big chef takes on little chef

Lamb thyroid hotpot?

At the moment Little Chef are't coming across very well, nor are their customers.

Having said that though, I know Heston is obviously an amazing chef but i'm not sure about some of those ingredients, I'm not sure i'd pick a dessert with essence of olive and leather ?

I am - I have my doubts that Heston's dishes will go down well with Little Chef customers.

And although he said he'd been cut off, it was obvious that the boss had hung up on him.

We're watching, I may have a slight crush on Heston. It's reminded me how much I want to go to The Fat Duck so I've convinced (nearly) Mr Mwnci to allocated a wedding present cheque to it - yey! Just need to make a reservation now...

It's not looking very appetising really. Then again Heston's scrambled egg in a bag in a water bath didn't look too appealing either

Waaaaahhhhh! The chefs!!!!!!!! Their poor faces!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Hawian burger!!

I have a huge crush on him.

I'm watching. The new Little Chef got rave reviews the other weekend so it's going to be interesting. Cannot believe the boss hung up on him!

wss, i think some of his food looks absolutely revolting. i wouldn't pay for it with washers.

i'm watching it recorded so just on the bit where he's eating the breakfasts ?

Do we really have the Director of Little Chef critiquing Heston's food? ?

All these dishes so far are straight off the menu at the Hinds Head. Ian Wossname is very critical ?

Has he been successful with this then Hazel?

You couldn't have picked a worse chef to turn Little Chef around surely? Two totally different ends of the spectrum and two totally different attitudes to food.

Surely if they concentrated on simple, well-made food using quality ingredients they'd be far better off than attempting a gimmicky, low budget Fat Duck menu.

Is that not the same as sweetbreads, or have I got the wrong gland?

This Ian bloke is not coming off well, is he? I thought Heston's chefs were a bit smug, though.

I think what the guy wanted was for Heston to come in and stick a couple of wow dishes on the menu and keep everything else exactly the same so they could cash in on his name in their advertising without actually changing anything.

Oh, and could he come out with any more corporate jargon? Blue sky thinking. Please.

It's only been open a couple of weeks I think

If you look at the gimmicky stuff at the Fat Duck, then yes, on the face of it, but behind that there are a host of really good solid dishes. Then the Hind's Head menu is based on good, old-fashioned British food (pea and ham soup, Lancashire hotpot etc etc). So he does have a good grounding for this kind of hting - the problem is that the Little Chef boss seems to think he can have Fat Duck food at Little Chef prices for Little Chef customers. That's never going to work.

I am liking Heston's offer for them to go to the Fat Duck. Where they can pay for the privilege of eating his food (and rightly so). How can he expect to have a Fat Duck experience and menu for the budget he has and for the price he wants to pay? Little Chef head bloke seems to need a reality check. Is it a one off tonight or does it continue another night?

Mr Hole and I both groaned when he said 'blue sky thinking'. I'm also laughing at Ian wanting Fat Duck food at Little Chef, aren't their mediocre breakfasts expensive enough already?

I agree, his chefs are a bit smug and I'm not surprised the boss of the Little Chef said 'don't think you're better than me'

Going to be interesting to see how the last 10minutes of the programme evolves as I can't se ehim doing anything the CEO wants. Bet CEO wishes he hadn't agreed to this as it'll not do any favours.

Michael the manager is a bit of a prat too "I'd always wanted to work for Little Chef'...perlease...

Omg, how much of a twunt is the Little Chef director?

I've just developed the biggest crush on Heston <swoon>

It's a 3 parter according to Sky Digital.

As Heston said that all Ian wants is to paint over the cracks.

Just having a nose at the Hinds Head menu now! Like you said good, old-fashioned food and what The Little Chef would be best off focusing on. That Ian chap seems hell bent on the gimmicky-ness that just wouldn't work in that sort of place.

"Think outside the box" ? This guy is a complete imbecile.

As for Little Chef manager, that's how I imagine Glider would be if he'd stayed at McDirty's for 30 years.

Sorry Glider ?

?

Will be interesting to see how this pans out. It's quite clear at this stage though that Heston doesn't really understand the average Little Chef customer. I only ever go in for breakfast and what I want is an unfussy, proper breakfast selection. I couldn't give a rat's ass over how the smoked salmon is smoked for starters. Proper full English with proper ingredients, proper tea and proper coffee. True though that the scrambled eggs are evil.

Wouldn't touch the usual lunch/dinner menu with a bargepole but British classics are definitely the way forward. I don't need oysters in my hotpot (although I'd expect them if I were eating at Heston's place) ?

I am a bit confused as to why they've done this, tbh - one of the reasons places like this don't have Fat Duck menus is because they can't afford them. They can't afford proper chefs (they have 'cooks' on minimum wage), they can't afford to have such differentiation in suppliers, can't afford the ingredients. They will also never afford the staff with the right food knowledge/passion to make the menu work (and I don't mean to be patronising, but having managed restaurants like this, it's simply how they work). I think Heston is expecting way too much of the staff in terms of cooking these kinds of menus.

And at the bottom of it all is the point that LC customers want simple food. In fact most of them won't care that it's of poor quality either, so long as it's cheap.

As for the rave reviews the new LV has received; I wonder, who reviewed it? A respected critic - who isn't the target audience at all - or a regular customer?

(remember i'm a bit behind)

pmsl at ian getting all sniffy foodie about heston's food, and saying it wasn't imaginative enough when they currently serve shyte burgers and microwaved pasta ?

michael 'my restaurant' ?

What hazel said.

i couldnt beleive it when the twat put the phone down on him when he asked him about the GP. WTF was going on with that? and why hasnt he given him the figures? how can he produce a menu without knowing the money he has to work with?

am guessing but i think that this should have been a 6 or 7 part series, maybe even more than that, and its been cut back.

I'd be very reluctant to eat anything with oysters in from Little Chef, sounds like a guaranteed way to contract salmonella.

9 quid for that mixed grill dish? 7 quid for the breakfast? those prices arent cheap.

Which is why LC are having to revamp in the first place. They bank on businessmen with expenses credit cards who won't care how much they cost, and I think this is part of the reason they got Heston involved, thinking he would appeal to them. Only said businessmen are now shunning LC for the fancy new service stations (food is still pants, but they are prettier).