Marco’s manic moments
Published:
Thursday, 23 August 2007, 5:01PM
“There have been many” Carving up colleagues’ clothes and kicking customers out into the street. All in a day’s work for Marco?
Famed for a temper that has resulted in awkward staff being thrown into the bin, our revered Head Chef has often gone to great lengths to instil discipline in his staff.
“People often refer to the time when I was at Harveys and all the chefs were complaining about the heat. I turned off the air conditioning and said, ‘Right then, we’ll all roast together.’
“They never complained about the heat again. Actually, one of them did, so I slashed his trousers with a carving knife, to give him a bit of ventilation. That was in the old days.”
And this zero tolerance policy isn’t confined to the kitchen. Marco is also renowned for banishing impolite paying diners to the pavement in outrage.
“I don’t go out of my way to kick people out,” he says. “People kick themselves out because of the way they behave in a restaurant.
“When you’re running a restaurant, you can’t devote all of your energies to one particular table.
“Just because they are spending a lot of money, it doesn’t mean they are entitled to be rude to staff and other diners.”
And in response to the question of whether he’s mellowed since these turbulent days gone by, Marco’s answer is simple:
“We’ll find out, won’t we?”
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