News round-up
Gordon Ramsay is better known for reducing restaurateurs who don’t come up to scratch in Kitchen Nightmares to floods of tears, but according to fellow chef Albert Roux, it’s as easy as pie getting Gordon Ramsay to well up himself.
Houston food writer Robb Walsh bumped into Roux at the chef’s restaurant in Texas this week and, remembering the story that Roux had once made El Gordo cry, said he expected it had been quite a feat. ‘No it's not hard at all,’ Roux admitted. ‘Gordon has a very big heart. He is nothing like the guy you see on television.’
Dinner with Jay Rayner
If you’d like to talk tapas with Guardian food critic Jay Rayner, this could be your lucky day. The Guardian has just launched a competition for 15 lucky readers to win dinner with the restaurant reviewer at Casa Brindisa.
The spy who lunched me
And finally, it seems even secret agents like knowing where they should dine out the next time they’re on assignment in London. According to journalist Peter Hounam’s account of being kidnapped by Mossad agents, after hours of interrogation his captors took a different tactic; ‘As light relief, one began asking what good restaurants I would recommend in London.’ We hope he sent them the way of Divo or Bel Canto.
