Latest news with #PierreWhite
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Former central London celebrity hotspot to become clay pigeon shooting ground
A former central London hotel that was once home to Marco Pierre White's celebrity hotspot Titanic is set to become a clay pigeon shooting experience. Developers have applied to turn 77 Brewer Street near Piccadilly Circus into a restaurant and 'competitive socialising' ground, which will see customers use real deactivated shotguns to shoot virtual targets. The venue would occupy the huge subterranean space next to Brasserie Zedel in what was once the Regent Palace Hotel. In 2008 it was redeveloped and the Art Deco restaurant known as Titanic moved from the ground floor into the basement. Most recently it was the widely criticised 'immersive' Batman-themed restaurant Park Row, which closed last year, and previously it had been home to Mash steakhouse. It is now vacant. Pierre White's Titanic restaurant and club was open from just December 2008 to January 2002. It became well known as a celebrity hangout, with Noel Gallagher, the Spice Girls, actor Billy Zane, Natalie Appleton and supermodels Sophie Dhal and Sophie Anderton pictured partying there. The Soho Society has objected to the new plans for the space, which will include a restaurant with space for up to 550 covers. In a submission to Westminster council a spokesman for the group, which represents people who live and work in the area, said: 'There is a growing concern regarding the overconcentration of bar and leisure establishments in the potential for increased alcohol consumption, even with a focus on food, raises public health and safety concerns. 'It is vital to consider the implications this may have on local crime rates and community safety.' The Metropolitan Police said it initially had concerns about firearms being at the site, which is in an area with high crime rates and where 'organised crime gangs target intoxicated tourists'. But in a submission to the Westminster town hall, an officer added: 'The applicant has given a full appraisal of the weapons and how they have been decommissioned and stored. 'The relevant decommissioning certificates have been reviewed and the Met Firearms team have been consulted and we are happy that the guns pose no risk to the public. 'The applicant has gone above and beyond ensuring the equipment is stored safely and they have all been fitted with a tracking device to ensure they are traceable should they be stolen or lost while out for maintenance.' Clays, which also runs virtual shooting experiences in Canary Wharf and the City, was granted a licence for the venue last year. Planning permission for the Brewer Street site will be decided by councillors on Tuesday.
The Independent
27-01-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
‘Marco Pierre White doesn't like me at all': Jamie Oliver on longstanding feud with TV chef
Jamie Oliver has admitted that his hero, Marco Pierre White, still seriously dislikes him. White first called Oliver a 'fat chef with a drum kit' in an interview with The Sun in 2007, before hitting out at him again for being 'delusional' and refusing to admit he had 'f***ed up' after his restaurant failed following Brexit in 2019. Oliver's campaign for healthier school meals made him a polarising figure and caused division within the wider hospitality industry. The chef faced backlash last year for writing a book focused on the lives of aboriginal children, causing it to be pulled from print. 'Oh he doesn't like me at all, still doesn't,' Oliver said of his relationship with the Michelin-starred chef, on the Louis Theroux Podcast. 'I don't know (why). I have no shared history with him, working under him, so, he doesn't have a sense of control. 'I mean, I could easily start saying, look, we don't get on, more importantly, he was really important for the industry.' Oliver, who has had his fair share of run-ins with famous chefs including Gordon Ramsay, chose to take the high-ground as he praised Pierre White for his contributions to the industry. 'When I was a very young chef, the industry was quite dark and boring, and it felt like from a different era and he came along, and he was incredible, and his sort of energy and attitude was so cool, he was my hero, for sure,' he explained. The cookbook author continued: 'We went on a shoot one day, spent a day with him and it was perfectly lovely, and then a week later he just destroyed me on a double-page spread. 'I was really pleased to meet him, but he just destroyed me. And then you sort of think, well that was sort of a bit low. 'But, you meet people you love and often they're like, they clearly think you're a w***er. So that's fine. I don't need anything from him. 'I still think he was a game changer. He was still my hero for that period of my life. But, that's life and it's not just Marco, it's lots of people it's happened to.' Although Oliver and Pierre White still don't see eye-to-eye, the TV chef said that he'd made up with the short-tempered and foul-mouthed Hell's Kitchen chef Ramsay after their wives and children told them to 'grow up'. He said the two are 'currently friends'.
