Jamie Oliver is not someone (or something, so huge is his franchise now) that I despise, despite popularity. He is a champion of various righteous causes, he's encouraging people to cook better food and he is a realistic kind of guy. Well, maybe a meal in 30 or 15 minutes is a stretch since not everyone has a team helpfully assembling everything for you, but still. There are decent recipes in there and we've all made a Jamie dish at some point.
What I cannot abide, however, is the horrendous mockney shtick, the endless development of new ways to get the face on screen, the cavalcade of books (would you buy a book on great American cooking from a chef who half-trained in an Italian restaurant in London?), the ludicrous number of ingredients thrown into food which simply does not need it... So maybe there are some issues there after all. But, as I started by saying, the guy's alright.
Going to Jamie's Italian should be a sure thing, a home banker. Italian food is one of the things Jamie should be good at, given his background, and there can be great things in the simplest of Italian restaurants. The problem is, given that Jamie has put his name on everything, you're caught between expecting fantastic food which you 'n all yer mates can get stuck into and an apprehensive distaste for the oi oi saveloy feel of the place. The waiting staff all pedal a degree of the pseudo-cockney and it's not that enjoyable.
The menu is also a little confusing. One can order 'planks' as starters. I get the idea of the kitsch sharing dishes but it leaves an annoying taste in the mouth just from reading it. Surely a plate would be better, no? The contradictions continue: two friends ordered a plank to share and enjoyed it. A nice selection of cured meats is no bad way to get going... I chose to start with some stuffed pasta which were described as 'pillows' on the menu and which actually were pretty damn close to being so (left). The problem with these was the creamy cheese filling, which was a little too light and not giving a full-bodied Italian punch of flavour.
Main courses were another mixed bag. One friend ordered a crab pasta dish which he was delighted with and which, having tried, I thought wasn't half bad either. I decided to go for a favourite of mine: mushroom risotto (right). I had settled on this choice since the menu is such a large tome to study, littered with nauseating phrases - "Jamie's favourite!", "Jules's favourite!" - and dishes which just didn't belong. A burger on an Italian restaurant menu feels like playing to the lowest common denominator. This was somewhat lacking in the flavour, richness and creaminess one associates with great risotto. The mushrooms weren't strong enough, there wasn't enough butter and the whole thing was flat.
I wasn't sure what to make of this all so far. I had to go for a dessert to find out if something could salvage the meal and thankfully I chose well. The raspberry tart with almond was a pretty good way to finish (left). It was satisfyingly soft, rich and well-judged. This was by far my highlight of the evening and showed me there is some genuine simplicity lurking underneath the baffling menus and stacks of cooking books.So there you have it. I think I wanted to dislike the place but in truth it isn't that bad. Given the array of restaurants in and around Covent Garden, it's not somewhere I would go back to, but if it was a family occasion with children I could totally see the appeal. This is not a restaurant striving for culinary perfection or epicurean purity, it's just trying to put people at tables. And it's doing so with ease.
And that's what I really do admire about Jamie Oliver. For all that's irritating, he's a remarkably savvy businessman. The success of his ventures speak for themselves and he's making a lot more money than some of his former contemporaries who were far more decorated cooks than he. Our obsession with Jamie has got to the point we'll eat just about anywhere he slaps his name on. My first musings on the guy were when the wife and I were surprised with his take on pizza at Union Jacks, which has sadly now only one location remaining, also in Covent Garden. Whilst that might have been a commercial failure, Jamie's Italian remains an internationally-renowned brand.
Maybe after all I just feel indifferent to Jamie Oliver. Unless he starts doing stuff like this. Then he invokes all the kind of unfettered loathing I usually reserve for the likes of Simon Cowell ventures and reality television.
Jamie's Italian
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