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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.

 In a somewhat ironic development, road restaurant chain Little Chef today sent out images of its redesigned mascot, which has been given a makeover to look more like a professional chef.

"What?" I hear you scream. Yes, dear reader, it's true after all that Heston Blumenthal's menu has inspired Little Chef to introduce a new look.

But - and it's a fairly big but - the old chap is still Fat Charlie, not Little Heston, and while he's now sporting a proper chef's jacket instead of his old neckerchief, there are no glasses or any other Blumenthalesque features.

Last week, a statement was released suggesting Little Chef had redesigned its logo to make it look like Heston but a spokeswoman for the restaurant chain today confirmed that the information had been "mis-sold".

The actual new logo of cheffy Fat Charlie was unveiled today (29 July) at the relaunch of Little Chef's York outlet, which has reopened with new interiors and Heston's menu. The outlet in Kettering, Northamptonshire, is next.

Now I get a lot of dodgy emails everyday but a press release that dropped into my inbox on Friday takes the proverbial cake (at least for last week).

"LITTLE CHEF 'FAT CHARLIE' LOGO TO LOOK LIKE HESTON BLUMENTHAL - CHEFS COAT, GLASSES ADDED" - the subject line screamed at me.

It went on to explain exactly that - that Little Chef's chubby chef is to be redesigned to make him look identical to Heston, complete with chef's jacket and specs.

"Next week the Heston Blumenthal menu is being rolled out to Little Chef's in York and Kettering," the press release continued.

"As Little Chef pins it's [note the bad grammar, dear readers] future of Heston's new menu, the iconic 'Fat Chef' will reflect that. The iconic chef will remain chubby however, after customers revolted when plans to slim down 'Fat Charlie' caused up-roar."

Sounds like a reasonable story, doesn't it?

Well, being the responsible journalist I thought I'd double check with Heston's people. And, you've guessed it, the story turned out to be a complete hoax.

Some people really do have way too much time on their hands.

Others don't seem to have enough...

Big Honour for Heston

Blumenthal makeover for Little Chef's mascot 

For everyone who watched the Channel 4 documentary Big Chef Takes On Little Chef, during which Heston Blumenthal transformed Little Chef's menu, it was pretty clear that there wasn't much love lost between our favourite culinary wizard and the roadside restaurant chain's CEO Ian Pegler.

The Fat Duck's three-Michelin-starred chef patron's efforts weren't ever quite "blue-sky-thinking" enough for the Little Chef boss, who in the end was proved wrong when Heston's menu took the restaurant it was launched at by storm.

The menu, which includes dishes such as braised ox cheeks, coq au vin and Hereford steak and Abbot Ale pie, proved a big hit not just with food critics, but also with Little Chef's target market of truck drivers and travelling salesmen.

And so last week, Pegler announced that following the success of Heston's trial-menu at the restaurant in Popham, Hampshire, Little Chef had taken the decision roll it out at its 175 restaurants across the UK.

Good news all round then, right? Apparently not.

Despite the great success of the menu, Pegler clearly hasn't quite forgotten his differences with Heston, who has said that he was not consulted by Little Chef about the planned rollout.

At last night's Craft Guild of Chefs Awards, where he was honoured with the Special Award, Heston revealed he was "surprised" that Little Chef had announced plans to launch his menu nationwide without further discussions with him first.

Not quite what I'd call blue-sky-thinking...

Heston Blumenthal not consulted about Little Chef menu rollout