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Jamie Oliver's new Brighton restaurant cancels grand opening

9:00pm Tuesday 24th March 2009 in


Jamie Oliver's new Brighton restaurant had to cancel its grand opening because of problems with the gas supply.

Customers hoping to be among first members of the public to try the menu at Jamie's Italian were unable to enter the premises last night.

One unhappy patron contacted The Argus to say disgruntled diners were turned away at the door with nothing in the way of compensation.

The man, who had hoped to treat his family at Jamie's Italian, in Black Lion Street, Brighton, had spent about £20 on travel and parking.

He said: “At least they could have offered us a glass of wine or a voucher for next time. No such luck. Just an apology and a phone number for next time on a scrap bit of paper.”

A spokesman for the celebrity chef said the restaurant had to close temporarily because there was “no gas”.

He added: “We were very sorry to have to close but we couldn’t let people into the restaurant for health and safety reasons.”

The spokesman refuted suggestions that customers were unhappy with their treatment.

He said: “I spoke to the restaurant and they said that everyone understood and accepted the apology and quietly went on their way.”

The gas problem has now been fixed and the restaurant was able to open today, the spokesman said.

Monday's cancellation came at the end of an eventful day for the restaurant.

Earlier, a pregnant woman took part in a near-naked protest directly outside to highlight the plight of pigs consumed by the food industry.

The demonstration was organised by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) under the sign “Be Pukka to Pigs: Go Vegetarian”.

Peta member Lynzi Warrington crouched on her hands and knees in a metal crate dressed only in flesh-coloured underwear in a protest against Oliver's “promotion of pig consumption and particularly British pork”.

Were you one of the disappointed customers? Tell us your stories below.

Comments(15)

cheezburger says...
9:03pm Tue 24 Mar 09

May i be the first to say, lol. Please dont turn this into yet another JO advert.We have had our limit.

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snerper says...
9:23pm Tue 24 Mar 09

No a for cooking! Why didn't the little t--ser [ no, It's not TOASTER, try again} lie on his back and breath out? he's so full of hot air he could do a whole ox roast with no problems!

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snerper says...
9:25pm Tue 24 Mar 09

That should read no GAS!

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GreenGrocer says...
10:32pm Tue 24 Mar 09

FFS, who cares if the Mockney Cockney is opening a restaurant, ENOUGH of these stories Argus, it's now becoming a joke with almost DAILY stories, it's a complete non-event to most people!

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BobbyJ says...
1:25am Wed 25 Mar 09

They should have fixed and polished everything first before they announced the opening, really inconvenient. I could have spent more time farming warcraft gold on WoW if I knew that the opening of Jamie's new restaurant was cancelled.

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BobbyJ says...
1:26am Wed 25 Mar 09

They should have fixed and polished everything first before they announced the opening, really inconvenient. I could have spent more time farming warcraft gold on WoW if I knew that the opening of Jamie's new restaurant was cancelled.

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garyc says...
6:44am Wed 25 Mar 09

i thought he cooked everything in a microwave!

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Tye says...
7:40am Wed 25 Mar 09

GreenGrocer wrote:
FFS, who cares if the Mockney Cockney is opening a restaurant, ENOUGH of these stories Argus, it's now becoming a joke with almost DAILY stories, it's a complete non-event to most people!
FFS Greenrocer what's your problem.

this is NEWS - If you don't think its good enough either make news or watch one of those digital chanels dealing with World War 2 - now that was news - eh?

back to the story - unhappy patron?

more like a jerk who wants "compensation" for nothing - did he really think he would get in without booking (If the gas was on)

silly greedy nasty idiot


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cheezburger says...
7:57am Wed 25 Mar 09

No one books, that way they get you in the bar and spending more money for an hour. How naive to claim all the people who were turned away were happy enough. Actually he isnt naive, he's telling porkies

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Jim BB says...
8:01am Wed 25 Mar 09

If this were a veggie restaurant, would there still have been problems with the gas supply...

As for the man expecting freebies, he could easily have eaten elsewhere but Jamie O's restaurant will have lost thousands. I know he can afford it but think of the staff who rely on tips to pay their bills.

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Lulu says...
11:59am Wed 25 Mar 09

I used to buy the Argus regularly but now it is full of adverts and promotions for various businesses aka Jamie Oliver (not news). The writing is sometimes bordering on appalling with bad grammar and facts are not checked.
I only read the electronic version out of sheer curiosity to see what nonsense is being reported!

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stickman says...
12:22pm Wed 25 Mar 09

BobbyJ wrote:
They should have fixed and polished everything first before they announced the opening, really inconvenient. I could have spent more time farming warcraft gold on WoW if I knew that the opening of Jamie's new restaurant was cancelled.
Had a similar problem when we opened our restaurant - it took 3 months to book a visit to upgrade our gas supply so we did everything else and just had to wait for the gas as the final thing before opening. Surprise, surprise the gas people were late...

Difference is that we did not plan a big opening - you always expect teething problems so better to start a bit lower key in my opinion.

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yorkie44 says...
4:21pm Wed 25 Mar 09

If people had been able to book then Jamie should have compensated people turned away, but since they can't they should stop moaning and just go to one of the other good restaurants in Brighton.

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pardonmeboy says...
9:51pm Wed 25 Mar 09

We did feel a little sorry for ourselves, having watched with eager anticipation for close to a year the work involved in building the restaurant. I went passed on Saturday when the VIP's were being entertained and 2 members of staff assured me that they would be open for the public at noon on 25th March. My husband is in a wheelchair and I have a bad back, but I pushed him the mile plus when we bumped into Mr. Gennero on the beach. I mentioned that we were on our way to the restaurant. He was most pleasant, but told us that the restaurant wouldn't be open until 6pm. - so he suggested that we come along then and that we would probably meet Jamie. We then braved the wind and rain and I pushed my husband yet again, only to find that it was not open. Of course, the staff would think that we were calm and polite, but we were bitterly disappointed. I had walked 5 miles in total, pushing my husband in a wheelchair. We appreciated that it was no fault of theirs that the gas problem occurred, but do feel that it was handled badly. I think it would have been a nice gesture to have had a tray of drinks or olives or bread or a voucher for a return visit or even to take our number to call us when they knew for sure that it would be opening. I wrote to them to express this and got a reply, thanking me for my enquiry and saying that they MAY respond. I believe the company running this restaurant which is inspired by Jamie need a lesson on customer service and PR. We do still like Jamie, but now have no desire to rush to try the restaurant. The end of our disappointing story.

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Tye says...
8:26am Thu 26 Mar 09

Lulu wrote:
I used to buy the Argus regularly but now it is full of adverts and promotions for various businesses aka Jamie Oliver (not news). The writing is sometimes bordering on appalling with bad grammar and facts are not checked. I only read the electronic version out of sheer curiosity to see what nonsense is being reported!
Not forgetting the people who think their comments are interesting

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