Latest news with #Heston
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Celebrity chef's devastating question about future of restaurants
Restaurants are the lifeblood of the hospitality industry but with modern challenges leaving them to foot larger and larger bills, what's next for our restaurants? The saying goes that two thirds of new restaurant s close within their first year. While that might be a slight exaggeration and the figures closer to around a third, the reality of our restaurant industry is they are being squeezed and squeezed. Gone are the days when diners were flooding in willing to splash the cash on a three-course a la carte menu - with a couple of bottles of wine keeping their spirits high in between courses. Their biggest worry might have been perfecting their wine list or switching to Heston's innovative new triple-cooked chips. Today, restaurateurs have to navigate through the perfect storm of squeezed margins, chronic staff shortages, and sky-high rent. Yet, despite the formidable challenges, a new generation of culinary innovators are rising to the challenge, elevating the industry to whole new heights. The past: Liquid lunches and late nights Cast your mind back to the 1990s and early 2000s, especially in London. Restaurants buzzed with activity, from city workers entertaining clients over long lunches to evening revellers letting loose. Celebrity chef Aldo Zilli, was behind several popular spots like Signor Zilli and Zilli Green, and witnessed this era first-hand with his restaurants playing host to parties with Freddy Mercury and Madonna. Reflecting on the past, Aldo told The Mirror: "In the 80s and 90s it was different times, but I feel now the hospitality industry is very tough. People are keen to go out more and spend less. 'The long lunch is dead, finished. They're gone. People only work Tuesday to Thursday so the challenge gets bigger and bigger." The present: Navigating a million challenges In the wake of Brexit, the cost of living crisis, and a cultural shift post-pandemic, restaurants have had to become incredibly agile, with thousands of new challenges often blind-siding new eateries, meaning you have to adapt to survive - and quickly. One person who knows those realities only too well is Andy Oliver, co-founder of the award-winning Thai restaurant som saa and one of London's hottest new openings Kolae. Like many new restaurants, som saa began as a series of London pop-ups before successfully crowdfunding its way to a brick-and-mortar location in Spitalfields. Approaching its 10th anniversary, Andy admits: "We started out in a happy place of naivety... We just wanted to open a restaurant and we were really excited about the idea of maybe not knowing a huge amount of the reality. "A restaurant is like a million habits, a million little systems. You end up learning a lot of painful lessons, but you just have to go through that process of learning." In recent years, staffing has become a headache for many owners. The industry has long grappled with factors like long, unsociable hours, tough working conditions, and often lower-than-average wages, which post-pandemic drove many workers away. According to UK Hospitality, there were approximately 132,000 vacancies in the industry in 2023, nearly 50% more than pre-pandemic levels. High staff turnover alone is estimated to cost the industry a staggering £21 billion. When the som saa team looked to open a second restaurant post-COVID, they felt the full impact of this new reality. "Reopening after Covid was difficult because it was a really tricky time for staff; a lot of people flowed out of the industry," Andy explains. "People were coming back to the labour pool either wanting to work less or on different terms, which I think has all been positive for hospitality to rework its relationship with its staff so it's in a much better place now." While better conditions for staff are a positive development, they do impact the bottom line. As Andy puts it: "It's true overall that whatever model you run, you have to swallow a lower profit at the end of the day." Something that Aldo echoed, stressing the importance of investing in your people: "In this industry you have to invest in people, in training – that's one of the biggest investments you can make. 'Getting into the industry you have to be prepared, if you want to become a chef it doesn't come easy but the rewards are so big." The future: The only way is up Despite the growing list of challenges, from rising costs to squeezed margins, there remains a passionate cohort of restaurateurs driven by their love of food and the desire to create unforgettable dining experiences. Aldo remains optimistic: "I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe in restaurants," he added "I believe in the future of the industry, it's going to get worse before it gets better, but it will get better." While Andy Oliver, on the back of the massive success of Kolae opening in 2023 shares the cautiously optimistic outlook. He believes that because of the tough market, restaurants have levelled up their game to greater and greater heights - pushing what we can expect for a dining experience. "In London there are a lot of challenges, but when you get it right, you get it really right and the people will come," he added: "If you're really good at what you do there's still a lot of demand out there, the bar is high and competitive, it can really work." Restaurants in the UK have only been getting and better and are a fine example of some of brave people wanting to express the passion for great food, Although the days of easy profits and flowing booze may be behind us, their drive to create great experiences for reasonable prices is what we need to keep the industry alive.
Metro
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Heston Blumenthal sheds tears as son says: 'Talking to you was horrible'
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 'I ended up becoming a hamster on a wheel, and I self-medicated with cocaine.' These were the words that Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal used to describe his rapid rise to fame in the year 2006 after he was awarded an OBE in the New Year's Honours List. 'My name became a brand. I had a range of foods in Waitrose, I had a range of barbecues, I had a range of kitchen equipment. Everything was going at full throttle,' he explained. But despite the staggering success that he had become, eating away at him from the inside was a then unknown bipolar diagnosis, which is the subject of a new BBC documentary that has been released today. Speaking from inside his home in Provence, France, the 59-year-old culinary genius sheds light on his experience being sectioned by police in November 2023 after he suffered a mental breakdown. On top of this, he tries to understand the social and medical stigma around being bipolar. But in a truly heartbreaking conversation with his son Jack, Heston learns the true extent of his disorder and how much of an impact it has had on his family. After meeting with bipolar experts and other people who suffer from the disorder, Heston decides to visit his eldest son, Jack, who now runs the award-winning Ginger Wings restaurant in Marlow. During a brutal and honest conversation, his son explains how difficult it was to speak with Heston during his childhood. Speaking about his disorder, he says: 'We found it difficult as a family… It's nice now to have… not a label on it, but something we can refer back to, to say he wasn't just being a d**k. Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition where you have extreme mood changes. These shifts can range from periods of intense energy and euphoria (mania or hypomania) to periods of profound sadness and hopelessness (depression). Formerly known as manic depression, medicines and talking therapy can help manage it. 'We just wanted a relaxing conversation with our dad, and we weren't allowed. 'You didn't want to know anyone's thoughts, I don't think you gave a s**t. 'You would just talk over us and say I'm going to do this, that and that, and I'm going to change the world. 'It would always start quite well for a few minutes, but then I had to walk away from you sometimes.' Jack went on to say: 'Every time we had to psyche ourselves up to come and see you. We'd plan it three weeks in advance just to see you for half an hour. It was horrible and it was constant and there was nothing I could do to help you.' As Heston begins to wipe away tears, he replies by saying: 'Me being bipolar is damaging the people I love.' After saying he is 'so sorry', Jack forgives his father before saying 'I love you' and the two share an emotional embrace. Elsewhere in the feature-length documentary, Heston explains how one day he woke up to find himself in a French mental hospital. Following this, he now has to take numerous different pills to balance his serotonin levels. However, according to Heston, he is fearful that the medication could affect his creativity, like in the past when he curated dishes such as sardine sorbet, snail porridge and bacon and egg ice cream at his award-winning restaurant The Fat Duck. Discussing his cocaine abuse, which he claims was a way of self-medicating his bipolar disorder, Heston explained how on one of his cooking shows his mind 'was hollow' and he would lie on the floor listening to meditation videos in between gaps in filming. 'I wondered if there was a gun here, would I use it, but there wasn't,' he revealed. 'Then I thought, are there other ways of ending it. Then I decided I wasn't ready for that. But it all went through my head.' On top of his depression, Heston also explained how he would have bizarre thoughts, such as that he could provide clean drinking water to the entire world. More Trending Earlier this year, he opened up about some of the symptoms he experienced from having bipolar disorder, including thinking that the TV was 'talking to him'. Appearing on BBC Breakfast, he told presenters Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty about his experiences. 'One of the classic symptoms of bipolar is you can start hallucinating things, so I hallucinated a gun on the table. I was talking about suicide. So you have suicidal thoughts,' he said while sitting on the sofa in the BBC studio. View More » Heston: My Life With Bipolar is available to watch on BBC iPlayer on June 19. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Race Across the World star sobs while revealing huge life change since filming MORE: I was trolled on Tattle Life – I'm thrilled it has been exposed MORE: It's 20 years since Doctor Who's best finale – but not for reasons you think
The Independent
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Heston Blumenthal opens up about mental health crisis
Celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal has detailed the events leading up to his being sectioned in November 2023. He started exhibiting manic behaviour, including talking rapidly for hours, an obsession with scientific theories, sleep deprivation, and hallucinations, he said. After Blumenthal showed his wife a drawing of a gun he had hallucinated, she contacted authorities, leading to police and firefighters arriving at their home to take him to the hospital. Blumenthal was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and spent two weeks in a psychiatric hospital, followed by six weeks of psychiatric sessions. His documentary about his mental illness, Heston: My Life with Bipolar, will air on BBC Two on 19 June.
Time Out Dubai
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out Dubai
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal gives its Sunday roast an upgrade
The elegant Sunday roast at the city's best European restaurant, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal Dubai, has been revamped. It was elevated under the leadership of the new chef de cuisine, Chris Malone. So, what's new? For starters, the menu. The roast now comes in a two-course format as well. You can choose between a starter and main, or a main and dessert (perfect if you've been eyeing that Bakewell tart). Thoroughly famished? The three-course option is very much on the table. Running from noon to 3pm, every Sunday, you can tuck into the two-course roast for Dhs345 or the three-course roast for Dhs395. Little ones, too, get their own menu. It's Dhs195 for children. What's on the plate? A quintessentially British roast, just with a bit of Heston magic. There's Black Angus sirloin, slow-cooked until it falls apart on the slightest touch, served with horseradish cream, rich beef gravy and a Yorkshire pud stuffed with braised ox cheek. If you want to keep things light, you can opt for the roast chicken, which comes with morel mushrooms, brioche and the sort of bread sauce that might make you rethink your loyalties. But what's a Sunday roast without potatoes? Don't miss out on savouring 'The Roastie', a Heston's signature. It's golden crisp on the outside, light and fluffy inside. The sort of spuds you'll talk about how to recreate for your next dinner at home. If you have room for dessert (we're impressed), you'll be choosing from the raspberry trifle, a Bakewell tart, or a reimagined chocolate bar. The familiar favourites still come with the usual Heston spin that you won't be able to stop Instagramming about. The iconic Nitrogen Ice Cream trolley is still there for that added drama. Drinks-wise, you're in excellent hands. The globally sourced grape list is one of the most extensive in the city, curated by Gault&Millau's 'Best Sommelier of the Year', Arturo Scamardella. If that doesn't float your boat, then the lively mixed drinks bar is more than ready to mix up something special with its playful range of infusions. Inspired by 15th-century British cuisine, this is a classic roast reimagined for the modern day. And it is one you need to try, whether you're looking for a spot to spend meaningful time with the family or trying to impress your date with your superior foodie skills. Time to get booking:
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Former teacher hopes Mannington Middle School benefits from endangered property status
FAIRMONT — After facing the possibility the school would be closed and the students merged with Blackshere Elementary, former technology teacher Rusty Elliott is now glad that Marion County Schools is taking steps to preserve the historic building that houses Mannington Middle School. 'It's one of those schools that was built in 1902,' Elliott said. 'And it's as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar.' In March, the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia announced Mannington Middle School had been added to the state's Endangered Properties List. School Superintendent Donna Heston told WAJR's Talk of the Town in March she hoped the designation opened up opportunities for the school similar to what Alderson Elementary School in Greenbrier County received. According to an article from November 2024, the former Alderson High School was renovated into an elementary school after the school district worked with the West Virginia School Building Association, DC Shires and The Thrasher Group's engineering division to refurbish the school. 'Structurally it is sound, we've had engineers come in and look at it,' Heston said about Mannington Middle on WAJR. 'Beautiful wood floors, it has a very historically rich structure as well as a historically rich library.' Heston said Mannington Middle Principal Jane DeVaul, a group of parents and the Preservation Alliance did the work to move the school onto the endangered properties list. The school faced closure as the county school system worked to put together a bond proposal for the 2024 election. However, the proposal was removed from the final bond before it was presented to voters. Elliott said while the building is structurally sound, the roof could use replacing. In 2023, Marion County Schools had the Thrasher Group check the tower area of the school. The Board of Education instituted safety precautions around the tower in 2022. The inspection led the Board of Education to believe there were no significant structural issues with the school. On its website, the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia wrote that the building was built in the Victorian Romanesque architectural style, and is a significant part of Mannington and the state's history. It's one of the oldest functional public schools in the state. The school was designed by an architectural firm out of Wheeling, and construction finished on the school in 1925. 'While still functional, the BOE, stretched thin, hopes its inclusion on this list will help with the preservation efforts for this outstanding building,' the alliance wrote on its website. It added the Endangered Properties List is a powerful tool used by the alliance to raise awareness about threatened historic sites across the state. Earning a place on the list increases visibility, advocacy and access to preservation resources for historic places. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, is also working on a Rural Historic Tax Credit which could potentially support preservation projects like the one in Mannington. The Rural Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act would reduce financial barriers to historic preservation in rural areas, alleviate burdens for small developers by boosting net proceeds and lowering compliance costs, as well as increasing access to capital to small towns who suffer from high construction costs but lower lease rates, which discourages developers. Elliott said the building should be fixed up, and doesn't require a lot of work to keep up. He supports the school now being on the Endangered Properties List. 'Let's fix it up,' he said. 'It is a treasure in the state of West Virginia. Too many times we tear down our treasures and don't keep them going.'
