Jamie Oliver was a surprise guest at The Blue Lion hotel in East Witton, England. The owners, Paul and Helen Klein, were reportedly surprised because a regular guest had booked the reservation on behalf of the celebrity chef and healthy-school-lunch activist.
According to the Darlington And Stockton Times, the head chef Michael McBride felt the task of feeding the famous chef was "a little daunting" but has a good reputation for "mouthwatering food full of fresh local ingredients":
Mr Oliver enjoyed a three course meal of pan fried sea bass with artichoke puree, baby onion and thyme foam; slow roasted honey glazed ducking with apple gravy; and a Yorkshire cheeseboard.
The party of nine guests, including friends of Oliver, dined and enjoyed their stay.
Oliver was recently the subject of controversy over a spat with another celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay. According to Eater, Ramsay had taken Oliver to task over his weight and personal hygiene:
As Ramsay says, "You have to be very careful when you go across the pond and want to dictate to Americans about healthy eating. .. If you're not in that best shape yourself then you have to be very careful." Burn. And that's not it. Moving onto the next logical schoolyard move, Ramsay went on to tell Carr that Oliver smells, saying, "For Christmas all I want to do is give him a f***ing good wash." Yes, Merry Christmas indeed.
In response, Oliver commented to Weekend:
"I don't feel sensitive when people comment about my weight. I've never been super-skinny and I haven't been a massive lump."
Oliver did admit that it is difficult to stay in shape while working as a chef, constantly surrounded by food.
Of course, Oliver had drawn Ramsay's disdain over comments he made about Ramsay registering for "The Spotted Pig" name in the UK. The name is already in use by owners Mario Batali, Ken Friedman, and chef April Bloomfield in the West Village of New York.
NY Post reported Oliver's comments at the time:
"Here [Mario] April & Ken have built something very special & one day I hope they will bring it to London. We like originals."
