News leaked this week by a London tabloid that the Queen is looking for a head chef brought dismay to some long serving senior chefs in the Royal kitchens at Buckingham Palace. Mark Flanagan, the Queen’s ‘Royal chef’ of four years is to take on a more executive role thus creating a position for a talented chef to step in and become ‘head chef’. But instead of promoting from within –as would happen in the old days (Lionel Mann waited over 30 years for the Head Chefs position) the Palace have decided to look to the hotel world to fill the vacancy.

“The Queen is to hire a Gordon Ramsay-style chef” says the Daily Mirror. Having spent 11 years in those kitchens I can assure you that one thing the Queen doesn’t want is a ‘Gordon Ramsey –style chef’ and neither would a Gordon Ramsey –style chef want the head chef at Buckingham Palace position either. And I am not referring to the “F” word in every other sentence when there are members of the Royal family visiting the kitchen.

It is a huge leap from restaurant chef to personal chef, many have tried, many have returned to the restaurant trade. In my eleven years I saw many chefs come in – usually as junior chefs – having plied their short trade in 5 star London hotels only to be disillusioned with the personal chef life. For a start, you miss the twice daily adrenalin rush of food service –getting perhaps 150 covers out in two hours.

Royal chefs can sometimes find they have to chop rabbit meat for the dogs, or peel carrots for the Queen’s horse during food service – which, more often than not is ‘dinner for 2 all in.’ Granted there are the State banquets, diplomatic receptions, meet and greets and charity lunches. But most of the time the job is to take care of two pensioners, albeit VIP ones. Now, imagine inviting Grandma and Granddad over for a family dinner and saying “hey, we are having Thai food tonight” - exactly - “we’re not eating that muck” they don’t like change. I have seen enthusiastic chefs join the Royal household staff only to become disenchanted that their creativity is dampened each time by being told “the Queen doesn’t like it that way – can she have it the way she is used too please”

By snubbing the three senior chefs that are well qualified to take the new position (all three decorated with service medals from the Queen) the Palace are about to cause even more heat in the kitchens than on State Banquet night. Perhaps they should have taken note of the White house when they too were in need of a new head chef, they recently appointed 10 year veteran Cristeta Comerford who was assistant to former White house chef Walter Scheib despite the opportunity of bringing in Dallas restaurant chef Chris Ward (who I was speaking with this week). The Whitehouse knows that promoting from within causes less friction than bringing in new blood . It also guarantees that when Her Majesty does say “I don’t like it that way – can I have it the way I have always had it please” that there is actually still someone left in the kitchen that remembers how that was.

For those of you that check out the web site for an advanced heads up on my cooking classes prior to them going in the cooking school schedules, here we go;

Sunday January 29th
Central Market - Westheimer at Weslayan - Houston SOLD OUT !!!
Afternoon tea party class 3pm – 5:00pm
Phone 713-993-9860 for reservations

Saturday February 4th
Market Street , McKinney SOLD OUT !!!
Valentines Candlelight dinner class – 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Phone 972 548 5167 for reservations

Saturday February 11th
Market Street Colleyville SOLD OUT !!!
Valentines Candlelight dinner class – 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Phone 817 577 5047 for reservations

Saturday March 4th
Market Street , McKinney
St Patrick’s Day class – 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Phone 972 548 5167 for reservations

Saturday March 11th
Market Street , Colleyville SOLD OUT !!!
St Patrick’s Day class – 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Phone 817 577 5047 for reservations

Sunday March 26th
Market Street , McKinney
Easter tea party class – 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Phone 972 548 5167 for reservations

Sunday April 2nd
Market Street, Colleyville SOLD OUT !!!
Easter tea party class – 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Phone 817 577 5047 for reservations

Saturday 29th April
Market Street, McKinney
Midweek Chicken Dinners - 11:00am – 1:00pm
Phone 972 548 5167 for reservations

Sunday 7th May
Dorothy Lane Market, Dayton. Ohio SOLD OUT !!!
Afternoon tea party – 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Phone 937-434-1294 x 22269 for reservations

Saturday May 13th
Grapevine Rec Center
Royal favorites - 11:00am – 1pm

Saturday May 27th
Market Street, Colleyville
Midweek Chicken Dinners - 11:00am – 1:00pm
Phone 817 577 5047 for reservations

I hoped to have more to report to you on the update of my cookbook. Unfortunately, as they say in the book world “the wheels of publishing grind slow but fine”. What I can tell you though is that I DO have a publisher now for the book and am excitedly fine tuning recipes and working on food photography for it. As soon as they give me a release date I will let you know. Thank you for being as patient as I have had to be on this. I promise though, it will be worth the wait.

I am so looking forward to meeting and preparing afternoon tea for the patients of Dr. Volker Gressler at Hope Oncology in Richardson, Texas on Valentines day - Tuesday February 14.

Pics and news to follow ....