Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Chef Tom ‘relishing’ economic challenge
TOM Kerridge has revealed he is “relishing the challenge” in the cost of living crisis ahead of winter.
The Gloucestershire-born chef estimated he lost between £4 million and £5 million revenue during the pandemic as he admits it “feels like we’re going into the woods again”.
Talking to The Telegraph, he spoke about the rate of inflation his restaurants are facing in order to source produce.
He said: “The price of butter has gone up from £23 a box to almost £70. A drum of vegetable oil is now nearly £50, that’s a 200 per cent rise,
“Now it feels like we are going into the woods again,” he added. “I feel bad because I know this cost of living crisis will finish a lot of businesses off. But you know what? I relish the challenge.”
It comes after last year Tom made headlines for charging £87 for a sirloin steak, which comes
with onion rings, bearnaise and triple-cooked chips. His £69 lamb main course has also got a few diners riled on social media.
However, despite the cost of the £87 steak, Tom revealed the restaurant would be lucky to make any more than a 10 per cent profit due to the cost of keeping a cow and slaughtering it.
Tom said: “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you want to ride in a Bentley, it costs money. If you’re on a budget there’s an intensely farmed Ford Focus available round the corner and that’s fine by me.
“I wouldn’t say I was a Michelin-star-type guy, if you get what I mean. I’m a working-class kid from Gloucester with a regional accent that happens to have them.”
Kerridge is also a food activist, cooking for his local community during the pandemic as well as running a child food poverty campaign called Full Time with the Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford.
“A hundred per cent it makes me angry there are more foodbanks than branches of McDonald’s in this country,” he said.
“But I also think: never punish people who are making good money, who’ve achieved a great lifestyle. You don’t help to feed children by making successful people ashamed.”