Amongst the celebrity chefs of Britain’s culinary world, no one is more cooler than Jamie Oliver. Nigella Lawson may have the body and pout, and Gordon Ramsay the “F” word, but Oliver is instrumental in making cooking fresh amongst the twenty-something-set. Teenagers and Young Urban Professionals began watching Oliver’s “Naked Chef” in 1999 and his voracity, ingenuity, “easy-peasy” techniques encouraged many amateur chefs to take up an unfussy attitude to cooking. Shorter and leaner (both in size and recipe ingredients) than Julia Child, Oliver was a far different cooking show host than the world had ever seen.At the core of Jamie’s culinary interest is Italian fare. He got his start working as a pastry chef at Antonio Carluccio’s Neal’s Yard restaurant, where the world of Italian cuisine and its multifaceted flavours peaked his interest. Having produced a cookbook on the cuisine of the region an restaurants in beverley d even a TV show devoted to his travels through Italy (a memorable scene happened when Jamie was floored to see Italian school children well versed and inclined to taste different vegetables over fatty, fast food. A far different reality effects the school children of Britain and North America), Oliver has a deep seated passion for both traditions and imaginative potential of the cuisine. As such, the birth of Jamie’s Italian seems quite natural.Emphasizing quality, handmade dishes of the Italian peninsula, Jamie’s Italian feels miles away from the busy streets of London. Located in the charming neighbourhood of Covent Garden – which is conveniently poised to a Tube station of the same name – Jamie’s Italian is well worth considering when next at the London hotels. Unfussy yet considered, authentic yet progressive the dishes of Jamie’s restaurant are sure to satisfy even the most fussy of critics.
