“Firstly, I'm not materialistic. I'm the third of four boys and my childhood greatly influenced me because I lost my mother, Maria-Rosa, when I was six, two weeks after she gave birth to my younger brother Craig. So, no matter how much money I make, it's not going to buy the things I want. It's never going to allow me to buy her a dress, to take her for lunch, get her flowers, anything that shows her kindness. I've worked purely for the security of my children, because if something happens to me, at least there's a trust to look after them. I certainly don't care about fame or fortune.”
Nope – not me but it’s quite touching isn’t it? It’s a quote from Marco Pierre White, the enfant terrible of the celebrity chef circuit although when he was at his peak there wasn’t anything remotely resembling a celebrity chef. The quote however, is obviously about money and I’ll get to that later.
Years and years ago (20-25 probably), I remember reading about this new chef who was the youngest then to have received 3 Michelin stars. I drove past his restaurant every day (Hyde Park Hotel) and desperately wanted to try his food but even on expenses it was prohibitively expensive and I had to wait until he took control of the Criterion Restaurant in Piccadilly. For £25 they served probably one of the best lunches in London and I became a fan. Interestingly, today’s set lunch at the Criterion is now only £20 for three courses although I think White has moved on.
Anyway, I didn’t really want to concentrate on White’s culinary skills in this post although some of the ‘chef’ anecdotes about him are legendary such as when a diner asked for chips with his meal – absolute sacrilege to the chef. White hand cut the chips himself, cooked them but then charged the diner £25 for the privilege! And then there was the time one of his sous chefs complained about the kitchen being too hot so White cut his uniform top off with a sharp knife. He probably learned all these ‘skills’ under the tutelage of Nico Ladenis, who incidentally has, like White, returned his 3 Michelin stars. Ladenis was famous for ejecting customers from his restaurant if they had the temerity to ask for salt for their meal.
As I said, this blog wasn’t about White’s abilities in the kitchen but about his attitude to money. He must be a multi-millionaire by now despite a few failed marriages and of course he’s most recently been seen as the head chef in Hell’s Kitchen where everybody thought he’d be a monster but actually turned out to be something of a pussycat. He’s obviously mellowed, or so I thought when I read the heart-touching quote at the start of this blog. To say that money has no meaning to him because it does not allow him to ‘pamper’ his dead mother actually tugged at my heart strings being in a similar position. But then I read that his ex-wife of 7 years, who no doubt played a huge part in allowing White to concentrate on his business career, whilst she brought up the kids, has been frozen out, not receiving a penny which is all a bit mean, don’t ya think?
As I said, this posting has jumped about a bit but at least one good thing came out of it -some renewed research on The Criterion. £20 for lunch in a central London location in probably the most stunning, ornate dining room in the capital (see picture) is a bargain and I fully intend to go back there the next time I have an opportunity to do so. Details below.
http://www.criterionrestaurant.com/restaurant.html
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