Originally published on Wednesday, 21st May 2008

Straight from the Chef's Table

Knives at dawn! UJ restaurant moles report from the frontline of London's restaurant scene.

Overheards
The much-anticipated Ivy Club, opening in July, may not turn out to be as smart as expected. The old Ivy guard are quietly fuming at the fact that the new members list has been 'Caring-ed' - that's new money, permatans and oodles of Elnett all round.

Not only is Heston B rumoured to be taking over the kitchen at the Mandarin Oriental, but he's also due to give Little Chef a makeover. It'll be fun to see the motor-home set's reaction to snail porridge, and we're not so sure we'll be seduced by Sounds Of The A4.

Mark Hix's new restaurant is turning around the idea of keeping your nice dinnerware for 'best' having tracked down some of the old silver serving dishes from the Savoy and Annabel's. Reclaiming, it's all the rage, doncha know?

Spotted
Cipriani chavs standing on a banquette so they could take phone pictures of Amanda Holden while Michael Caine was sitting right in front of them. While Marco Pierre White was flogging brownies at Selfridges, fibbing that they were his own to help out his Venezuelan Black chocolatier friend, Willie Harcourt-Cooze.

Next Pig Thing
Forget the St John, nose-to-tail attitude to our porky friends, UJ has noticed an increasing amount of pig-fancying going on in the restaurant world recently.

Sam Surl, joint-MD of The Establishment has a pet Suffolk Black, and there was more sneaky stroking of the live piglets on show at the Real Food Festival than there was tasting at the wild boar charcuterie stand. What next? Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall demanding passports for Gloucester Old Spots?