Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Kitchen nightmares - the customers

Date Published:

06/11/2007

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares shows things going wrong in the kitchen. Sometimes, it's the behaviour of the customers that's the real problem. By Alex Larman and Charlie Cottrell

Going out for a meal is a big deal for most people. In the vast majority of cases, it's an enjoyable evening, and everyone's happy. Sometimes, otherwise perfectly decent, normal people can have an off night, and end up causing trouble for everyone. According to a duty manager at a famous Mayfair dining establishment, "People will have a furious bust-up for personal reasons - sometimes even with smashed crockery - and then try to leave in tears. We have to gently remind them that they're still obliged to pay the bill, even if they've had an awful time. It happens more often than you'd think, actually. Another big problem is when we have people who leave thinking their wife's paid, and their wife thinks their husband's paid - they become really outraged if you try and stop them."

So-called 'celebrities' are never popular in restaurants. As the maitre d' of an exclusive Oriental restaurant in Soho reveals, "We tolerate the model daughters of rock stars and so forth, even though they're quite loud and obnoxious, because they pay their bills and provide us with lots of free publicity. But you wouldn't believe how many times people come in and think that just because they were once on 'Big Brother' they're an A-list celebrity, and demand to be treated as such."

On the other extreme, there is the tale of the unpopular society figure turning up unannounced at The Ivy and demanding his usual table, which happened to be occupied by another couple dining; upon being told it was busy, he offered to pay for their meal, provided they left immediately. The couple were asked "Do you know who wants your table?" To which they replied "Yes, and that's why we're not going."