Marco Pierre White

Tuesday

Lara Prendergast

With Andrew Turvil

28 min listen

Writer Andrew Turvil is the former editor of the Good Food Guide, the AA Restaurant Guide and the Which? Pub Guide. His new book Blood, Sweat and Asparagus Spears: The Story of the 1990s Restaurant Revolution is out now. On the podcast, Andrew tells Olivia Potts and Lara Prendergast about how his journey began through journalism, the importance of Marco Pierre White’s influence on food culture in the 1990s and which red flags he looks for when reviewing a restaurant. Plus: why did he decide to buy a pub?

Friday

Owen Matthews

Owen Matthews, Matthew Parris, Marcus Nevitt, Angus Colwell and Sean Thomas

31 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Owen Matthews reads his letter from Rome (1:21); Matthew Parris travels the Channel Islands (7:53); Reviewing Minoo Dinshaw, Marcus Nevitt looks at Bulstrode Whitelocke and Edward Hyde, once close colleagues who fell out during the English civil war (15:19); Angus Colwell discusses his Marco Pierre White obsession, aided by the chef himself (21:26); and, Sean Thomas provides his notes on boredom (26:28).  Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Thursday

Angus Colwell

My Marco Pierre White obsession

Pierre White, Marco. Chef. Michelin stars: five (all handed back). Wives: three (all handed back). Restaurants owned: number unclear. Hours in a cell: 14. Party: Reform. Brands promoted: Knorr stockpots, Lidl, P&O Cruises. Protégé: Gordon Ramsay. YouTube views: hundreds of millions. Current residence: the countryside, somewhere near Bath, far far away from anyone who tries to talk to him. The obituaries will all call Marco Pierre White a ‘rock star’, and they will be correct. In the 1980s, he was all shaggy verve and sweat and ash. He ‘changed the game’ – as they all say – not so much through his cooking, but through his good looks. He had