Claude Bosi, chef of the two Michelin star Hibiscus in London, flipped out last night at an amateur blogger who wrote a slightly negative review of his restaurant. As the Guardian reports, James Isherwood, who has a personal food blog called "Dining With James" and counts just over 200 Twitter followers, went to Hibiscus and wrote up a somewhat tepid review of his experience. The post prompted Bosi to find Isherwood on Twitter and write him: "Nice way to gain respect with chefs...!! I think your a Cunt and this its personal sorry...!!"
What exactly did the amateur blogger do to peeve the Michelin-starred Bosi? In the review, which Isherwood posted on his personal blog as well as TripAdvisor, he issues maybe two or three criticisms of his experience. They are far from "burns" and they are far from masterfully written:
On the rose hip and crab starter: "It was just like a crab flavoured Findus crispy pancake, with the smallest dollop of puree, it's role on the plate was irrelevant." As for the service: "Service was hit and miss really, after each course our waiter asked if everything was OK..this got tiresome after a while as the empty plates should speak for themselves." He was also not very happy about the fact that the sommelier seemed to be pushing them too hard to order booze. Taking all that into account, the blogger recommends a two-star like Marcus Wareing or The Ledbury over Hibiscus. That's pretty much it, but it didn't stop several chefs from entering the fray and backing up Bosi.
After Isherwood asked Bosi if he engages every person critical of his restaurant that way, the chef replied, "as a man you should say something to my face when I ask,Please buy yourself a pair of balls and play with them." Then a couple of noted UK chefs jumped in and lent their support to Bosi. Among Tom Kerridge's tweets was one urging Bosi to "smash him in." And then Sat Bains, whose eponymous restaurant holds two Michelin stars, wrote that "there is a c**t amongst us.!!!" Some used the hashtag #chefsunite, as if they really had to.
· Top Chefs Unite Against Blogger [The Guardian]
· Hibiscus [Dining With James]