Jamie's Italian...

[MrBarry123]

Snowdrop_ said:

Decided to cancel the table, thanks for the input guys!

Booked into a proper italian which has some raving reviews on TA.

Good choice.

[ManFromDelmonte]

Snowdrop_ said:

Decided to cancel the table, thanks for the input guys!

Booked into a proper italian which has some raving reviews on TA.

Excellent, why you would go to London and go to a chain restaurant is beyond me. Get on Open Table and look at some of the fixed price deals that go around. You can eat top quality food in Michelin starred restaurants for £40ph + drinks or you can go to a proper Italian restaurant with a good reputation and pay less than you would at a chain.

If you're around Picadilly, Brasserie Zedel is pretty good if you're after something fairly quick with good service, and if you stick to the Prix Fixe is unbelievable value. It is perhaps a bit bustling for an anniversary dinner.

If you're after Italian, Sartoria just off Saville Row is excellent and I believe also do a fixed price menu (maybe £30).

[kazste]

I find it good for the price especially if you have either a steak or one of the specials.

Also sign up for their gold card gets you £10 off your first meal i think then bottle of prosecco for birthday and free tasters either starter or pudding every time you go.

For a chain i like it.

[Murph7355]

vixen1700 said:

Went to the Cambridge one a while back, it was OK but you're far better off going to a decent Italian.

Wouldn't bother going back.

I've been to this one and would say it's fine for a lunch, but nothing special.

The one in Canary Wharf started off OK but wouldn't use it now.

[ambuletz]

kazste said:

I find it good for the price especially if you have either a steak or one of the specials.

I always thought it seems abit pointless going to a restaurant that sells a certain cuisine and ordering a steak. Somewhat like taking a child out to a nice restaurat and them eating burger & chips or chicken nuggets.

[jogon]

I've heard Jamie Oliver is selling his shares in these chains though unsure if the name will change.

[227bhp]

Some of the restaurants are closing apparently, not because they aren't very good, but because of Brexit of course.

https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/jamie-oliver-to-...

[FiF]

227bhp said:

Some of the restaurants are closing apparently, not because they aren't very good, but because of Brexit of course.

https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/jamie-oliver-to-...

Quite, convenient irrelevant excuse number 254, and the ones they are closing must be really crap because the Birmingham one is being kept open and that is dire. Mrs FiF, the person in the entire world least likely to kick up a fuss in a restaurant complained like hell about, well, everything.

[truck71]

They're awful bloody places with very little relevance to Italian cuisine. Brexit my ar$e (and I'm a remainer).

[Vocal Minority]

They have paid top dollar for their pitches I understand - and I think they were hoping for Mr Oliver's name to carry them a little more as a destination - when as has been said above, people have clicked that it's 'just another chain'.

[egor110]

If you like Italian surely the good thing about visiting a different city is trying the different independent Italians?

[ambuletz]

egor110 said:

If you like Italian surely the good thing about visiting a different city is trying the different independent Italians?

just like most people who like a curry but only eat a korma & chips. it's a franchise and to have mass market appeal it has to dilute it down a little. it's abit of a family restaurant. still... it's more italian then Frankie & Bennies. I've never been to one and I'm sure it's a lot better too.

[OzzyR1]

That article states his net worth as £323 million from last year's Times Rich List..

F me!!

Knew he had made a good few quid but I didn't think he was that rich!

[ambuletz]

OzzyR1 said:

That article states his net worth as £323 million from last year's Times Rich List..

F me!!

Knew he had made a good few quid but I didn't think he was that rich!

it's nuts. I can't imagine he was all richard branson and did it all himself, I wonder who got him there? the TV show and the books I can understand.. but the entire business? i remember watching one of his old naked chef programmes afew months back and he knew gennaro from way back, gennaro had his own restaurant but then for some reason he decided to close it down.

[soad]

His first job was as a pastry chef at Antonio Carluccio’s Neal’s Yard restaurant, where he developed a relationship with his “mentor,” Gennaro Contaldo. Oliver then moved to The River Café, Fulham, as a sous chef. It was there where BBC noticed him after making an unscripted appearance in a documentary about the restaurant. His show, The Naked Chef, and his cookbook became a number one best-seller in the UK. The rest is history.

http://money.aol.co.uk/2014/06/06/money-gurus-how-...

[FiF]

To be fair, away from the restaurant side and as a writer/TV chef then JO's recipes work reliably and are relatively easy. There are others whose recipes do work, eg Nigel Slater and Simon Hopkinson being just two.

Certain others are less reliable in my experience, eg Nigella L not reliable, Tom Kerridge just too much farting about frankly and so on.

[Evanivitch]

Zoon said:

Italian restaurant founded by Jamie Oliver, who's neither Italian or does any of the cooking.

Amazing. I wish this was on the front of every restaurant!

[Patrick Bateman]

FiF said:

To be fair, away from the restaurant side and as a writer/TV chef then JO's recipes work reliably and are relatively easy. There are others whose recipes do work, eg Nigel Slater and Simon Hopkinson being just two.

Certain others are less reliable in my experience, eg Nigella L not reliable, Tom Kerridge just too much farting about frankly and so on.

I tried his spiced orange cake at Christmas, followed his instructions to the letter, used an oven thermometer, right size tin, kept it in for the max cooking time (to the point the edges were starting to over-bake) and a big section in the middle collapsed on cooling as it was nowhere near finished.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/spiced_orange_ca...

The edible bits did taste the part but I struggle to see why it varied so badly.

[FiF]

Patrick Bateman said:

I tried his spiced orange cake at Christmas, followed his instructions to the letter, used an oven thermometer, right size tin, kept it in for the max cooking time (to the point the edges were starting to over-bake) and a big section in the middle collapsed on cooling as it was nowhere near finished.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/spiced_orange_ca...

The edible bits did taste the part but I struggle to see why it varied so badly.

I did his, Tom Kerridge's, version of baked beans on soda bread toast. The soda bread was OK, nothing special. Beans, followed it to the letter, yeeucch, the leftovers were chucked away.

[don4l]

FiF said:

To be fair, away from the restaurant side and as a writer/TV chef then JO's recipes work reliably and are relatively easy. There are others whose recipes do work, eg Nigel Slater and Simon Hopkinson being just two.

Certain others are less reliable in my experience, eg Nigella L not reliable, Tom Kerridge just too much farting about frankly and so on.

I have to say that his recipes are easy, and they are reliable. I never follow them to the letter, but they are filled with good, simple ideas.

I looked at Tripadvisor and most of his restaurants only have a rating of 3 1/2.

That isn't good enough when you are charging gastropub type prices.

The reviews for the Edinburgh restaurant show that the food quality and service are inconsistent. This is a management problem.