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It was a match made in heaven. But sadly Norfolk-based turkey manufacturer Bernard Matthews has ditched its Marco Pierre White-branded line of products.

Due to poor sales, the range, which comprised six products - two ready-to-cook joints with stuffing, and four turkey steaks with a crust - has been axed just six months after its launch. Perhaps Turkey Twizzlers would have been a safer bet.

Bernard Matthews is also stopping its "change your meat, not your menu" campaign, which aimed to inspire us to eat turkey always, not just at Christmas, by featuring Marco and EastEnders star and Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp.

But don't despair, Marco will continue to shamelessly promote turkey and remain the face of Bernard Matthews. He is set to take centre stage in its new "lean on turkey" campaign targeting the more health conscious segment of the market.

Acclaimed restaurateur Arjun Waney has taken over the Arts Club in Mayfair and brought celebrities Mark Ronson and Gwyneth Paltrow onboard.

Waney, who also co-owns Zuma, Roka and La Petit Maison as well as the forthcoming Aurelia and Banca, has taken over the historic club on Dover Street and will relaunch it in September.

The Arts Club, which was originally founded in 1863 by Lord Frederic Leighton and Charles Dickens, has undergone a complete refurbishment and on reopening will include a brasserie, library bar, gallery and private walled garden as well as a nightclub that will be open until 3am.

The venue will be overseen by chief executive Brian Clivaz, who was previously involved in the Savoy and Home House, while the food offer will be overseen by chef director Raphael Duntoye of La Petite Maison. An in-house bakery fronted by executive pastry chef Claude La Marche, formerly of the Dorchester hotel, will offer a selection of pastries and cakes.

British DJ and music producer Mark Ronson has come onboard as music director, while actress Gwyneth Paltrow is chairing the club's membership committee and has also been involved in the design of the venue.

Laverstoke Park, former Formula One world champion Jody Scheckter's organic farm in Hampshire, is to open a cookery school this summer.

Headed up by Paul Blake, who previously ran the Fine Food School in Dorset, the school will open next month offering a variety of courses which in addition to recipes and cooking methods will also highlight the importance of food provenance.

The school will be located at the heart of the 2,500 acre Laverstoke Park and will offer customers the chance to meet the farmers and understand the practices and philosophies of biodynamic farming.

Courses on offer will include subjects such as Cheap Cuts and Offal; Field to Fork with Pork, Lamb, Beef or Buffalo; BBQing; Curing, Smoking and Sausage Making; and a seasonal course on Game.

Scheckter founded Laverstoke Park in 1996, which today has the only licensed Soil Foodweb laboratory in Europe.

Some restaurants refuse to bend the rules, no matter who their customers - even when Gordon Ramsay and Victoria Beckham are in the house.

The chummy pair dined at Mediterranean restaurant Gjelina in Los Angeles earlier this week, when pregnant Posh asked to have her order amended.

She'd chosen the smoked trout salad, which is normally served with grapefruit, avocado, red onion and lemon. However, this flavour combination was too much for pregnant Posh, who demanded to have it plain and with the dressing on the side.

But Gjelina has a very strict no substitutions policy, you see, and its menu clearly states that "changes & modifications [are] politely declined".

And they quite obviously make no exceptions. So Posh's demand was refused and Ramsay got annoyed.

"I couldn't believe it," he said. "The lady's pregnant! No one is asking to be fussy.... I still think that's the customer's prerogative....

"It was a sour note. I don't think customers should be treated that way. That might not be the way I choose to eat it, but that's what the customer wants."

Oh well, at least they weren't kicked out of the restaurant.

A celebrity chef has won a gagging order preventing the press to report on a legal dispute with two former employees.

According to reports the "internationally renowned" chef is being taken to an employment tribunal in London but the media cannot identify the chef or the claimants. The order requires the chef to be known only as L and his business as K Ltd.

In the Daily Telegraph it is reported that one of those suing is a female accountant claiming unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination, while the other is a former chief executive suing for unfair dismissal, age discrimination and non-payment of wages.

Who could this mysterious L possibly be...

Marco Pierre White has no shame. After fronting a high profile ad campaign for Knorr stock cubes (surely any self-respecting chef would make his own stock?!?), the erstwhile three-Michelin-starred chef has now sold out completely.

He has agreed to appear in a £10m ad campaign for Norfolk-based turkey brand Bernard Matthews - the company responsible for bringing the world products such as the notorious Turkey Twizzler.

Entitled 'Marco Meets', the TV ad sees MPW tucking into turkey with EastEnders star and Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp, who can't believe that turkey isn't just for Christmas. But MPW comes to the rescue explaining that turkey is indeed "great all year round" and, of course, "never dry if cooked properly".

Bernard Matthews Farms marketing controller, Raj Sahota, is super excited about the collaboration: "We love the ads and think they highlight just how passionate Marco is about turkey and will show consumers why they should put turkey at the top of their shopping list."

Chris Hutcheson, chief executive officer of Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH), has resigned from the company.

The celebrity chef's father-in-law, who helped found the business, is leaving after more than decade at its helm. He masterminded the growth of the company over the past 12 years.

In a statement GRH said: "We can confirm that Chris Hutcheson has left his position as CEO of GRH. He retains an interest in the business as a shareholder.

"We would like to thank him for all his efforts and support in helping to build and grow GRH over last 12 years.

"Interim management will be put in place while the search begins for a full time replacement. It continues to be business as normal for all GRH operations."

Heston Blumenthal has unveiled the name of his highly anticipated London restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel which will be called Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.

The restaurant, which is set to open at the luxury Knightsbridge hotel in November, will serve a menu centred on contemporary British food based on historical concepts.

The kitchen will be headed up by the Fat Duck group executive chef Ashley Palmer-Watts, who will showcase some of the dishes at Italian chef congress Identità London next week.

Blumenthal said the name Dinner reflects the concept the restaurant is based on. "I wanted to find a name that encapsulated the concept, which has a strong focus on dishes inspired by historic British gastronomy, but was also a bit of fun," he said.

"There has always been confusion in the UK over the names of our midday and evening meals and their origins, so researching this, I discovered the word dinner comes from the old 13th century French word disner, which initially stood for breakfast, and developed to the main meal of the day."

Blumenthal's restaurant will be housed in the space currently occupied by the Mandarin Oriental's Park and Foliage restaurants with expansive windows offering views over Hyde Park.

Interiors will be developed by US-based designer Adam D. Tihany, who said the restaurant will reflect the chef's modern take on tradition. "It will be relatively classic - wooden floors and coffered ceilings - but it'll have some quirkiness to it, too, to give a sense of Blumenthal's creative way of thinking," he said.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will be the second high profile opening at the Mandarin Oriental, which last month opened renowned US-based French chef Daniel Boulud's Bar Boulud.

John Burton Race is leaving the Michelin-starred New Angel restaurant in Devon.

The celebrity chef, who first opened the Dartmouth restaurant in 2004, is departing from his role of executive head chef to focus on consultancy projects and his TV career. He will leave the restaurant on 5 June.

Former Ledbury sous chef Nathan Thomas has been appointed as his replacement and will join the New Angel at the beginning of June.

The New Angel was famously closed by Burton Race's ex-wife Kim while he was appearing on ITV's I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! in November 2007. It later collapsed into administration and was bought by travel entrepreneur Clive Jacobs, who previously backed Burton Race when he was at the former two-Michelin-starred L'Ortolan in Berkshire.

See Caterersearch for the full story.

Middle-class supermarket Waitrose has followed in the footsteps of its less glamorous competitors Sainsbury's and Aldi by enlisting the help of celebrity chefs to boost sales.

But where Sainsbury's long-running partnership with Jamie Oliver and Aldi's ad campaign featuring Phil Vickery rely on just one famous face, Waitrose has outdone them both by appointing two celebrities.

And an unlikely pair they are: domestic goddess Delia Smith and culinary wizard and three-Michelin-starred super chef Heston Blumenthal.

The pair has been appointed as "food ambassadors for the Waitrose brand, sharing their expertise and showcasing recipes". Which basically means that, over the next three years, they will appear in TV and print ads enthusing about Waitrose's range of products.

In a first for British TV, Waitrose will broadcast a new advert every week for the rest of the year demonstrating a new recipe, which will run for the entire length of the ad break. The campaign will kick off on 15 March. 

The partnership, a first for Waitrose which has never before used celebrity chefs, may come as a surprise to hardcore Delia fans who will no doubt remember her rant against celebrities endorsing products. 

The deal also comes just months after a leaked BBC report alleged Delia had "limited appeal" relegating her to the "occasional sparkle" category.