The Godfather of Gastronomy has been busy this Spring taking time out of his demanding schedule to visit a number of his restaurants to meet customers, chat to his restaurant teams and make sure everything was up to his exacting standards.
A regular occurrence across the MPW Restaurant estate, the visits took in North Somerset, Cardiff, Birmingham, Glasgow, Durham, Newcastle, Brentwood and New Road Hotel in London. Marco also popped in to visit Campbell Brothers in Edinburgh - the renowned butcher and supplier of all steaks across the MPW Restaurant estate as well as the Royal Family – to check on the meat quality and its provenance.
Always keen to meet customers, he chatted to guests about his career while signing books including the 25th anniversary of the ground-breaking 'White Heat' and his latest cookbook 'Essentially Marco'. He also met the staff at each site – being particularly inspired by the hard-working kitchen teams – and undertook a host of media interviews.
With all venues sold out, it underlines the popularity of the one regarded by many as being the one who made cooking cool.
Brandie Deignan, managing director of Black And White Hospitality said: "Marco takes a lot of interest in how restaurants are performing and what people think of the menu, food and décor. He also sees it as a great way to talk about his philosophy of feeding people well, where the atmosphere is always buzzing, and service is exceptional.
"People don't realise just how involved he is and this latest round of visits proves not only how much he cares but also that he's keen to check out the restaurant estate and suppliers.
"It's also great from a franchisee point of view as it demonstrates how hands on Marco is when it comes to making sure the restaurant concepts stay on trend.
"He's brilliant with the public and he's always interested in hearing what people have to say about his restaurants and what they think about eating out in general.
"Just before he left for Singapore, he was asking when the next round of visits were scheduled for so we're now busy putting plans in motion."
