Bake Off's Prue Leith visits restaurant for romantic date and is horrified by what happens

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8 hours ago

Bake Off's Prue Leith visits restaurant for romantic date and is horrified by what happens
The Great British Bake Off star Prue Leith has shared her disapproval after explaining how a trip to a Michelin-starred restaurant before her wedding didn't exactly go according to plan
Dame Prue was left dismayed after a visit to a high-end restaurant with her husband, John Playfair
(Image: Simone Padovani/Awakening/Getty Images)
Celebrity chef Dame Prue Leith has told how a romantic date with the Great British Bake Off star's now husband was ruined by a chef who was insistent on engaging in "foodie talk".
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Dame Prue said she and second husband John Playfair had planned to indulge in a meal at a swanky Michelin-starred restaurant before they exchanged their vows.
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Speaking to The Oldie magazine, the GBBO star claimed she was on the receiving end of constant "lectures" about the food that had been placed in front of them during their romantic date.
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Prue, 85, said she has become annoyed by the growing trend of restaurant staff explaining each element of the menu.
The TV star says she and her husband-to-be were even handed a map of their food suppliers during their meal.
She was particularly annoyed about being "lectured" in between courses
(Image: Getty Images)
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Her frustration was compounded when the chef came out of the kitchen for a chat as they were finally about to leave the restaurant.
Prue says the cook was looking to engage in "foodie talk" and "wouldn't go away". She said: "Pandering to foodies, menu devisers now write essays on every course: 'Hand-dived Scottish king scallops, daily picked marsh samphire from the Solway Firth, Arran victory organic new potatoes'. "
Prue's career in the food industry began in 1960 when she moved from her native South Africa to London to attend the Cordon Bleu Cookery School. She opened her first restaurant, Michelin-starred Leith's, in Notting Hill in 1969.
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Dame Prue has been hosting Great British Bake Off in 2017
(Image: Getty Images)
She also opened a cookery school, Leith's School of Food and Wine, and has authored a number of cookbooks and written food columns for national newspapers.
Prue became more prominent when she appeared as one of the experts on new show The Great British Menu in 2006, which she left to replace Dame Mary Berry on The Great British Bake Off in 2017.
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Despite recently stepping back from the celebrity edition, she has confirmed that she intends to remain on the main show alongside her fellow judge Paul Hollywood: "I've given up celebrity (version of the show), but I still do The Great American Bake Off, and I still do The Great British Bake Off. I'm a lover of them all."
Dame Prue and John Playfair tied the knot in 2016
(Image: Getty Images)
Prue added: "It's the best job in telly! I don't have to learn lines, I don't have to write a script, I don't have to rehearse. As you say, we all go and eat cake."
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The TV star said "finally we can shout about it" as it was confirmed GBBO will return to Channel 4 on Tuesday, September 2 at 8pm.
Dame Prue also appears on her own show, Prue Leith's Cotswold Kitchen show on ITV, where she opens her kitchen to the public and is joined by husband John and pals including GBBO co-star Alison Hammond and former co-star Sandi Toksvig.