Jamie's Italian...

[FredAstaire]

Jamie's Italian is the kind of place I'd take the kids out for lunch if we were in an unfamiliar town and didn't know what our options were and needed food stat (kids are 6 and 3).

Otherwise it's just a chain Italian of which there are better, never mind proper little independent Italians.

[Patrick Bateman]

don4l said:

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.

As much as the man himself annoys me, I can't deny that. His books themselves are very good and clearly laid out.

[Murph7355]

Patrick Bateman said:

don4l said:

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.

As much as the man himself annoys me, I can't deny that. His books themselves are very good and clearly laid out.

I agree.

His fish pie recipe is worth the price of his books alone.

[talksthetorque]

Murph7355 said:

I agree.

His fish pie recipe is worth the price of his books alone.

We have served this fish pie to friends when they have come round and when they are invited the next time they specifically ask for it.

The courgette carbonara is a favourite in our house too.

When he was on Graham Norton the other week, it was mentioned that he is the second biggest selling British author of all time ( after JK Rowling) so that should answer the question about where the money came from.

To answer the OP's original question we went to the one in Nottingham and I sent the caprese starter back as there were two small pieces of buffalo mozarella ( about the size of a penny) , and four cherry tomatoes. I think it was about £6. I asked them to triple the portion or not bother - to be fair, they did return with six pieces of mozarella and eight cherry tomatoes. But yes, in agreement - more than it should be for OK chain food.
Only saving grace was that he didn't make a personal appearance while we were there.

[227bhp]

To sum up his books and recipes are good, but restaurants are crap. I'd pretty much agree with that, I do have his first 3 or 4 and have had some good meals from them.

[Jag_NE]

visited the York restaurant a couple of years ago and I thought it was crap for the price, cant recall the number but we were 2 adults & 2 young kids. portion sizes were very small and i recall buying a sausage roll within 5 minutes of leaving.

do chain restaurants have real chefs in them, or cooks?

[ambuletz]

Jag_NE said:

do chain restaurants have real chefs in them, or cooks?

I'm not sure, but he does like to employ alot of apprentices and people who have served time and trying to improve themselves. if you ever watch his youtube channel you will see gennaro making some of their dishes and it is quite easy to make from the looks of it.

[soad]

Jag_NE said:

do chain restaurants have real chefs in them, or cooks?

Chain restaurants supposed to have recipes books (with photos, igredients, portion cost, price guides etc) to maintain quality standards.

[MarshPhantom]

What a shame. I can still remember the horror of regular call outs to his Fifteen place in the City over ongoing problems with one our gas fired heaters.

Big sign outside saying that by simply entering the restaurant you're agreeing to appear on TV. Can't say I'm a fan.

[foxsasha]

Jag_NE said:

visited the York restaurant a couple of years ago and I thought it was crap for the price, cant recall the number but we were 2 adults & 2 young kids. portion sizes were very small and i recall buying a sausage roll within 5 minutes of leaving.

do chain restaurants have real chefs in them, or cooks?

We also tried the one in York, was not impressed. Based on my other halfs preprepared meal not having been heated up properly so needing sending back I'd say they aren't staffed by chefs.

[f1nn]

While I'm not Mr Olivers biggest fan, I can't deny that some of his books have been good.

HIs restaurants however, and I must say that I've only ever been to two, one in Reading and one in...I can't actually remember...have been mediocre and I can't say I have any urge to go back.

And blaming the latest closures on Brexit...come on.

If enough people enjoyed the experience and quality of food enough to pay the prices that the business model required then it would not be an issue.

[egor110]

For me nothing beats going to a small independent Italian and having a great chat with the staff about rossi and motorbike racing.

[Davey S2]

We go to the Cardiff one fairly regularly (including lunch yesterday) and it seems to fluctuate to being ok to a bit 'meh'.

My wife has a loyalty card which gets you a freebie taster every visit with some other offer (10% off yesterday) You also get a free bottle of Prosecco on your birthday.

Still a little on the pricey side for what you get though.

The ones that have closed are all in the wrong locations s I understand.

[Europa1]

I've only ever been to the Cambridge one. When it first opened, you weren't allowed to book, which pissed me off. I felt it was expensive for what it was. Lowpoints were going one bank holiday to be told that the chips were off the menu because, it being a bank holiday, they hadn't had their chip delivery that day (ummm, there's a Sainsbury's local 5 minutes' walk away which sells spuds?), and seeing the staff pouring wine from fruit juice-style cartons into carafes. Haven't been back for years. It's a shame, because it's a lovely building - would be great with a good restaurant in it.

[wombleh]

I've had a nice meal in the Oxford one and would go back. However had the opposite experience on the Gatwick one, food was absolutely dire.

[egor110]

Davey S2 said:

We go to the Cardiff one fairly regularly (including lunch yesterday) and it seems to fluctuate to being ok to a bit 'meh'.

My wife has a loyalty card which gets you a freebie taster every visit with some other offer (10% off yesterday) You also get a free bottle of Prosecco on your birthday.

Still a little on the pricey side for what you get though.

The ones that have closed are all in the wrong locations s I understand.

Shame on you

If your in Cardiff head to cafe citta , you know it's good when you have to book for a weds night.

[okgo]

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-...

All in places where people have enough money to eat wherever the fk they like - yes Jamie, I'm sure the people of Richmond can't afford your £8 main dishes, idiot.

[toon10]

Another poor experience of the York one. The staff were pleasant enough but a bit clueless, the food was average at best and the prices were too high for what we had. I'm not a huge Jamie Oliver fan but the other half wanted to go so we did. When she asked I just thought now there's a guy who would pour olive oil on egg and chips and don't get me started on his lazy veg prep, massive chunks, why not take a bit more time and care and slice, dice or refine them a little?

Anyway... We were left disappointed with the experience and could have had just as nice a pub lunch for a lot cheaper. As for his Brexit comments, I'm not buying that propaganda. I'm a passionate remain advocate and even I can see there's a bit of sour grapes there.

[talksthetorque]

Yahoo Article said:

Some 120 staff at the six eateries – in Ludgate Hill, in London, Richmond, Aberdeen, Cheltenham, Exeter and Tunbridge Wells, Kent – will be affected, it has been confirmed.

Am I right in saying two places in London where high earners are in abundance and 4 of the better off places in their respective localities.

I'm going local competition is much better than the pillow-tongued-slebchef's offerings
It is not about a 15% increase in your ingredients cost - which in a restaurant should be about 1/3 of your turnover - so a 5% price rise would cover it.

Yahoo Article said:

Oliver has 42 Jamie’s Italian restaurants in the UK and another 36 run abroad under his name.
.....
These closures represent less than 5% of total turnover

So that's 6/78 retaurants (8%) pulling less than 5% of turnover.

There's your reason, just chopping the unprofitable stuff - possibly due to lease costs in expensive areas.

Brexit my arse, Good business, fair enough.

[soad]

Europa1 said:

Lowpoints were going one bank holiday to be told that the chips were off the menu because, it being a bank holiday, they hadn't had their chip delivery that day (ummm, there's a Sainsbury's local 5 minutes' walk away which sells spuds?)

Too much trouble for the lazy chefs. Even "hand made/cut" chips arrive frozen in majority of places.