Carluccios in administration

[guy]

Great shame imo, a few years ago I used to enjoy going to the Bury St Edmunds branch (particularly when visiting the Apex for a concert).

It had a good atmosphere, excellent service, food and coffee - it used to make going to a concert even more of a treat.

A few weeks ago my wife and I went to Bury for a market shop and popped in to Carluccios and you could tell that things weren't right, I did say that it needed closing down, deep clean, redecorating and a manager making sure that the staff greeted customers with a smile and efficient service - I wonder whether it was falling standards that doomed it or were the staff already aware that it was on its uppers?

[Pieoftheday]

I'm pretty sure the chain was going tits up not long after the man himself passed away

[Marco]

Always sad to see any business go bust, and I feel for the staff losing their jobs, but as James has said the chain was never the same after the great man himself, one of the best chefs of all time and someone I took great inspiration from, in terms of the whole ethos of how he liked to eat/food to be cooked, and his striving for excellence/perfection.

However, the very nature of chain restaurants, owned by a famous chef and foodie, and where he or she isn't the one actually doing the cooking, is that you end up with a rather 'watered down' experience of the cuisine in question, and so as good as it was in its own right, that was also the case with Carluccio's... Therefore, in comparison with what was available from the best (small) family-owned Italian restaurants, it was akin to Italian food created from 'painting by numbers'.

Anyway, I hope that the staff are able to gain employment elsewhere and that as many businesses, of all descriptions, can manage to survive the current crisis.

Marco.

[Pieoftheday]

Didn't Jamie Oliver's chain go pear shaped a while back too?

[dave2010]

Didn't Jamie Oliver's chain go pear shaped a while back too?

I thought it merely slimmed down - quite a lot. Maybe it's still there, but on a starvation diet now.

[CageyH]

Right now is not going to be an easy time for any catering type business. Many more could go the same way.

[guy]

However, the very nature of chain restaurants, owned by a famous chef and foodie, and where he or she isn't the one actually doing the cooking, is that you end up with a rather 'watered down' experience of the cuisine in question, and so as good as it was in its own right, that was also the case with Carluccio's... Therefore, in comparison with what was available from the best (small) family-owned Italian restaurants, it was akin to Italian food created from 'painting by numbers'.

Anyway, I hope that the staff are able to gain employment elsewhere and that as many businesses, of all descriptions, can manage to survive the current crisis.

Marco.

my bold: good way to put it.

Also sure that as others said, it looks like, once the man was gone they lost their way

[hifi_dave]

Didn't Jamie Oliver's chain go pear shaped a while back too?

Went a few months back with Jamie owing suppliers millions. We used to visit the Cambridge branch which was excellent at first, then started to go downhill. Prices went up and portions went down - the place emptier every time we went.

Haven't been to Carluccios for some years but it wasn't great and I often thought "we can cook better at home".

Not sure any of these chains really work - Ask, Prezzo etc - not good.

[Marco]

I agree, they're ok if you're in the centre of town wanting fed reasonably well and cheaply, and don't have particularly high expectations, but in general I'm not a fan of restaurant chains, as the quality of the food (or often service) is rarely much to write home about, which for me always matters much more than convenience or price.

The 'problem' too for me, although it's a nice one to have, is that my wife is an exceptional cook, and so I'm used to eating very well at home, so when I eat out and pay proper money, the food needs to be markedly better than I could have had at home, or there's no point. Or more realistically, be of a type that would be hard to replicate as successfully there (such as say Thai, Japanese, Indian, or Michelin-starred), and in that respect chains aren't going to cut it.

However, if you want to taste genuine Italian food, then short of visiting the home of a traditional Italian family, find a good, small independent restaurant, which specialises in cooking dishes as authentically as possible, always using the freshest and best quality ingredients. That's the KEY to tasting REAL Italian food.

Tip: the BEST of such places almost never serve the same dishes/food on their menus two days running - let alone many months...!!

So run a mile if menus are laminated in plastic...

Marco.

[Mikeandvan]

Most Italian restaurants in the UK are absolute shite, finding an authentic one is about as hard as finding in an honest estate agent. Carluccios was a massive improvement on this. I went to the Brighton one a few times and it was pretty good, they also let me in with my doggy - for take away food anyway, and they did nice takeaway sandwiches and cakes, really, it will be missed.