By James Leavey
Antony Worral Thompson
Britain's top TV chef lights up in his own restaurant in West
London, while giving James Leavey his recipe for a
smoker-friendlier world.
JL: When did you first start smoking?
AWT: I started smoking the end of my girlfriends' cigarettes,
about seven
years ago. I was originally anti-smoking - I probably lost my
first wife
because I was against her smoking. And then in between wives, as
it were,
all the women I fancied smoked. And I thought 'being a chef, I
need to
equalize the taste buds, so I've got to have another drag on the
end of this
cigarette'. And, as they always say, you do get hooked on
cigarettes.
JL: You've given up smoking in recent years, haven't you?
AWT: Off and on. I don't believe it's a good thing to smoke but I
do believe
in the freedom of choice to smoke. I didn't believe that when I
gave my
second wife a hard time. I tried to give up smoking last year so
I could
enter the London Marathon - which almost killed me so I went back
on the
cigarettes.
JL: Are there smoking and non-smoking areas here in your
restaurant?
AWT: The whole restaurant is smoking. I would be perfectly happy
to go with
a law that said any new restaurant's planning permission
applications had to
have a non-smoking area. I don't think there's anything wrong
with that. I
believe that the government shouldn't initiate a blanket ban on
smoking.
Existing restaurants should have a five-year period in which to
come in to
line in having non-smoking areas. Maybe they would do like the
French and
have 'under 45-seaters would be exempt', or something like that.
There's a
place in the world for both the smoker and the non-smoker. It
shouldn't
have to be the government that tells us what to do.
JL: Do you think smoking enhances or ruins good food?
AWT: It's a tricky question. I've never been accused of
over-seasoning my
food, which a lot of smokers are - they say smokers put a lot of
salt and
pepper in it. I love my food and I think I've still got very good
taste
buds and I don't think smoking's affected me. But you have to
remember I've
only been smoking for seven years. Which is a ridiculous thing to
do, but
there you go. I don't think smoking enhances food, but from my
point of view
if anything makes you relax while you're eating a meal, that has
to be good
for you. Like when my wife, who was having a baby, went to the
doctor the
other day. The doctor said, 'Look. Try and reduce down. If
you're gonna
get stressed out because you're not smoking, it's far better to
carry on
smoking, albeit less, if you can, than to give up and get stressed
out. The
baby will feel it far more if you're stressed.' And I believe
that applies
to restaurants. If the government had their way and banned
smoking, you're
gonna get people getting up in between courses and go out on the
pavement to
smoke. And it's going to completely disrupt - and that's what
it's all
about - enjoying the fact that there's conviviality in having
company and
talking and communication skills etc. I don't believe that's the
way
forward.
JL: If they banned smoking in restaurants, do you think some
puritan would
try to ban smoked salmon?
AWT: Yes. I'm sure there will be some campaign against barbecues,
carcinogenic as they're meant to be, what with the charcoal -
anything to do
with smoke. It'll come. And that's what I'm frightened about.
One thing
will lead to another. Next it will be alcohol, then fatty foods.
There's
more and more of the government trying to control us all, and I
think that's
very wrong in a country that has always prided itself on the
freedom of
speech, freedom of choice. I don't want Britain to become like
America.
JL: Have you ever had problems in your restaurant with diners
arguing about
smoking?
AWT: Very rare, just the occasional adamant Californian, who will
get up
and go somewhere else - as all areas of Wiz (his restaurant in
Notting Hill)
are smoking (smoker-friendly). You see Japanese smoking, Germans
puffing
away, and the French breaking the rules over in France - because
they've had
smoking restrictions in their restaurants for years. Which is
very strange
as France was the country I always thought least likely to try to
impose a
smoking ban in restaurants. The thing about the French is that
they ignore
every rule going and the trouble with the British that we pay
attention to
every rule going. We always take the American stance, with law,
and we stick
to it. Which is a bit worrying, really.
JL: Is there a dish that complements smoking? For example, if
you're a
heavy smoker who lights up between courses, is there some kind of
food you
should be eating?
AWT: Any food that makes you relax, which is what a cigarette does
generally
to the smoker. Alcohol is much more likely to make you smoke. I'm
not
necessarily keen on the Frenchman who will smoke between
mouthfuls, let
alone between courses. Adrian Gill of The Times every other
moment has a
cigarette in his hands. But that's him, he doesn't drink, so.
Possibly
there's a dessert called affogato, which is a dollop of ice cream,
topped up
with espresso coffee - that's a very good smoker-friendly pudding.
JL: Which chef's doorway would you like most to smoke in?
AWT: I think it would be Gordon Ramsay. He's a purist and
doesn't agree
with all that. Or maybe I should say any Michelin style
restaurant, because
they don't agree with the enjoyment factor. They're the 'temples
of
gastronomy' where you talk in hushed whispers and if you should
laugh,
everyone turns round and says, 'Don't you realize where you are?'
I would
love to smoke in their doorway.
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