Marcus Wareing fixes Berkeley hygiene issues in "Rolls Royce" kitchen
Two-Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing has likened his kitchens at the Berkeley hotel in London to a "Rolls Royce", despite a recent hygiene inspection that gave them a score of one out of five.
The report by Food Standards Agency inspectors was produced three weeks ago, but only came to light in the past week.
Wareing said that the results were down to a "technicality" and that the problems the inspectors discovered had already been fixed.
At the heart of the low score was the fact that the kitchens only had one vacuum packing machine when inspectors said there should have been two. They also discovered the presence of fruit flies.
"To go from five stars to one star just for that seems a bit radical, given my 25 years of kitchen experience. My kitchen is a Rolls Royce machine that has customers in it, eating at the chef's table, on a daily basis.
"Food safety, and the health of my team and customers is not something that I would ever knowingly jeopardise."
James Armitage, the council's food safety manager said: "Since the inspection we have since revisited the restaurant to check compliance with the notice. They have complied and we believe they are already well on the way to regaining their five stars."
The FSA's Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is relatively new and is the predecessor to the Scores on the Doors system. The top rating is 5/5, which indicates "very good" standards, while a score of 0/5 denotes "urgent improvement necessary". Businesses are encouraged, but not obliged, to display their score to customers.