It's all going to get nasty tomorrow and me, Ged and the kids are scared of how the public will react. Because we know that Johnnie may be a stroppy little madman but we love him and not without good reason. We have eaten in all his restaurants and Johnnie has always made time to be with us and never acted the Primadonna.
If you knew Johnnie how I know Johnnie then you would know that he went into the Great British Menu competition determined to create something fabulous AND appropriate to the Olympic theme. Did you notice that he was the only North West chef who even mentioned the word 'Olympic' let alone spend hours in a strange library-I-have-never-even-heard-of talking Olympic Gods with a clever-man-of-Olympic-knowledge?
The first time Johnnie invited me to eat at Mosaica he created a showcase of gorgeousness and - Marcus Wareing take note - even in those early days he was showing skills, imagination and perfect timing that chefs in the game for far longer would have been jealous of. At the end of that night I took a taxi home to Chalk Farm and Johnnie accompanied me by doing a wheelie on his motorbike for a good length of the journey from Wood Green to Chalk Farm (ie. too bloody far). Yes, he's crazy but he has proved he can cook.
I also know that Johnnie talks about Simon Rogan as if he were an Olympic god himself so I was a little disturbed at Simon's comments regarding Johnnie's use of the molecular malarkey and saying that it was all a bit old hat. Why can't all the chefs just be nice to each other? So far the Northern Ireland chefs have been the nicest of the bunch. We don't want tension Mr TV maker, we want the food to be the competition not the chefs' personalities.
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| Rib, Yorkshires and Dauphinoise |
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| Cyberdog |
Joe played with Cyberdog.
While I might not think that Johnny was a master of tact and diplomacy, I was frankly appalled at Marcus Warings very personal insults that he used in his castigation of Johnny's dish. It wasn't brilliant, and yes fish would have been good - it was a FISH course - but I certainly felt the attack on Johnny was more personal than professional.
ReplyDeleteYes, it all does feel a bit personal but they may become best friends yet.
ReplyDelete