Alice in Shoreditch-land

Saturday night in Shoreditch is always an unpredictable experience…amongst your check list of things to take, there should most definitely be an open mind.


I went to The Rivington Bar and Grill with 3 friends…set just off the main drag of Great Eastern Street on an eerie back street. From the outside it looks very ‘Shoreditchy’ (or in other words, very much like a warehouse). Inside, I got the feeling that I’d been here before…That was because the décor was so similar to Mark Hix’s Chophouse in Smithfield…I’d describe it as minimalist with an edgy twist.


I had the fish & chips, which I know is a little unadventurous but after seeing a woman eating it on the way to our table I couldn’t resist…it was all about the chips, they had the look and taste of chips from a real chippy! It reminded me of running back home on a Friday evening with a paper bag in hand full of the family’s order.


I learnt something on this night that I will never forget for as long as I roam this world…I attempted to dress my chips with a bit of Heinz Tomato Ketchup, however the bottle was brand new and therefore impossible to get the contents out of the bottle and onto my plate…or so I thought…


As I was hitting the bottom of the bottle whilst trying not to smash my plate one of my fellow diners looked at me in disbelief and said “What are you doing man!”…he instructed me to tilt the bottle to 45 degrees and simply tap the 57...low and behold, free flowing Tommy K!!!


There is a saying, “Better late than never” but it took me 23 years to learn that nifty little trick…can’t help but feel like a bit of a late starter!


After we headed to a cocktail bar called Callooh Callay which must have been inspired by The World of Narnia as you walk through a wardrobe to get to the main room…maybe this is a analogy of the surrounding area...anyway once we were a couple of cocktails down we were invited up to the members area by the hostess. There was a real sense of friendliness in the room and everyone mingled as if they had known each other for years…


One of my friends, (an American) said a classic comment…"Imagine in 100 years time when people will be saying London in 2011...What a great place to be alive"

French Hospitality at its finest

I spent some time living in France, a country that I truly adore…it is a country devoted to pleasure and hedonism…the great food, the beautiful weather (in some parts), mind blowing wines, the Alps, the back streets of Paris and of course, the people…more specifically, the arrogance of the people!


The relationship between us Brits and the French has always been somewhat shall we say ‘rocky’…I have lost count of the amount of times I have heard someone say, “France is great, the only problem is, it’s full of French”.


I was actually in a bar in Shoreditch on Saturday night attending a friends leaving do. She happens to be moving to France next weekend. Her mother approached me and asked me what advice I could give her intrepid daughter…My response was simple, treat them like they treat you.


To highlight this point I want to give you a quote from Stephen Clarke’s book, ’talk to the snail’:


“ One Saturday morning, at a slightly snooty cheese shop near my home in Paris, I saw a woman get sadistically put in her place by a man in a white overall.
   I was being attended to by the female half of the husband-and-wife crémerie team, and was ogling some small decorative goat’s cheeses - a selection of round pats of fresh white cheese sprinkled with black pepper, encrusted in sultanas or coated with herbs. But the viciousness of the snub was shocking enough to distract me from drooling.
   The victim, a middle-aged lady, bustled into the shop, already rifling through her handbag for her purse. Probably in a rush to get home to give her kids their lunch.
   “Un litre de lait frais demi-écrémé, s’il vous plâit”, she said. A bottle of semi skimmed milk.
   The male co-owner exchanged a look with his wife, who raised her eyebrows in sympathy . “Bonjour”, he said to the woman.
   “Un litre de lait frais demi-écrémé, s’il vous plâit”, she repeated, getting out her cash.
   “Bonjour”, the owner repeated, a little louder this time.
   “Je voudrais juste un litre de lait”, she said, changing tack and still not fully realising that there was a problem. She was explaining that she only wanted milk, and was not splurging on expensive cheeses, because cheese-shop owners sometimes think that it is beneath their dignity to sell unfermented dairy products, especially semi skimmed ones.
   “Don’t you ever wish people good-day Madame?”, the cheese seller asked. Subtext: I am not a servant, I am a noble purveyor of fine foods, I have a house in the country and a cleaning lady who irons my overalls, so you’re not getting your piffling bottle of milk until you say hello.
   “Oh, sorry, yes, of course, bonjour”. the woman said, blushing and apologising. She look expectantly across at the cheese seller. She was still in a hurry, still hoping to buy some milk and get back home before the weekend was over.
   “Bonjour Madame”, the cheese man said. “What would you like?”
   The customer had to repeat her request for a bottle of milk, and then wait while the shopkeeper counted out her change and put the plastic bottle in a bag, “because we like to treat our customers comme il faut (properly). He saw absolutely no contradiction between what he was doing and what he was saying.
   At last the woman was allowed to leave the shop, with a loud “au revoir” from both husband and wife ringing in her reddened ears.
   I really should have walked out, but I’d been sent on a last minute errand to get the cheese for a lunch party, so I meekly made my selection, paid and wished them a polite ‘bonne journée‘.
   By the way, I must emphasize a key aspect of the previous scene - it was a clash between two French people. We non-French people often think that the French are trying to insult us because we’re foreign, but it’s not true. They’re like that with each other too.”


My only other piece of advice would be…Good luck!

Don't go to France without reading this book!

School Dropout? Why Hospitality???

What’s going on with celebrity chefs and getting kids of the streets and launching them into a career in hospitality. Take Jamie Oliver and Michel Roux as examples. Mr Oliver has a fleet of restaurants which offer a graduate scheme for disadvantaged kids. These kids come from all background, some with drug or alcohol issues, some are homeless and some are unemployed. It does make me wonder, with years of industry experience and a degree in Hospitality Management, do I hold the right pre-requisites to work at Fifteen (one of Jamie’s brands)??? I don’t consider myself disadvantaged, quite the opposite in fact but I do want to pursuit a serious career in hospitality…do I still qualify??? 


TV shows such as Michel Roux’s Service and Dream School (another Jamie Oliver endeavour) are essentially doing the same thing…however I can’t help but be a little cynical…are these programmes just feeding off sympathy from the British audience to create TV ratings or are these kids going to be the next CEO of Hilton? 


So why hospitality? Is the hospitality industry a discipline?
For me the service industry doesn’t have to be “Yes Sir, No Sir, 3 bags full Sir” In fact nothing makes me feel more uncomfortable than being called Sir! (I don’t ever remember being knighted). I believe service is about getting the customer on your side which varies between different scenarios. Regardless of the situation, the rule still applies.


Maybe the hospitality industry is like one big rehabilitation network. The beauty of our industry is that you can go absolutely anywhere on the planet and it will always exist because people will always need to eat, drink and sleep. For this reason the people in hospitality will most definitely have some interesting views or a different way of thinking (or even a different accent).


I suppose my point is…behind the apron and the wine stained shirt will be a character full of personality with a great story to tell (disadvantaged or not). 

That's not just any quote...

Saw a lady on the tube home tonight with one of those 'save the world' cotton bags. Cool quote on it which read...

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food"

Now that's not just any quote...that's an M&S quote!!!

The customer isn't always right...

I can’t help but smile when I hear that customers still believe the age old saying ‘the customer is always right’ is gospel! While we are at it, lets scrap the ‘customer is king (or queen)’ from our vocabulary as well!


Apologies…I’m being facetious. There is obviously some truth behind both saying however I think the customer needs to be reigned in a bit before they start getting away with petty crimes. (Note: I use the word crimes loosely)


I also want to speculate that I am by no means bringing everyone down for the sake of a bad bunch…I refer to just a handful of people (they know who they are!!!)


Apparently the saying originated in Oxford Street’s department store, Selfridges in 1909. It was designed to convince customers that they got good service at this company and also to convince employees to demonstrate good service…seems reasonable although in reality it’s total rubbish. 


Here’s why:
Firstly, it’s not great for staff moral…conflict between staff and customers is never pleasant. Secondly, it can give abrasive customers an unfair advantage...aka, bullying. Thirdly, it can result in worse customer service. There is also the scenario where certain customers are bad for business…more customers isn’t necessarily better for business. A great quote from the guys at Innocent Smoothies who once said “I’d rather have a hole in my team, than an asshole” I believe you can apply this to customers as well. Lastly and most importantly, sometimes customers are just plain wrong!


My biggest pet hate is when somebody orders something of the menu, eats it (every last bit of it!) and THEN complains about it…WRONG WRONG WRONG!!! 


I happen to love what I do and will do anything within my ability to make a guest’s experience a memorable one, whether it be in a restaurant I work in or in the comfort of my own home. All I ask is that you (the customer) work with me as well. If we stick together I promise things will be much more enjoyable. 


Truth be told, the customer is usually right however they just don’t know how to complain.

Chains...Is enough, enough?

Take a stroll down Upper Street in Islington or St. Paul’s Courtyard or even Spitalfield Market and the surrounding areas…do you get a sense of déjà vu? No? Consider the restaurants and bars in these areas…are they a bit predictable…repetitive…same old, same old???


My question is, why is Britain so brand obsessed??? What happened to variety being the spice of life?


I a metropolis as (quite frankly) incredible as London I can’t help but get a little frustrated with the trap we find ourselves in when it comes to chains.


During my time in university I conducted a research project titled, Chains…Is enough, enough? I learnt that with price sensitive consumers and brand power, chains will always have an impact on the restaurant scene in London.


A good example of this is in a pub that I used to work in called the Fox & Anchor which served only 1 larger called Meantime Helles Biere, which is now fairly well known within London but still not as mainstream as the likes of Fosters.


Customers would approach the bar and immediately order a pint of the ‘amber nectar’ despite there being absolutely no evidence of it being served there. I politely explaining our alternative on offer (obviously passing no judgement on the customer…phffff!). The sense of panic on the customers face was priceless! “OH NOOO, I DON’T KNOW THAT ONE!!!”


If us 7.5 million Londoners tried something new everyday we might just put a halt on the homogenous high street that is becoming oh so familiar these days.


My response…Be brave, try something new today.