I dont watch much television but I wanted to see how Heston the perfectionist would approach the Little Chef demise.
I have fond memories of Little Chef, cups of tea and as a teenager the ultimate hangover cure. What a treat little Chef was, I don't remember a 4 fold menu with ridiculous sudo european offerings, it was just platefuls of comfort food.

Now having a family of my own we have dived into one for a meal, and found the staff miserable, the restaurants filthy even though they are empty. Heston you are so right they are serving up the cheapest food, it may be fast but it is tasteless.

Ian Pegley has supposedly been given this second chance to help the ailing chain, from what I saw last night he is hammering nails into the coffin of Little Chef. Where has he been for the last five year, some one should send him the DVD's of Gordon Ramsays kitchen nightmares, as his chain is perpetuating a great number of mistakes. The menu is to big to ambitious, the ingredients cheap and the settings miserable.

Little Chef food, is overprocessed muck. Start again, serve real chips, good sausage see what Jamie Oliver did with Ministry of Food. Send all your staff on basic cookery courses, put in ranges so they can cook. Hoover, clean up and repair restaurants.

Jamie Olive or Gordon Ramsay may have turned this around, Heston deserves a prize for taking on the challenge as Ian Pegley really is out of the retail loop.

Old School Cafe Longcross

Ian get in your car go down to longross, to the Old School Cafe, I worked with the fabulous owner Miepe Boyd to market this small cafe where she serves the best bacon sandwich in Surrey, dare I say south of England. She keeps it simple the ingredients are local, fresh, the specials are on the black board and you can have your eggs anyway you want.

Ian and team, my advice:
Visit Fego's chain
Visit Old School Cafe
Make you restaurants more welcoming- stay on brand, red booth seating for families, table for grown ups.
All of you to work one week in a Little Chef and talk to your customers, eat from the menu every day! Maybe then you will concentrate on what is important.

I will be watching tonight, how can a management team not have their ears on the customers.

Good Television, shame the it may completely kill off little chef, Ian Pegley you are the weakest link.

Loupie