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Heston Blumenthal

Little Chef drops Heston Blumenthal as dishes prove unpopular with roadside diners

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By Gillian West | Social media manager

June 23, 2013 | 2 min read

Little Chef has dropped brand ambassador Heston Blumenthal after six years.

Blumenthal approached Little Chef in 2007 after rival Jamie Oliver made an inquiry about buying the chain, he was then recruited by the roadside change to help revamp its image and had dishes in 10 Little Chef locations across the UK.

The celebrity chef's attempt to spice up Little Chef were captured by Channel 4 as part of the 2009 TV series 'Big Chef takes on Little Chef', which focused on his attempts to revamp the A303 branch at Popham, Hampshire.

Despite being awarded three Michelin stars the Little Chef crowd have been less than impressed with Blumenthal's offerings which included ox cheeks and breakfast options such as strawberry and orange flowerwater yoghurt.

After working on the Popham branch as part of the three-part series Blumenthal's menu and redesign were rolled out to other locations including Amesbury in Wiltshire and Podimore and Ilminster in Somerset.

Little Chef spokesman, Richard Hillgrove, is quoted as saying: "The problem is that no one wants his food. None of his dishes are popular. As of Monday, we've dropped all his dishes from the ten restaurants where his food was availableā€¦He's been wiped off the menu. Little Chef needs to get back dow to earth and that's what we're doing."

The news that Blumenthal has been dropped by the chain follows the launch of a new menu celebrating 55 years of serving the nation. The new menu features new items and old favourites such as the million-selling Olympic Breakfast.

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