Whack! I can still remember the sting — and my surprise — as the female customer’s fist connected with my face.
An unfortunate mix-up by one of my waiting staff meant the phenomenally expensive bouquet of roses her fiancé had planned to hand her at the end of the evening — delivered by him earlier that day and placed in one of our fridges to maintain their freshness — had been handed out instead, one stem at a time, to other diners at the end of the Valentine’s Day service.
The intended recipient was angry when she realized. She was furious at me for not offering to waive the bill or promising a fresh bouquet next day.
She had been heightened by the fine wines and it was the last straw when I attempted to get her into a taxi.
I spent two days with an inflamed ear and a bruised cheekbone — souvenirs of life in a high-profile restaurant, where the drama in the kitchen is often matched by that unfolding in the dining room.
Boiling Point’s intense portrayal of London’s action on one busy day, just before Christmas left my nerves reeling with excitement.
Boiling Point is a film that captures the excitement in London on the last day of Christmas. It left me with a jittery feeling because I recognized the characters.
Shot in a single take, it follows head chef Andy — played by Line Of Duty star Stephen Graham — as he navigates an endless carousel of obstacles. These range from misplaced orders to a rogue’s gallery of diners, among them a gaggle of ‘influencers’ insisting on ordering off-menu, an arrogant patriarch hosting a family dinner, and a man hoping to propose to his girlfriend.
The celebrity chef and a well-respected food critic will be dining at the restaurant.
One critic called it ‘an anxiety attack on film’. As the credits began to roll, Michelle turned to me and told me that it reminded her of a day at work.
Of course, I am exaggerating. Although I’ve never witnessed all of the dramas Andy and his crew face in one evening, I have dealt with many different versions.
Andy brought back memories of my childhood as a chef. His stress is greater than mine and he takes it out on other people in a way that is not my own. The film shows the strain he feels.
Andy brought back memories of my childhood as a chef. His stress is greater than mine and he takes it out on other people in a way that I have never done. However, the movie beautifully portrays the pressure Andy feels.
Timing is the most important problem. The biggest problem in fine-dining environments is timing. One late arrival can cause the entire night to be a complete disaster.
I could work fast — but you can’t do in an hour something that needs twice that time.
Keith Floyd, a great chef and restaurateur, appointed me as his chef-patron in Totnes in Devon in late 1980s.
Keith, a hugely popular TV chef, was wonderful but erratic — within days of my arrival he disappeared to South Africa for four months and communicated only by fax.
It was a shock to me that Keith had not returned months later. Keith wasn’t going to be present on the day when the whole pub was being taken over for a wedding party.
I was tasked with giving Keith Floyd experiences to my guests. As I welcomed them, the sous-chef tried to grab my attention. I was apprehensively told by him that we ran out of bottled gasoline.
One table late can make a dinner miserable in a restaurant.
Or, rather, somebody forgot to order it. This meant that there was no need to cook and other food than sandwiches. The bride — understandably — wanted to kill me.
It’s a restaurant world where the customer is the king. This film shows the struggle to please them.
I have been asked to do everything from baking an engagement ring into a chocolate soufflé — she nearly swallowed it by accident — to proposing to a woman on a man’s behalf, for reasons that were never made clear.
You just can’t always please everyone. As a young chef I was working in an intimate kitchen over a snooker table. This is the story of one instance. The brother of Peter Stringfellow nightclub impresario, the restaurant attracted a large crowd.
In one evening I created meringue-swans with intricately-carved chocolate decorations. They sold out quickly — just in time for a table of very drunk men to demand their own serving from an increasingly stressed waitress.
When I went to the kitchen, I was met with a barrage bread rolls and potatoes. I called the police.
It is possible for our attempts to give a personal service to backfire. On another Valentine’s Day evening, we hosted a man who our system flagged up as a regular lunch guest.
He arrived with his wife, whom we believed was a lover of a particular brand of gin, and the head waiter offered to mix her a G&T. Alas, it was the preferred tipple of the man’s mistress, as his wife quickly realised, and a massive scene ensued.
They are unlikely to take their amours with them to the customer toilets. I have once seen a couple in noisy coitus.
While most people find themselves charming, some may be a bit rude. I teach my staff to tolerate it — but if they are insulted, I consider a line to have been crossed and will intervene.
This is what I did a while back. It was asking four people who were rude to me to quit. They refused to leave, so I took everything off the table including the tablecloth.
Turning away customers is not an option. Even the most prestigious restaurants can find themselves in difficult financial situations, before adding Covid.
In the film, Andy is in debt after opening his own restaurant — just as I was 25 years ago, when I walked away from my position as head chef at the Four Seasons Hotel in London to go it alone.
Getting there had been a dedicated slog — I learnt my passion for food at my mother’s knee in my native France, arriving in the UK aged 22 and penniless.
As a breakfast cook at Chewton Hotel in New Forest (the only other place to get a Michelin star) I began my career.
Later, I managed to establish seven restaurants, employing 200 people and earning two Michelin stars. However, it was not without its challenges. I am a chef and partner in Novelli City Quays, Belfast.
But you cannot rest on your laurels. You must satisfy not just customers, but also environmental health inspectors, food inspectors, critics, as the movie shows.
Every chef fears their arrival. We used to treat men who were eating by themselves in 1980s with suspicion and reverence.
We didn’t always get it right. We once treated a single diner like he belonged to the royal family, but later discovered he was just a regular guy who was being supported by his partner. The AA Restaurant Guide had a couple of dining partners at several tables across the table. They were incredibly happy to have us as their guests.
If I had encountered the chaotic scenes that greeted Andy on his arrival, I would have put a ‘Closed’ sign on the door
However, all of this high-octane activity has a negative impact on your personal life. Young chef, I lost many occasions because of my love affair and obsession with my kitchen. Two marriages ended in divorce by the time I was 40.
Yet I kept fit and was never a drunk or on drugs — though many chefs have travelled that road.
The film gets some things wrong: the team hadn’t achieved anything like the level of preparation required to get a restaurant ready for service. If I had encountered the chaotic scenes that greeted Andy on his arrival, I would have put a ‘Closed’ sign on the door.
But it captures wonderfully the precariousness and sense of drama that prevails — which, of course, is what makes it so compelling. Even with all the stress it caused, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
My wife makes fun of me by saying that I’ll die in a restaurant. If I do, then I’ll be a very happy man.
Boiling point is now in theatres and can be viewed on digital platforms like Amazon Prime and Sky Store.