An Asian takeaway restaurant that was repeatedly failing its customers by plying them with alcohol and having sex with them has won its first Michelin star thanks to a strictly hands-on approach by award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay.
In perhaps what has been his toughest challenge yet, the foul-mouthed Hell’s Kitchen star took on demoralised staff and a ‘culture of predatory paedophilia’ and ushered in a new whole new era in takeaway dining. When Ramsay took over, Chunky Al’s "Easy Meat" Chicken Restaurant was losing customers at an alarming rate or farming them out to an expanding sex ring. But the sweary Scot quickly identified the problem as ‘wayward’ Head Chef Kabeer Hassan, a hugely talented cook and serial offender who had simply lost his way.
Prior to Ramsay’s involvement, Easy Meat had been failing to inform its mainly teenage customers of healthy alternatives such as processed cheese and wholemeal baps, and often alienated its regular clientelle by charging ten pence for those little sachets of barbecue sauce.
‘Easy Meat was a restaurant that was haemorrhaging money for fuck’s sake’, said Ramsay, 42. ‘By plying his guests with free alcohol, Kabeer was missing out on a significant mark-up. That’s no way to run a fucking business.’
‘When customers are going directly to the police with their complaints, you need to ask yourself what’s going wrong - how can I fix it? ‘
‘With the Head Chef, Front of House and six of the backroom staff now in prison, I’ve been able to bring in my own people and have make radical alterations to the menu.’
‘This was a place where people were afraid to come and eat. Now the customers are flooding back, safe in the knowledge that the taxi they ordered to take them home won’t drop them off at several different addresses.
