For the past couple of weeks I've been following the Michel Roux documentary on BBC 2.
Repetitive commentaries aside (the first 5 minutes of each episode is a medley of all previous episodes),
it was compelling viewing; with so much more to offer than the traditional reality shows, Master chef included. Good service is something that I, too, have felt has been neglected by the in most other respects rather service minded British industry. As anyone who's dined with me in Britain will know, I'm usually thrown by the careless attitude of many of the waiters and not only in chain restaurants.
Earlier this week, I dined at Cafe Rouge - in spite of my vow never to put my foot in one of its many branches - and had a disappointingly predictable encounter with their own "special" brand of mediocre "customer service". The waiter asked which one of us was having the steak before handing me a steak knife, only to return 2 minutes later, steak on a plate, asking who was having... you guessed it: the steak. This is fortunately not the case across the board, however; I had a really pleasant experience at a gourmet pub in Ilkley not so long ago.
But to return to the topic of Michel Roux, his show surpassed the Jamie Oliver experience with his apprentices so years ago - the young trainess were given the opportunity to both shine and fail, rather than Monsieur taking centre stage. When the young Ashley, of Halton Moor in Leeds, was granted a scholarship at the end of the final episode, I found myself in tears. "People like me don't get to go places like this", he'd said in an earlier episode. And perhaps, in most everyday scenarios, a person like Ashley wouldn't have been given sufficient opportunity and time to grow in front of the watchful eye of a Michelin starred chef. But watching it happen on "t'telly" must instill a bit of hope for the youngsters even though opportunities like these are very few and far between.
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