Celebrity chefs Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay have been slammed by diners for staying open despite the UK’s growing coronavirus crisis.
Heston’s famous Fat Duck even went as far as offering customers £75 off food if they booked a table before the end of April.
Famously foul-mouthed Gordon was also slammed by concerned fans on Twitter after his restaurants too said they were ‘ready for this week’s service’ despite Boris Johnson’s plea for people to avoid social contact.
Heston’s Fat Duck Restaurant in Bray, Maidenhead, Berkshire, is offering diners a £75 discount – despite the country’s move towards lockdown.
Disgruntled Britons slammed the celebrity chefs on social media saying they were being ‘irresponsible’ and should shut down. One urged them to ‘do the right thing’ and stop taking books.
Heston’s Fat Duck Restaurant in Bray, Maidenhead, Berkshire, is offering diners a £75 discount – despite the country’s move towards lockdown (Heston is pictured)
Social media users have criticised Gordon Ramsey for keeping restaurants open
Heston’s famous Fat Duck even went as far as offering customers £75 off food if they booked a table before the end of April
Heston’s three-star restaurant boasts a Modern British menu with prices ranging from £250 to £325.
Its tasting menu has included jelly of quail, snail porridge and roast foie gras.
And now it appears that Blumenthal is trying to encourage people to stop self-isolating despite the government advising them not to visit restaurants.
The Fat Duck released a statement saying: ‘It’s a difficult time though and like many of your local restaurants, we’ve been hit by cancellations from guests who can no longer travel to be with us.
‘We are however, open as usual, and we’d love your support in helping us keep the local economy running.
‘We invite you to consider joining us over the coming weeks and as a thank you for your support, we are offering £75 off our usual ticket price for booking before the end of April.’
It added on Twitter: ‘We are open as normal. As some of our guests were travelling from overseas, we have had a couple of last minute cancellations. Visit our website for latest update.’
Famously foul-mouthed Gordon was also slammed by concerned fans on Twitter after his restaurants too said they were ‘ready for this week’s service’ despite Boris Johnson’s plea for people to avoid social contact
The Fat Duck Restaurant tweeted to say it had some cancellations and people could come and enjoy food on site
The Fat Duck sent out a message asking people to support the local economy during the coronavirus crisis
The Fat Duck also shared a picture of staff trying their new tasting menu, including ‘coq au vin revisited’, on March 11.
It comes not long after the restaurant saw its best ever profits – doubling in a year, according to Companies House figures.
For the year ending May 26, 2019, the restaurant saw profits of £746,741, up from £297,788 in 2018.
Likewise, chefs at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants have announced they are ‘ready for this week’s service’ in a picture wearing wide smiles at his Bread Street Kitchen in St Paul’s, London.
The OBE British chef has 15 restaurants sprawled across London – including the Lucky Cat in Mayfair and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.
But social media users have now called him out for being irresponsible and running business as usual.
One wrote: ‘I love you man but please do the right thing and shut it down!’
While another said: ‘I don’t see anyone wearing masks.’
Another added: ‘All of you need to be home.’
And Sabrina Dardis said: ‘Really Gordon….. Really…’
Many on social media criticised the celebrity chefs for keeping their restaurants open
It comes as Health Minister Nadine Dorries, who was struck down by coronavirus, has blasted ‘selfish’ Londoners today for ignoring pleas to work from home in a bit to slow the spread of the contagion.
The 62-year-old hit out at the capital’s residents, accusing many of using cafes and coffee shops to work instead self-isolating away from other people.
The former nurse, who is recovering from her brush with coronavirus, took to Twitter to voice her frustration.
It came after Boris Johnson hinted the capital’s nine million population could face a total lockdown within days amid fears the ‘superspreader city’ is the engine of the UK’s coronavirus outbreak, after the daily death rate doubled to 33 in 24 hours.
Commuters have shared pictures of crowded tube trains and platforms as services are cut back as London grinds to a halt.
Ms Dorries, the Mid Bedfordshire MP and a novellist, said: ‘People in London are working in cafes, not at home.
‘One cafe owner tells me that takings have shot up to over double usual daily amount.
‘This is not social distancing, it is irresponsible behaviour and the price to pay for such selfishness will be severe for us all.’
Commuters have shared pictures of crowded tube trains and platforms as services are cut back as London grinds to a halt
A busy Green Park station in London this morning (left) as passengers were forced to cram into carriages (right) after services were cut
March 4: Nadine was last on the floor of the Commons last Wednesday and is likely to have been carrying coronavirus then and didn’t know it
The former nurse, who is recovering from her brush with coronavirus, took to Twitter to voice her frustration
Experts say it is impossible to blame restaurants for trying to stay afloat however, as the government has not given them clear coronavirus advice.
New legislation has been passed to allow many of them to open as takeaways, but many are still unclear about what action they should take.
Branding expert Marcel Knobil said: ‘I think with restaurants they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
‘I find it very, very difficult to criticise them because it just echoes the confusion they are facing.
‘They are not really being given advice on what the best action is to take.
‘The key element with branding and marketing is a clear message and unfortunately the restaurants are not getting that from the government.’
Earlier this week, PM Boris Johnson advised Brits to employ social distancing to slow the spread of the virus and stop the NHS being overwhelmed.
He emphasised that people should avoid pubs, clubs, restaurants and theatres to begin a national fightback against infection.