Nathan Outlaw echoes Wareing and Sargeant views on fine dining

Two-Michelin-starred chef Nathan Outlaw has said that people don't want fine-dining any more, echoing recent comments made by Marcus Wareing and Mark Sargeant.

Outlaw expressed his views during his appearance on this morning's Saturday Kitchen (18 January).

He was telling presenter James Martin about the style of his latest restaurant, Outlaw's Fish Kitchen, which opened last August. Outlaw said: "It's a personal opinion: I just think that fine dining is getting to the point where I don't think people want it.

"They still want really good food and really good hospitality but in a nicer environment. The casual dining scene is quite good and I really like that."

Outlaw's Fish Kitchen, in Port Isaac, Cornwall - where ITV's Martin Clunes series Doc Martin was filmed - is housed in a 14th century building and has just eight tables in the dining room.

The Cornish chef's comments came hot on the heels of former Gordon Ramsay protégés Marcus Wareing and Mark Sargeant both emphasising their moves away from formal service.

Two-Michelin-starred Wareing, who recently announced he would be renaming his Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley Hotel restaurant to "Marcus" and revamping the style of the dining room to something more informal, said he has asked his waiting staff to adopt a more "high end American" approach to service.

"Michelin stars alone will [not] fill restaurants anymore," he told the Times.

Sargeant, who runs Plum + Spilt Milk at the Great Northern hotel in London's King's Cross, concurred: "People don't generally want starched tablecloths, starched napkins [or] six waiters in bow ties per table."

Outlaw went on to talk about his new forthcoming television series with TV cook and food writer Valentine Warner. The 10-episode Hook It Cook It sees the pair travel around Europe and fishing different locations, including Spain, Italy, France and the UK.

"We fished for massive amberjacks in the Med off Italy, big-eyed squid in San Sebastián, Spain, and mountain trout in the Pyrenees in France," Outlaw wrote on his website. "The best bit for me was fly-fishing for wild brown trout on the River Test, in Hampshire. Great fun!"

Hook It Cook It will air on Fox TV this year, but no start date has been confirmed.

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