[Food] Maximum Diner - making it big Uckfield

Bry Nylon

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Jul 21, 2003

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• Jun 6, 2020

• #1

I've just (re)read 'Maximum Diner - making it big in Uckfield' by Christopher Nye.

Having grown up in Uckfield myself, the descriptions of the town and some of the more unsavoury customers produced some genuine laugh out loud moments. But what somehow passed me by on first reading the book several years ago is that the author is a big Albion fan. Anyone on here know him?

It's a great read by the way, whether or not you know Uckfield.

 

Eeyore

Colonel Hee-Haw of Queen's Park

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Apr 5, 2014

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• Jun 6, 2020

• #2

Not read it, but I love social commentaries. I've added it to the list.

 

AmexRuislip

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Feb 2, 2014

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Ruislip

• Jun 6, 2020

• #3

Bry Nylon said:

I've just (re)read 'Maximum Diner - making it big in Uckfield' by Christopher Nye.

Having grown up in Uckfield myself, the descriptions of the town and some of the more unsavoury customers produced some genuine laugh out loud moments. But what somehow passed me by on first reading the book several years ago is that the author is a big Albion fan. Anyone on here know him?

It's a great read by the way, whether or not you know Uckfield.

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I eat in there a few years back when it was owned by a Turkish chap, who I think moved to Seaford.
Anyway the food was pretty good.
The Blackboys Inn does decent food, when open

 

Norman Potting

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Nov 5, 2006

13,971

Sussex, Sussex not by the sea and actually nearer

• Jun 7, 2020

• #4

Bry Nylon said:

I've just (re)read 'Maximum Diner - making it big in Uckfield' by Christopher Nye.

Having grown up in Uckfield myself, the descriptions of the town and some of the more unsavoury customers produced some genuine laugh out loud moments. But what somehow passed me by on first reading the book several years ago is that the author is a big Albion fan. Anyone on here know him?

It's a great read by the way, whether or not you know Uckfield.

Click to expand...

Not come across this book before but now on it's way from eBay to join the reading queue, after "Death in Grimsby" !

 

T

tony2griff

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Nov 20, 2015

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• Jun 7, 2020

• #5

He was also the Writer for the tv program Men Behaving Badly

 

Bry Nylon

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• Jun 7, 2020

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• #6

tony2griff said:

He was also the Writer for the tv program Men behaving badly

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That was his brother, Simon. In the book he explains how his brother loaned him the money to buy the lease for the Diner in the first place after the bank refused, then loaned him more money after he'd spent the funds he'd set aside for the VAT bill on advertsing and making a float for the Carnival

 

Dick Swiveller

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Sep 9, 2011

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• Jun 7, 2020

• #7

Just had a look on eBay and the cheapest seller was someone called GoldstoneBooksUK. That seemed like a sign (Or the OP!) so on its way for £2.09.

 

T

tony2griff

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• Jun 7, 2020

• #8

I always believed Simon owned it. They probably did a lot of trade with The Broadway nightclub.

 

Bry Nylon

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tony2griff said:

I always believed Simon owned it.

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I guess he may have done, as he put up the money to buy the lease. But it was his brother Christopher who ran it. (According to the book anyway - I don't know either of them).

And just to correct something from my earlier post, Simon didn't have to bail him out when he was facing ruin after he'd spent all the VAT money. By a stroke of luck, a chance conversation with the man running the kiosk at the end of Brighton Marina revealed that Christopher had mistakenly been charging VAT on cold food.

To quote from the book:

"Don't you know anything? I thought you had a bit of experience in this trade?"
"Yeah, well! At least I have a proper cafe and not some windy shed covered in seagull shit," I began to respond; but it came out as, "Yeah well! At least...Bloody hell, that's BRILLIANT!!"....and I sprinted home to get my calculator.