Keith McNally once famously described James Corden as a “hugely gifted comedian but a tiny cretin of a man” and barred him from his celebrated New York restaurant, Balthazar, after accusing the actor and presenter of berating staff over a hair allegedly found in his meal.
The outspoken restaurateur later stirred controversy again with an unfiltered memoir, in which he revealed that he had enjoyed a five-year relationship with playwright Alan Bennett during his younger years.
Now, however, McNally’s fury is aimed at a Chelsea restaurant rather than a celebrity or a plate of food. “I’m praying the place burns to the f***ing ground before Christmas,” the London-born restaurateur declared on social media. His target is Colbert in Sloane Square, a popular venue that has welcomed guests including Dame Joan Collins and Kate Moss.
McNally, 75, had chosen the restaurant for a late breakfast with an old friend, arriving at 10.45am.
75-year-old restaurateur Keith McNally expressed his rage after his experience at a restaurant in Sloane Square. ‘I’m praying the place burns to the f***ing ground before Christmas’
According to McNally, they had been seated for an hour and ten minutes when a waiter abruptly asked them to settle the bill “within the next five minutes” because the table had been reserved for another diner at noon. McNally said he explained that he was in the middle of a long-overdue conversation with a friend he had not seen for 12 years and needed at least another ten minutes.
“Seconds later, a manager appeared and demanded that we ‘vacate’ the table immediately because another customer had booked that specific spot and was waiting to be seated,” McNally claimed. He said he lost his temper and told the manager to offer the arriving guest another table, insisting they would leave in five minutes. A second manager then appeared to “throw us out”, according to McNally, who concluded: “I’ll never return.”
A spokesperson for Colbert said McNally had made his reservation online and received two emails confirming the booking time. The restaurant added that his stay had been extended at his request.
‘Jagger of the Aga’ Marco’s son celebrates fatherhood
Marco Pierre White’s eldest son, Luciano, 32, has become a father, thanks to his fiancée, fashion designer Stephanie Beard, 35, who’s given birth to a girl
Marco Pierre White, once dubbed “the Mick Jagger of the Aga” in the BBC2 documentary Rise Of The Rockstar Chef, has another reason to celebrate.
The acclaimed chef, who turns 65 next month, has welcomed a new grandchild into the family.
His eldest son, Luciano, 32, and his fiancée, fashion designer Stephanie Beard, 35, have become parents to a baby girl.
“Our little princess!” Luciano announced online, revealing that they had named their daughter Paloma Blu Pierre White. The joyful news follows a challenging year for Luciano, whose Surrey restaurant was shut down last year while owing the taxman £100,000.
Head over heels… Dame Emma’s girl falls for ice skater
Dame Emma Thompson’s daughter Gaia Wise posted photographs online from a romantic New York getaway this week, including one of Luis Douglas planting a peck on her cheek
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Gaia Wise appears to have found a perfect match away from the ice rink.
The daughter of Oscar-winning actress Dame Emma Thompson is reportedly dating former professional figure skater Luis Douglas. Gaia, 26, is seeing the 33-year-old Glaswegian, who once performed as a principal skater for Disney On Ice and now works in marketing.
The couple shared images from a romantic trip to New York this week, including a photograph of Luis kissing Gaia on the cheek beside graffiti depicting two people kissing. Gaia, whose father is Dame Emma’s second husband and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Greg Wise, described herself as “outrageously happy”.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Gaia had ended her relationship with Swiss actor Basil Eidenbenz.
Gaia secured a major career opportunity last year when she voiced Hera in the animated Lord Of The Rings film The War Of The Rohirrim. She had previously portrayed a younger version of her mother’s character in The Dead Of Winter, a film produced by Dame Emma.
Misbehaviour in showbusiness is not limited to men. Jeremy Kyle says he once saw a female television star throw a pizza at a young runner.
The 61-year-old presenter recalled: “There was a really, really quite famous woman who appeared on television a lot some years ago. We were working on a show when a young runner came in to take her lunch order, and she was extremely brusque.
“When filming finished, he brought in the pizza. She took one look at it and said, ‘This is eugh, eugh,’ before throwing it at him.”
In 2019, Amazon Studios signed Phoebe Waller-Bridge to a lucrative “golden handcuffs” agreement after the success of her BBC comedy Fleabag. The deal was reportedly worth an extraordinary $20million (£15million) annually.
Seven years on, however, the only project to reach screens has been the two-part documentary Octopus!. Despite that limited output, the payments have continued.
Accounts for her company, PMWB, show retained earnings of more than £47million. The 41-year-old Londoner paid herself £2.7million in dividends last year. Waller-Bridge has written Tomb Raider, a television series starring Sophie Turner as Lara Croft, with filming beginning this year.
Page has axe to grind with Collins
Phil Collins is set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles today, but Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is unlikely to be celebrating.
“Well, he’s not getting the award for Live Aid,” Page told me pointedly at the Music Industry Trusts award ceremony at the Grosvenor House hotel in Mayfair.
The guitarist was referring to Collins’s guest performance on drums during the 1985 charity concert in Philadelphia. “It was disastrous,” he said. “That was such a disappointment. He flew all that way and didn’t know when to stop or start the songs.”
