He’s Not Special, He’s Marco-Pierre White

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Unconventional wisdom of chef who thinks recession is obvious time to open restaurants

Few would deny Marco-Pierre White a little revel in Ramsay’s continuing misfortunes for unlike his old rival, White makes no bones about his use of certain ready made foodstuffs. Or indeed the fact that he’s rather partial to an Egg McMuffin for breakfast after a night spent deer stalking.

In a recent interview with an Irish newspaper, White said, “Why not? I’m no different to any other man. It’s 7.30am. I’ve just finished deer stalking. What are my options? I love walking into McDonald’s and interacting with the people of Britain. Just because I’m Marco-Pierre White doesn’t mean I’m special.”

How people react to seeing him in McDonalds? “I don’t pay them any attention. I’m eating my McMuffin,” he responds.
He goes on to talk about how he sees his restaurant kitchen as battle ground with him as sergeant-major. “It is a battle,” he says. “Feeding 100 people in an hour is a battle, trust me. It’s like a warzone in a kitchen.”

White clearly takes pleasure in the fracas; not only is he currently hosting his second series of Hell’s Kitchen, he has just opened two new restaurants.

When asked if he knew there was a recession on he responded, “I think a recession is the most obvious time to open a restaurant. Number one: in doom and gloom, you’re creating something that’s exciting and fun. Number two: everything is cheap to do. Number three: you get the lion’s share of publicity ‘cos no one else is doing it. So it’s entirely logical to open a restaurant during a recession.”

Difficult to argue with logic like that.

April 23, 2009