Discussion
he's not a good businessman, celebrity chef yes.
Restaurants with low hygiene standards, locally made food sourced hundreds of miles away. Oliver’s Union Jacks restaurants closed down.
i think the brand is out of touch with the customers, and he has stretched his brand too far in the pursuit of revenue and glory at any cost.
Restaurants with low hygiene standards, locally made food sourced hundreds of miles away. Oliver’s Union Jacks restaurants closed down.
i think the brand is out of touch with the customers, and he has stretched his brand too far in the pursuit of revenue and glory at any cost.
powerstroke said:
hutchst said:
Surely his Porsche-powered VW T2 is worth a mention on here
Not really that's just the sort of POS you would expect him to drive ... Edited by hutchst on Monday 29th October 02:25
Any speed over 60 and you can't hear yourself think over the wind noise.
I'm amazed he's opened that many restaurants, do people really think that visiting one of 'his' eateries has any kind of link to the man himself?
I don't dislike him, his cook books are decent and I'll watch him on TV if there's nothing else on, but visiting one of his many restaurants wouldn't be on my list of places to eat, it's still a chain and only as good as the current people running it.
Location is everything, whether there's a big name chef attached or not.
For example, Rick Stein opened a restaurant in Sandbanks, the food and service are ok, nothing special and certainly nothing makes you think that Rick himself is in any way related to the premises. But it's stacked out most nights and weekends due to the location, people have money in that area and it's become a destination that people want to be seen at.
Jamie should have been a bit more selective about where he opened and exactly how many places he opened, his name alone isn't enough to guarantee success.
I don't dislike him, his cook books are decent and I'll watch him on TV if there's nothing else on, but visiting one of his many restaurants wouldn't be on my list of places to eat, it's still a chain and only as good as the current people running it.
Location is everything, whether there's a big name chef attached or not.
For example, Rick Stein opened a restaurant in Sandbanks, the food and service are ok, nothing special and certainly nothing makes you think that Rick himself is in any way related to the premises. But it's stacked out most nights and weekends due to the location, people have money in that area and it's become a destination that people want to be seen at.
Jamie should have been a bit more selective about where he opened and exactly how many places he opened, his name alone isn't enough to guarantee success.
The greed of his financial advisers and Oliver being very naive to trust them did the rest. They were trying to expand too big too fast and thats whats destroys chains like this. I believe quality over quantity is always the way forward in food industry.
Anyone stating how has he ran up debts of £70 million need to remember business debt is different to personal debt and banks will allow a debt that size to build up depending on the turnover of the business, the future prospects of the business and most importantly if you can pay the interest on the debt. Once cash flow becomes a problem and turnover starts to go down the banks stop lending.
garagewidow said:
powerstroke said:
hutchst said:
Surely his Porsche-powered VW T2 is worth a mention on here
Not really that's just the sort of POS you would expect him to drive ... Edited by hutchst on Monday 29th October 02:25
Any speed over 60 and you can't hear yourself think over the wind noise.
Coin Slot. said:
For example, Rick Stein opened a restaurant in Sandbanks, the food and service are ok, nothing special and certainly nothing makes you think that Rick himself is in any way related to the premises. But it's stacked out most nights and weekends due to the location, people have money in that area and it's become a destination that people want to be seen at.
Indeed, it's not like they are there themselves doing the cooking.I've eaten in Jamie's in Liverpool a few years ago and it was just ok. But by the time we'd left there was actually a queue out of the door. A queue !! I'd not queue to get into a restaurant.
We're also eaten at one of MPW's steakhouses and that was dreadful. It was so dreadful I put my complaints in writing and had the restaurant manager on the phone a couple of days later offering a a free meal for the 4 of us. I took that but it was little better the second time.
At the end of the none of these celebrity chefs have anything to do with these places that use their name.
williamp said:
garagewidow said:
powerstroke said:
hutchst said:
Surely his Porsche-powered VW T2 is worth a mention on here
Not really that's just the sort of POS you would expect him to drive ... Edited by hutchst on Monday 29th October 02:25
Any speed over 60 and you can't hear yourself think over the wind noise.
In my local City the Jamie's Italian closed down some many months ago. I suspect, given the location and size it would probably have been paying one of the highest business rates. It was actually an ok restaurant when it first opened, but slowly as the years went by, the service got allot worse and constantly changing staff meant that while the food was ok, the service and hygiene would suffer and many vowed not to go again.
The same can be said for many other chain's like Carluccio's and Prezzo, again just going down hill, while paying premium prices. The light at the end of the tunnel are more independents are setting up and providing great food and superb service. These major restaurant expansions do not seem to work well, as Carluccio, Busaba Eathai and Prezzo all potentially closing..
G
The same can be said for many other chain's like Carluccio's and Prezzo, again just going down hill, while paying premium prices. The light at the end of the tunnel are more independents are setting up and providing great food and superb service. These major restaurant expansions do not seem to work well, as Carluccio, Busaba Eathai and Prezzo all potentially closing..
G
What ever you might think about Jamie's Italian, they are actually one of the very few 'chains' to make everything from fresh on a daily basis. Other chains use food made in a factory, warm it in the microwave, snip open the bag and pour on to the plate. Unfortunately most customers are not descerning enough to notice. Just saying.
powerstroke said:
hutchst said:
Surely his Porsche-powered VW T2 is worth a mention on here
Not really that's just the sort of POS you would expect him to drive ... I would put a vehicle like that in the category of 'just a bit of fun'.
I'm sure if you like early VW campers, as many people do, then it isn't a 'POS'.
It's probably very enjoyable to own something that has been the subject of such an incredible restoration.
They certainly fetch big money.
Quarterly said:
What ever you might think about Jamie's Italian, they are actually one of the very few 'chains' to make everything from fresh on a daily basis. Other chains use food made in a factory, warm it in the microwave, snip open the bag and pour on to the plate. Unfortunately most customers are not descerning enough to notice. Just saying.
And those that are go to a local restaurant.I think high priced “chain” restaurants are a think of the past. People expect more for their money these days. Leave the chain model to the mass market guys.
I went to Fifteen when they first opened and he was there. It was a good experience then. Loooong time ago.
I have been to a few different Jamie’s Italian and it’s been pretty ordinary and not worth going back. And expensive for what it was.
I think as others have said, he’s expanded too quickly and not had the right people with him. An enterprise of that size requires good business accumen and not the BIL.
Hopefully he can scale down and learn from his expensive mistakes.
I went to Fifteen when they first opened and he was there. It was a good experience then. Loooong time ago.
I have been to a few different Jamie’s Italian and it’s been pretty ordinary and not worth going back. And expensive for what it was.
I think as others have said, he’s expanded too quickly and not had the right people with him. An enterprise of that size requires good business accumen and not the BIL.
Hopefully he can scale down and learn from his expensive mistakes.
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