I REMEMBER...
34 • AUGUST 2019
the basics of food and, of course, how
to keep the kitchen clean. But he was
just pushing me to do well. “If you’re
gonna make it,” he told me. “You’ve
got to do it properly.”
The executive chef, Kevin Kennedy,
had a cheekiness and a way of
teaching you that made you feel
passionate about what you were
doing, instead of just rigid. And he
was one of the first chefs to go on
radio and talk about food, before all
these cooking programmes came in.
...COMBINING BUSINESS WITH
PLEASURE. One of the staff at
Verrey’s told me, “If you want to earn
a few quid on your days off, come and
work at Lord’s with me.” So I found
myself making sandwiches there and
it was great, because I was a big
cricket fan. Plus, the money I picked
up in four days was as much as I’d
earn in a month at the restaurant.
I got to know the executive chef and
was eventually put in charge of the
Long Room [a famous old part of the
pavilion]. We were only ever busy for
Test matches, NatWest and Benson &
Hedges finals or if Middlesex were
doing quite well. About eight days a
year. The rest of the time I’d write a
bit of poetry and build up great
relationships with the customers.
Even now when I go back for various
chefing events, it feels like home....MY FRIEND CHARLES AND I
TAKING THE TRAIN INTO SHOW
BUSINESS. We went InterRailing
around Europe one year, with a
guitar and a few percussion
instruments, and would stop in any
square and do a little turn.
We’d earn enough money to eat in
fancy restaurants, so when we came
back, even though he was a teacher
and I worked in a hotel, we started
performing in Covent Garden on
Saturday afternoons. We went on to
the alternative cabaret circuit, too—
places like The Comedy Store.
After a few years, Charles met a
wonderful Australian girl and left
Britain. But I then formed another
musical duo called the Calypso
Twins, with my school friend, Paul
Borros. We had a hit in 1990, with
“World Party”. Paul recently helpedTaking part in Comic
Relief (Opposite);
Presenting Ready,
Steady CookTRINITY MIRROR / MIRRORPIX / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO