Great British Menu news and a broken leg

So the Great British Menu recording is underway again and the exclusive news from this side of the water is that Niall McKenna of James Street South and Brian McCann of Shu are the two names in the frame. These are, of course, unofficial as the names are a closely guarded secret until closer to the show but I’ve heard filming for the North heat starts today. I hope the two of them do well, it’s great to see local chefs getting great TV coverage.

In other news, Raymond Blanc has broken his leg in a fall at his home in Oxford yesterday. His fiancée, Natalia Traxel rang an ambulance and he was whisked to nearby John Radcliffe Hospital.

He is resting comfortably and is due to have an operation possibly today before going home. I hope it wasn’t the Ferris curse that struck… He broke his leg just hours before he was due to take part in an interview with me for our March food and drink magazine. It was only weeks ago that we ran my interview with Nigel Rahman in the Monday edition of the Andersonstown News before news broke the next day that the Bengal Brasserie on Lisburn Road had went into administration!