[News] Jamie Oliver’s Restaurants Administration!

clapham_gull · May 21, 2019

I had breakfast at his Gatwick Diner last year (first mistake, don't eat at an airport) and had to send it back.

The waitress was so appalled at what they were selling, they took the rest off sale - utterly p***** off a number of other customers

It was some form of bacon roll.

1) Stale and wet bread. It was falling apart as bread does when you er.. wet it with Onion Goo (see below)
2) Under-cooked bacon - not raw, but basically "stewed", the under rendered fat like leather which you couldn't bite through without the entire flabby rasher sliding out the bun.
3) A very very weird onion relish, that was so so sweet it was basically "jam".

In a word utterly horrific and enough to make me feel sick. They took a single look, apologised and threw the rest (many) away.

Over 50% of people rate it as poor or terrible on Trip Advisor and I'd have to agree.

OzMike · May 22, 2019

All safe over here as apparently they are now owned by a company in Brisbane which uses his recipes. I have not been there yet though.

beorhthelm · May 22, 2019

Chicken Run said:
And then we have you poking your nose in on a thread which started off suggesting that the owner of this FAILED business will remain financially stable probably going onto set up future failed business’s whilst over a thousand hard working staff lose there jobs not to mention suppliers out of pocket and you the self proclaimed socialist have arrived mocking it, you couldn’t make it up ffs!

i see still commenting on the jobs lost, without acknowledgement the business created those jobs in the first place. do you want people to not try starting business, in case they fail?

SollysLeftFoot · May 22, 2019

Rowdey said:
Interesting 'Steel' expert on LBC Radio tonight - some points he made.

British steel is a small and specialised player in the world steel market, but has over 120 'lines' of production (which is too many for it's size)

It doesn't compete against Chinese import steel.

Most of it's raw product is via South America and Australia - Expensive to source..

It has 60year old blast furnaces, which are very uneconomic compared to other modern types of furnaces.

This is the culmination of years of poor management.

I can vouch for that, I was a treasury analyst at British Steel a year or so back. Some of the senior management were not up for task. Peter Bernscher did not resign wilfully, he was forced out..

One of the blast furnaces cooled too much in 2017 and the slag solidified, this was the result of procurement buying coke that had too much moisture. This meant 50% of their iron making capacity was lost in a 6 month period. They did eventually get a business disruption insurance pay out to the tune of £150m. Where that money went is beyond me. They did have high CapEx for obvious reasons but they had no sense of cost control.

I also remember them unable to account for 33k ton of coal and literally were looking around the site for it. Woefully managed company.

MattBackHome · May 22, 2019

Well I like him.

The 15/30min/5ingredients books are awesome.

He's one of the good guys.

Sent from my STF-L09 using Tapatalk

maffew · May 22, 2019

I really dont know how people can get worked up in anyway against succesful (mostly) and likeable (subjective) celebrities like JO. when there are so many more offensive people than an italian cooking fake jerk chicken healthy eating promoter chap. Is it some kind of envy, I dont know

His appearance on top gear trying to make a salad in the kitchenette of his souped up camper whilst the Stig did a lap was brilliant too

nicko31 · May 22, 2019

Bozza said:
Blimey, I'm not sure I get the hate for Oliver himself.

He's always struck me as a decent bloke who wants to do the right thing for others. He takes risks and has done well for himself.

I appreciate his tone and mannerisms won't suit everyone, but I'm not sure I could be wishing ill on him because of that.

Well said, he's a decent bloke and has does what he can for the common good.

GypsyKing · May 22, 2019

Not sure if mentioned elsewhere but the fact that he personally provided guarantees to HSBC and Brakes (is now therefore liable) certainly demonstrates his commitment to trying to save the business which is more than can be said for SOME other owners of businesses these days... personally wasn’t a fan of the food or his tv ‘persona’ though...

Herr Tubthumper · May 22, 2019

maffew said:
I really dont know how people can get worked up in anyway against succesful (mostly) and likeable (subjective) celebrities like JO. when there are so many more offensive people than an italian cooking fake jerk chicken healthy eating promoter chap. Is it some kind of envy, I dont know

His appearance on top gear trying to make a salad in the kitchenette of his souped up camper whilst the Stig did a lap was brilliant too

Same here. I really struggle to reconcile the level of dislike with his list of supposed crimes. I can’t comment on his food but I have found a few of his tv shows and recipe books great; the American one especially.

The Antikythera Mechanism · May 22, 2019

There are Italian restaurants and there are Italian restaurants. Casanita Cantina y Pescado in Es Pujols, Formentera is my absolute favourite. Will be there in two weeks time.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Resta...do-Es_Pujols_Formentera_Balearic_Islands.html

Herr Tubthumper · May 22, 2019

nicko31 said:
Well said, he's a decent bloke and has does what he can for the common good.

Quite. You’d think he’d murdered a child, or repeatedly passed the ball back from midfield, the way some people are carrying on.

Goldstone1976 · May 22, 2019

I’m not particularly surprised the chain is in administration - I ate in a Jamie’s Italian three times over the years and found them both poorer quality than I expected and more expensive - not a good combination. I hope the staff get new roles elsewhere in what is a very tough market at the moment.

On the other hand, while I don’t much like his persona/personality (it’s tough to know whether they’re the same thing or not), I admire a lot about what he’s tried to do: 15 is a brilliant concept, and anyone who takes on the shocking quality of food served up to the Nation’s kids deserves a medal.

Rowdey · May 22, 2019

In the early 2000's i was managing some Sainsbury's exhibition stands at Olympia/NEC/Earls court, and we got local store girls (and boys) to work the stands giving away product, brochures etc.

JO would come onto the stand, do a quick cook up demo, sign some books and have a chat with fans. Notably at NEC (Good Food Show) his 'management team' wanted to rush him in and out, but he broke away from them, and made a point of coming inside the stand and have a talk with the staff (who frankly might have been chopping cheese up into small cubes all day all day) and give some of his signed books away too.

He also took some light hearted banter about him or Jools being spotted shopping in Waitrose despite recently becoming the face of JS.. :lol:

People change of course, but decent bloke in my eyes. And his position of influence, trying to get us to eat healthier and be less fat is good thing, right ?

Oh, and i went in Jamies for first time about a month ago (friday before Newcastle game) and found i couldn't book in advance - Just rocked up at 8.45, with upstairs closed, and downstairs only 50% full - Food was good, wine (£26) was very good, under £60 for two of us. Cant complain at all.

Steve in Japan · May 22, 2019

I have tried his Italian chain in 3 or 4 locations. In general, I liked them - but they were not good value for money. People outside of London are very price conscious, so if you want to charge more than the independents , you'd better be offering something really special. And I don't think Jamie's Italian did.

Publius Ovidius · May 22, 2019

Real shame as we subscribed to their gold account and used to eat there a couple of times a month. Never had a bad meal that I can remember and used to like the little free tasters you used to get....in fact a while ago, we ended up ordering the taster as a main course it as so nice

Always friendly in there and great staff. Hope they all find something quickly.

Last time we were in talking ago a few of them, they were going back home to European countries anyway due to the brexit situation so maybe this just speeds that process anyway.

With regards to British steel, the point has been made about it being a niche market as the Chinese and Indians have the market sown up. This is one of the problems with the socialist argument where a lot of political dogmas are built around strong manufacturing bases,which we all know is not there...ship building, coal, steel, motor industry, railways. All provided by cheaper foreign competitors. Socialism doesn’t work with a financial services and consumer services society.

RandyWanger · May 22, 2019

Sorry if fixtures but would be a good episode of gordon ramsay kitchen nightmares

Herr Tubthumper · May 22, 2019

RandyWanger said:
Sorry if fixtures but would be a good episode of gordon ramsay kitchen nightmares

Now if there’s a celebrity chef to dislike surely it’s Gordon?

Lower West Stander · May 22, 2019

GypsyKing said:
Not sure if mentioned elsewhere but the fact that he personally provided guarantees to HSBC and Brakes (is now therefore liable) certainly demonstrates his commitment to trying to save the business which is more than can be said for SOME other owners of businesses these days... personally wasn’t a fan of the food or his tv ‘persona’ though...

Hear hear.

This is highly unusual and almost naïve. It proves he was prepared to put his money where his mouth is and I respect that greatly. There comes a time in any failing business where you just have to say that it is just not sustainable and draw a line under it. I've lost count of the number of times I've heard business owners say that if they just got that last bit of money, everything would be fine. It never ever will be.....

British Steel is a great example of this. It has an unsustainable business model sitting on a cost base which is far too high. Sure we could chuck money at it to pretend everything is ok but it won't work in the long term....

SollysLeftFoot · May 22, 2019

Herr Tubthumper said:
Now if there’s a celebrity chef to dislike surely it’s Gordon?

Absolutely not, I f*cking love a bit of Ramsay. Who doesn't enjoy the generic Reality TV template of Kitchen Nightmares and Ramsay grilling arrogant Americans!?

SollysLeftFoot · May 22, 2019

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48365241

British Steel now entering insolvency.

Everyone and everything else BUT the board of directors being blamed. Brexit played its part, fall in demand played its part but the absolutely absurdity is that the board of directors have not at all been scrutinised. Disgusting.

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[News] Jamie Oliver’s Restaurants Administration!

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