chef at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel, which is set to open early next year.

Antunes has worked in acclaimed kitchens including Ledoyen and Troisgros in France and worked in London between 1991 and 1996 as chef-partner of the former Michelin-starred restaurant Les Saveurs.

He moved to the US where he launched his eponymous Joel Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as holding executive chef positions with the Ritz Carlton Dining Room in the city and the Oak Room at The Plaza in New York, where things didn't end so well.

In his new role at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Antunes will be responsible for all of the property's food and beverage operations. His remit will include a 200-seat signature restaurant, a 30-seat sushi restaurant, a bar and pastry counter as well as all conference and banqueting catering and 24-hour room service.

Antunes said: "The [London] restaurant scene has changed dramatically in the decade since I last worked here - people are so much better educated about food and wine and it is now one of the most exciting food capitals of the world."

It's easy to get stressed out at work, especially when your job is running the kitchen of a busy restaurant.

The trick is to stay calm and collected and not let the pressure get to you. But this is clearly easier said than done.

A chef in the US state of Florida got so stressed out over too many mozzarella caprese salad orders that he pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot the waitress who had taken them.

Mark DeCraepeo slammed the gun on a counter and screamed: "I'll put a bullet right in your forehead. I am serious."

Another shocked waitress called the cops to the Pizza Time restaurant in Boca Raton (the town incidentally also home to Gordon Ramsay's Cielo restaurant). They arrested DeCraepeo who now faces up to three years in prison.

Ever remorseful he told police: "It was my Gordon Ramsay moment."

It's great to see what a wonderful inspiration Ramsay has become to our industry.  

Does anyone remember the Channel 4 series Big Chef Takes On Little Chef, in which Heston Blumenthal reinvented the roadside restaurant chain's ghastly menu into something people might actually want to eat?

If so then you'll remember the group's chief executive Ian Pegler, whose annoying "blue sky thinking" mantra drove not just Heston but also thousands of viewers insane.

Well, Pegler's back. Unbelievably he's launched a "national campaign to promote the concept of blue sky thinking as a recipe to get Britain out of the recession".

He's jumped on the Conservative bandwagon because "the Tories are offering a bue sky and Pegler is backing them to win the next election".
 
"Pegler is launching it as a national campaign and has started by painting the ceiling of the flagship Little Chef in Popham with a blue sky," a press release issued by Little Chef informs.

Now I don't need to go into the details of why this is completely ridiculous but one thing I will point out is that Pegler is in fact taking credit for something he had nothing to do with.

He didn't paint the the ceiling in Popham - Heston did. What's worse is that Heston did it in an effort to take the micky out of Pegler after his "blue sky thinking" catchphrase drove him to swear on national TV.   

Some people really are shameless.

Michelin has launched its first guide to the Japanese cities of Kyoto and Osaka and has awarded seven restaurants with the top accolade of three stars.

The Kyoto and Osaka guide is Michelin's second in Japan after its Tokyo guide which first launched two years ago. It published its first guide to Hong Kong and Macau last year.

Michelin awarded a total of 150 restaurants and ryokans (traditional hotels) a total of 189 stars including 110 in Kyoto, shared among 85 establishments, and 79 in Osaka among 65 restaurants.

Seven restaurants were awarded three stars including Chihana, a 63-year-old, family-run restaurant in Kyoto's geisha district of Gion; and Osaka's Hajime, which serves French food cooked by chef-patron Hajime Yoneda.

A total of 25 establishments were given two Michelin-stars, while 118 were awarded one star.

Michelin director Jean-Luc Naret said the guide presented a rich and interesting selection of restaurants symbolising the dynamic culinary scene of the two cities.

"In Kyoto we selected restaurants which offer excellent dishes by inheriting and developing culinary tradition. In Osaka, we discovered talented chefs who receive good culinary education and offer creative and original cuisine," he said."

After Heston Blumenthal came under fire following the outbreak of norovirus at the Fat Duck last February, fellow molecular gastronomist Ferran Adrià has now been accused of inadvertently poisoning his diners.

German food writer Jörg Zipprick has accused the chef patron of the iconic three-Michelin-starred El Bulli restaurant in Spain of poisoning his diners with additives.

Zipprick claims Adrià's menus should carry health warnings about the additives in his new book, The Unappetising Underside of Molecular Cooking.

"These colorants, gelling agents, emulsifiers, acidifiers and taste enhancers that Adria has introduced massively into his dishes to obtain extraordinary textures, tastes and sensations do not have a neutral impact on health," he says.

"It would not occur to any fast-food chain to stuff us with 20 or 30 dishes full of chemical additives."

Zipprick's criticism follows last year's attack on Adrià by fellow three-Michelin-starred Spanish chef Santi Santamaria, who also accused him of poisoning his diners. 

Adrià responded at the time by saying: "Obviously, if you consume too much of anything it's bad for you - too much roast beef, sugar or salt is bad. But 80% of the products I use are ecological, and the additives under debate account for just 0.1% of my cooking." 

French chef Jérôme Ponchelle is to join the two-Michelin-starred restaurant at London's Capital hotel as head chef.

The move sees Ponchelle depart from his position of chef de cuisine at British restaurant Wiltons after seven years to step into the foot steps of Eric Chavot, who left the Capital in August.

He will be replaced at Wiltons by Andrew Turner, currently head chef at the Landau restaurant at London's Langham hotel.

Ponchelle will join the Knightsbridge-based Capital next month and brings with him 20 years of experience working in restaurants in France and England including a number of years cooking under Michel Bourdin at the Connaught.

His menu will have a French influence and will include signature dishes including lobster, crab and truffle omelette; and braised filet of wild Scottish turbot with Champagne sauce; next to British classics such as braised oxtail.

Ponchelle said he was excited about his new role. "It was a privilege to work at Wiltons but I wanted to move into a more challenging environment that will put my culinary experience to the test," he said.

He certainly has big shoes to fill at the Capital where Chavot held two Michelin-stars for eight years.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has abandoned this year's Gordon Ramsay Scholarship due to a lack of funding.

A spokeswoman for the chef said that the Gordon Ramsay Scholar, which was launched in 2001, "is being rested this year" due to a lack of sponsorship.

But she added that "exciting new plans" involving the scholarship and Tante Marie cookery school in Woking, Surrey, would be announced soon.

Dropping the Gordon Ramsay Scholar is the latest blow for the celebrity chef, who this year has seen profits in his company plummet by 90%, and has given up control of many of its overseas restaurants, including those in Paris, Los Angeles and Prague.

Many of the seven previous Gordon Ramsay scholars have gone on to establish themselves in successful head chef roles, including Tristan Welch at Launceston Place, and Marcus Eaves at the Michelin-starred L'Autre Pied.

Last year's scholar was Stephen Hope, junior sous chef at the Great Room restaurant at the Merchant hotel in Belfast. His prize haul included a new car, £5,000 in cash, a set of Wusthof knives, a £10,000 oven for the Great Room restaurant kitchens, a signature Bragard jacket and a commemorative trophy.

He also won the opportunity to complete a three-city stage, training with chefs in Gordon Ramsay's signature restaurants in London, Paris and New York.

French chef Daniel Boulud's flagship restaurant in New York has been awarded the top accolade of three stars in the city's 2010 Michelin guide.

His restaurant Daniel on Manhattan's Upper East Side has joined Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Masa and Per Se in the guide's list of top eateries bringing New York's three-star restaurants to five.

With speculation mounting that Boulud is planning a restaurant in London next year, the accolade reinforces his status as one of the world's most renowned chefs.

Meanwhile the fortunes were reversed for fellow French chef Alain Ducasse's Adour restaurant at Manhattan's St Regis hotel, which has lost a star and dropped from two- to one-Michelin-star status.

The development is particularly bitter as the restaurant, which opened in spring last year, replaced Ducasse's previous New York eaterie at Essex House which held the top accolade of three Michelin stars until its closure in 2006.

Gordon Ramsay's eponymous restaurant at the London hotel in Manhattan's Midtown retained its two stars, despite recently reported problems of food hygiene. 

The 2010 Michelin guide to New York awarded a record 20 new stars including one new three-star; two new two-star; and 17 new one-star restaurants. New York now has a total of 78 Michelin-starred restaurants, compared with 69 in Paris and 49 in London.

The guide identified 31 new restaurants as Bib Gourmands (offering two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for less than $40), bringing the total to 85. It also selected 109 restaurants offering a meal for less than $25.

Mystery surrounds the departure of Petersham Nurseries general manager Wendy Fogarty, who has left the south west London-based restaurant and garden centre just weeks after winning a major legal battle with the local council.

Her departure comes after Petersham Nurseries was granted a mixed-use planning application earlier this summer, after it won a four-year dispute with Richmond Council over parking and the level of traffic around the site.

Wendy championed the centre's case and implemented a Green Travel Plan that saw the number of visitors travelling there by car reduced by 25%.

After winning the dispute, she spoke of her relief and delight with the outcome, adding she was now able to focus on driving the business through the recession.

However, a spokeswoman for Petersham Nurseries confirmed that Wendy has now left her position.

"Wendy took some long overdue leave shortly after helping win the case against the council. We were hoping that she would return but she has decided to work on some new projects," she said.

"There are no plans to replace her."

Petersham Nurseries Café, which opened in 2004 and is open for lunch only five days a week, with head chef Skye Gyngell overseeing the kitchen.