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AIBU?

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Original poster

Jamie Oliver - Jamie's Italian etc

157 replies

decisionsindecisions · 21/05/2019 16:11

AIBU to not be at all surprised about the collapse of his restaurant chains?

I feel incredibly sorry for the people who worked there but the food was, for the most part, inedible. His food on his tv shows always looks fantastic but unfortunately this did not seem to translate into his restaurants, particularly Jamie's Italian.

Obviously he was just the "brand" to get people through the door but if the food is shite then the business was sure to fail.

OP posts:
NKFell · 21/05/2019 17:11

I went to the Jamie's Italian in Glasgow and the staff were so rude and the food inedible- it was almost cold.

Of course I feel sorry for all the staff there who will care and are now losing their jobs through no fault of their own.

femidom12 · 21/05/2019 17:13

Wow another 1000 jobs down the drain, the high street is truly fucked...

Polarbearflavour · 21/05/2019 17:15

I live in a deprived coastal town with poor wages. Yet the chain restaurants such as Pizza Hut, Pizza Express, Frankie and Benny’s and Bella Italia are always packed - especially on a weekend and Thursday evenings for some reason!

🤷🏻‍♀️

MiaCulper · 21/05/2019 17:17

Our local one boasted about fresh crab from Devon (or Dorset, perhaps). We are in Norfolk, you twat. Every other bugger uses “locally sourced” as a selling point.

Staff were really good though. I hope they won’t have too much trouble finding other places.

Quintella · 21/05/2019 17:17

Those kinds of chain always have a deal on, that's what makes them affordable for a lot of people. Does anyone go to Pizza Express without some kind of voucher?

BuggerOffAndGoodDayToYou · 21/05/2019 17:18

I went to Jamie’s Italian in Westfield when it first opened and I loved it. Went again and it was awful... gave it another chance and it was even worse....

I’ve avoided anything to do with him since he started banging on about sugar which has resulted in my favourite soft drinks being changed into artificial sweetener filled, horrible tasting, rubbish that makes me ill.

I do feel sorry for the people that will now be out of work though....

Sparklingbrook · 21/05/2019 17:22

DH blamed him for Ribena becoming undrinkable.

BG2015 · 21/05/2019 17:22

JI food is very average. I only ever went in for my free bottle of Prosecco on my birthday.

Didn't hate the food but certainly didn't love it. The one in Manchester is in an amazing building (beautiful old bank) so I hope another restaurant takes it over.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 21/05/2019 17:24

I have been to 15 in Cornwall though and it’s amazing!

I think it said on Twitter that 15 Cornwall wasn't Jamie's - and it will not be shutting down

I don't like him - I find him patronising and up his own bum, but I do feel very sorry for those people who will be losing their jobs, especially in the current economic climate.

Quintella · 21/05/2019 17:24

That sugar free drinks thing is annoying. Every so often I go looking for some Coke (for hangover related reasons) and I can only find the 20 sugar free versions on the shelves, cleverly masquerading as full sugar Coke!

The80sweregreat · 21/05/2019 17:26

My first thought hearing this today on the news was for the workers : finding another job isn't always easy and some might even end up on benefits which also isn't good for the economy or for them of course.
I hope they are able to find another job soon or maybe the restaurants will become other places to eat ( or taken over) and they be able to keep some of them on. Either way , it's shit for them.
I don't mind JO and he did try by pumping more money into his restaurants ; obviously it didn't work.
I tend to avoid most chain restaurants myself as all of them are overpriced and noisy and you can buy better yourself for a fraction of the price, but then I've become a cynic lately.
Eating out anywhere is a bit of a con these days I think.

rslsys · 21/05/2019 17:26

We, like most of the posters in this thread, went once and once only!

Much preferred Carluccio's but our local branch closed on Christmas Eve, followed a week or so later by Jamie's.

Could it be Jamie's was only being kept open as a spoiler for Carluccio's?

BackInTime · 21/05/2019 17:27

Sad for those who are losing their jobs but really not surprised. As others have said the food and service was not amazing for the prices. I also found that they had too many silly gimmicks rather than quality or quantity. For example starter platters that were served precariously balanced on old tins of tomatoes, burgers served on chopping boards filled out with lots of lettuce, teeny tiny kids portions (5 pieces of pasta pesto). There was a point at the beginning where they would not accept bookings unless it was for a large party. Instead they wanted you to show up and wait at the bar - of course to add to your drinks. Anyone who went there left feeling hungry and robbed.

Neverender · 21/05/2019 17:28

How he justified the price for a bowl of pasta, I'll never know. Everyone knows pasta is cheap, so he was taking the piss. Sad for people who don't have job though, including the management team who were pretty much all new.

IcedPurple · 21/05/2019 17:28

Could it be Jamie's was only being kept open as a spoiler for Carluccio's?

Quite possibly, a bit like the Starbucks tactic of opening several often loss making branches in the same neighbourhood with the aim of closing most of them once they've driven their rivals out of business.

panelledreverie · 21/05/2019 17:28

I’ve been a few times, mostly because I liked the wine and the Edinburgh setting in the assembly rooms is lovely. I do like him, surely it has more to do with macro factors and management of the individual restaurants than him?

Sparklingbrook · 21/05/2019 17:29

It seems that the staff arrived for work as usual today to be greeted by a sign on the door. Shock

Polarbearflavour · 21/05/2019 17:30

Poor staff - I really hope they get the wages they are owed. A reminder that we are all just numbers to our employers!

theWarOnPeace · 21/05/2019 17:31

Fifteen was fantastic, Barbecoa actually really quite decent, but Jamie’s Italian was a bloody abomination! He should have gone in and ordered the dishes once in a while, to check the quality.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 21/05/2019 17:31

I’ve avoided anything to do with him since he started banging on about sugar which has resulted in my favourite soft drinks being changed into artificial sweetener filled, horrible tasting, rubbish that makes me ill

Sweeteners such as saccharine and aspartame are even worse than sugar IMO. At least sugar - even refined sugar - is a natural ingredient.

#destroyedlucozade

#neverforgive

IcedPurple · 21/05/2019 17:32

I do like him, surely it has more to do with macro factors and management of the individual restaurants than him?

Jamie Oliver put his name to the chain, and the chain initially did well because of its association with him. So he has to bear a large part of the blame when it all goes south.

And going by the comments here and elsewhere, the reasons for the chain's demise are fairly obvious: the product just wasn't good enough, certainly not for the prices they were charging.

winterinmadeira · 21/05/2019 17:33

@Sparklingbrook I’m with your husband Re Ribena

SchadenfreudePersonified · 21/05/2019 17:33

There will be a lot of small suppliers who will be left out of pocket, too - not the first time he's done this.

Small firms can least afford to lose the money - there could be knock-on redundancies.

panelledreverie · 21/05/2019 17:35

Surely the reverse of that is that prices couldn’t be cut because of rents, wages and the cost of the materials? Maybe you’re right that it didn’t establish enough of a reputation for food quality as well - restaurants in general are doing badly though aren’t they?

Ohyesiam · 21/05/2019 17:35

I ate at an Italian when they first opened, and it was good, but too expensive for me at the time.

But as for the man himself, I spent a day at one of his shoots and he was really good tempered, warm and big hearted consistently to everyone for the very long day.
Lots of things went wrong, people messed up, there was a lot of dead time, and he didn’t do any prima Donna stuff or through his weight around.
He is a genuinely nice man.