Little Chef gets revamp from top restaurateur

STRUGGLING roadside restaurant chain Little Chef, long known for its breakfast fry-ups and greasy fish and chips, has found an unlikely saviour.

Michelin-starred Heston Blumenthal, whose restaurant has been voted the best in the world with delicacies such as quail jelly, has devised a new menu for Little Chef in an attempt to resurrect the ailing chain.

Rescued from bankruptcy in 2007, Little Chef has been serving hearty burgers, coffee and bacon and eggs to Britain’s motorists for 50 years across its more than 170 restaurants.

Blumenthal, who owns The Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, said he was not about to revolutionise the chain, and was sticking to the basics.

“People always associate me with snail porridge,” Blumenthal told Britain’s The Times newspaper.

“I do lots of other stuff: This is Little Chef, not Little Heston.”

However, gone is the Mega Mixed Grill, including rump steak, chicken breast, gammon steak, sausage, onion rings and chips, replaced with Braised Ox cheeks, cooked in red wine and served with mash.

“I had to make some bold moves,” Blumenthal said.

The Olympic breakfast, a signature dish, has also been revamped. The sausages are now made with British outdoor-reared pork, and contain 50% more meat.

“I was quite snobbish when I started,” Blumenthal said. “But there comes a point when you have to compromise.”

The three-star Michelin chef has spent the last three months devising the new menu as part of a Channel 4 series to be aired early next year.