Restaurant boss gives TV mag a roasting
19 May 2005
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| The Lanterna restaurant |
THE owner of a failing restaurant saved by a TV chef is at the centre of a row over alleged rat infestations and controversially misleading the public over a pizza.
Alex Scott, owner of Lanterna restaurant in Station Road, Letchworth GC, is fuming over claims in a TV listings magazine that it was infested with rats before foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay waded in to save the day.
The Italian eatery is the first to be featured in Ramsay's second series of Kitchen Nightmares, to be broadcast on Channel 4 next Tuesday at 9pm.
But Mr Scott has consulted solicitors over the preview piece in TV Choice, which has a weekly circulation of more than a million, that claimed his restaurant had "a rat problem" before the makeover.
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| Gordon Ramsay |
"We have an inspection every four weeks by a company to check out the pest devices for us," said Mr Scott.
"We have been all clear ever since we opened. I even called environmental health at the council and they were satisfied with the condition here and didn't need to come out.
"Gordon even asked us when we were filming if we had a problem with rats and I said no.
"It's made me look really, really bad. I have spoken to my solicitor about it and he is willing to act, but at the moment I have demanded a retraction and a written apology from TV Choice."
When The Comet contacted TV Choice's editor Jon Peake, he declined to comment.
To make matters worse, Mr Ramsay is also shown laughing and making jokes after giving an unsuspecting vegetarian a pizza with Parma ham in it at a public tasting session in Lanterna.
"Whether it was accidental or deliberate we don't know, but to take the attitude that it was funny is very disrespectful," said Tina Fox, chief executive of The Vegetarian Society.
"Why he thinks it's so amusing I don't know. Would he find it equally amusing if an anaphylactic customer died at the table due to eating nuts?"
Owner Mr Scott admitted: "It wasn't pleasant for the poor chap, and it wasn't intentional, but we did find it funny afterwards."
Lanterna now has a new menu, wine list and decor, and only one of the two chefs in the programme still works there.
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