Top chef duped vegetarians

Published on 01/03/2003 00:00

CELEBRITY chef Gordon Ramsay was caught in a storm of controversy yesterday after admitting duping a group of vegetarian diners into eating chicken.

Ramsay said the guests - in one of his six Michelin-star restaurants - ordered artichoke soup, which they expected to be based on vegetable stock.

"I told them it was vegetable, but it was chicken stock," he admitted in an interview.

While Ramsay regarded the incident as a laugh, he was condemned by vegetarians and restaurateurs, who said it was stupid and ill-advised.

It was also likely to damage his credibility and the business at his restaurants, which include Glasgow’s Amaryllis.

David Bann, proprietor of the David Bann vegetarian restaurant in St Mary’s Street, Edinburgh, said: "It is mean-spirited. If Mr Ramsay doesn’t want to serve vegetarians, he should say so. This is cheating diners by not respecting them."

The UK Vegetarian Society said that it showed a "complete lack of respect". Spokeswoman Liz O’Neill said: "It is disappointing that he hasn’t got time for his customers’ beliefs."

A t Edinburgh’s Telford College, where students train at the School of Leisure Industries, Jennifer Bingham said: "It’s about honesty and credibility."

Ramsay was on a three-day trip to Miami yesterday, but a spokeswoman for the chef said she was certain his admission had been a "throwaway" line.