| Celebrity chef stamps his foot and
departs from La Stampa With Grainne McLoughlin
 Celebrity
sex-symbol and occasional chef Jean-Christophe Novelli’s rollercoaster
career shows no sign of settling down with his much-hyped association
with iconic Dublin restaurant La Stampa suddenly — although not
entirely unexpectedly — severed with immediate effect.
The hot-headed multi-Michelin-starred chef arrived at La Stampa last July,
gushing about his new-found love of Ireland (and its ladies) and his plans
to reinvent the restaurant’s menu.
Rumour had it restaurant bookings went through the roof particularly from
ladies wanting a taste of (the food of) the reputed ‘sexiest chef
alive’.
But complaints soon followed that despite the crushing prices and Novelli’s
name on the door he was never actually in the kitchen — except to
throw the occasional tantrum. The media launch was cancelled — twice
— and despite constant requests from diners for a word from the
man himself he was always apparently overseas working on other ‘projects’.
Novelli’s day job, as executive chef at L’Auberge du lac ended
in similarly abrupt circumstances last year but his publicists insist
he is to focus on his British gastropub, the White Horse and his ongoing
TV commitments.
It seems he might soon be known more for washed-up celeb reality show
appearances than his actually rather good grub. Which is a shame as Dublin
could have done with it.
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