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Kitchen queen Angela Hartnett remembers the men in her life
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Business Editor8 Sep 2009
Chef Angela Hartnett has praised the men behind her success after winning her fourth award of the summer.
The chef-patron at Gordon Ramsay's Murano in Mayfair and Camden's York & Albany was named
“breakthrough of the year” at the Women Of The Year awards.
And today the 40-year-old scoops top newcomer from the Zagat restaurant survey. It follows a similar award from rival restaurant guide Harden's last week and her chef of the year Catey award — the first woman to win it — from Caterer and Hotel magazine in July.
Hartnett said: “It's a team effort, but it is a woman thing, the bitching is more the men. Thanks to all the guys at Murano, and obviously Gordon.”
Tables at Murano, which was only launched in March last year, are already in huge demand. She said: “I'm delighted to say we're booked out for the next six to eight weeks for Thursdays to Saturdays and that creates an aura. People want to get into a place that they can't get into.”
The next aim for the Spitalfields-based chef is to secure a second Michelin star for Murano — becoming the first British woman to do so — and
a debut star for York & Albany. The 2010 Michelin stars are awarded in January.
Although business was quiet last week in an “end of summer blip”, the English-born Irish-Italian chef said the key indicator for the fine dining
industry will be hints of recovery in autumn bookings for the private rooms and chef's tables.
“That will be the sign that the City money is coming back and there are real green shoots out there,” she said. “But we're still not going to hit what we had four years ago at the Connaught.”
Today's Zagat survey found restaurant goers are paying less for meals out for the first time since it began in 1997, with the average cost
falling from £40.55 to £40.39.
