Mediocre operations with a famous face just won’t cut it

THE name Gino D’Acampo clearly holds nowhere near the same kind of clout with diners as it does with ITV producers.

And especially in a discerning foodie city like Birmingham.

Over the last decade, our city has blossomed into a true culinary destination. Despite the misery and pain of three lockdowns, our credentials as an exciting gastronomic mecca have never been stronger.

A mix of well-regarded national chains such as Dishoom, The Ivy and Gaucho, and more than our fair share of nationally renowned local independents, means that mediocre operations with a celeb name slapped on them simply don’t cut it.

Marco Pierre White was dubbed the UK’s first celebrity chef, although his steakhouse at the top of The Cube came a year after Jamie’s Italian in Birmingham.

Unlike Jamie’s, however, the Marco-branded venture remains.

“It is not enough to have your name above the door,” Marco told me shortly after Jamie’s Italian went into administration.

In the same interview, he openly acknowledged his Birmingham restaurant benefits greatly from its rooftop location – giving diners at the very least mouthwatering views – whatever their meal is like.

And at least Marco does occasionally pop in to delight his fans now and then – something Gino and Jamie never did.

When Jamie opened his gigantic restaurant at The Bullring in 2010 the lure of a big-name chef was an easy win back then. But the Naked Chef’s restaurant empire collapsed in 2019, by which time he had 25 venues dotted around the country.

The company’s failure resulted in the loss of around 1,000 jobs and Jamie admitted overconfidence in his celeb profile was ultimately his undoing. He said: “We got cocky, we thought anything we did would work.”

Meanwhile, our homegrown culinary talent has continued to battle on through the challenges thrown at them through Covid, and create work for hospitality staff.

Glynn Purnell – no stranger to telly stardom himself – has announced he is opening a new place, The Mount by Glynn Purnell, in Henley-in-Arden – his first venture outside the city centre.

As a local chef whose day job is cooking at Purnell’s in Cornwall Street, and a staunch supporter of the independent food scene, anyone who visits his new place can trust that Purnell’s involvement will go much deeper than his name and face on the menus.