Tell us about the first ever Geranium restaurant.

“It is a long story, but the short version is that I was looking for my own restaurant after some intense training at London’s Savoy Hotel. My fiancée (Sally) and I looked far and wide in the Cambridge area then we met a lady who owned a restaurant called The Pink Geranium that she wanted to sell to retire. Sally said, “With a name like that it surely must be beautiful!” and beautiful it was. It was three cottages restored into one fabulous, thatched 15th century building sitting in stunning gardens with loads and loads of Geraniums. Instantly I wanted to buy it and so I made her an offer.

I had an idea, and it involved the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who I had met previously at an awards ceremony. I telephoned her often and got nowhere until one day I received a call back and her secretary asked me to attend a meeting in Downing Street. I was of course very excited but also very nervous! When I arrived at Number 10, I was welcomed by Mrs. Thatcher’s entourage. “So, what is this business proposal you have?” they asked me. I told them about the Pink Geranium (I had recently won a Catey award for Best up-and-coming Chef/Restaurateur). Mrs Thatcher left the room and returned with a business contract for what she called a  ‘Young Entrepreneur Scheme’. “I will raise the money 100% she said”.  Shaking nervously, I signed up and returned home to Sally. Now Sally was a clever young business woman and she looked at the contract and said, “You’ve agreed to pay 17.5% interest! It will kill us”.

Only a short time later the Pink Geranium had risen to fame with clients like Princess Diana and Prince Charles, and Mrs. Thatcher (of course), and Betty Boothroyd who lived in the next village. Pierce Brosnan visited us with Cassandra his now late wife, and Rod Stewart arrived singing We are sailing and talked football all night! Prince Charles (now King Charles) allegedly named us his favourite country restaurant.

We operated a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow service for clients because we were remotely located in a village called Melbourn, near Cambridge. Rod Stewart took the car service from Epping Manor, his home in Essex, and took the brandy back in the car! The Pink Geranium became a must go-to place and we won a Michelin Red M and 3 AA Rosettes, putting us in the top 20 restaurants in the UK at that time.”

Wow, what a story! So, tell us about your TV career and you have also written some books.

“Well standing in my kitchen at The Pink Geranium looking at the church opposite I had a dream of helping to create a new foodie TV show. I was already on the BBC morning show called Good Morning Britain hosted by Anne Diamond, produced by her then husband Mike Hollingsworth, who is still one of my closest friends. Peter Bazalgette one of Good Morning’s producers had written a new show which he called Ready Steady Cook, and he asked me to audition for it. In the early days it was just me, Brian Turner, Kevin Woodford, and Anthony Worral Thompson. The show rose to immense prominence becoming the most popular afternoon show on TV and it ran for over 20 years every day on BBC 2.

While I was on the show, I wrote 11 cookery books, the highlight being Chef’s Secrets: Mastering the Art of Good Food, selling over 750,000 copies.”

A fascinating career for sure, and so how did you end up in La Cala?

“I was running a company that operated VIP Catering for Formula 1 at the top end level, based at Silverstone but also Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, and Monaco. I was tired (after almost 10 years) and felt it was time to retire so I moved to the Costa Del Sol to my beautiful villa there and met and married Michele who became my second wife. She was almost 20 years younger and didn’t want to retire of course, so I bought a little boutique place in Calle Ronda in the centre of La Cala (now called Figaro). We called it….’The Little Geranium’ because we were little! The Little Geranium won many awards including one that recognised it as one of the Best Restaurants in Spain.”

Yes we all know the Little Geranium and you continued with your VIP car service. It was a great success and the most fabulous addition to the La Cala restaurant scene, so why did you close it?

“Well, Covid hit in 2020, and we were forced to close but we had to maintain the staff contracts which the Government in Spain took no responsibility for, calling it Force Majeure. During that period my marriage fell apart and I had to sell my villa and the restaurant, making it not just a heartache but a disaster!
I returned to the UK for a while and lived with my dear father. Then one day I was invited to my brother Stuart’s blessing on the beach in Marbella. I went for the weekend, met a lovely lady and reconnected with friends, leading me to decide it was the right time to return to Mijas Costa.”

You returned to La Cala, why La Cala again?

“Honestly I was heartbroken to have left. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t think of anything else. I also missed all my friends and regular clients that I had at The Little Geranium. So as soon as an opportunity arose to go back, I jumped at it. While here we rented a small flat and started looking for my next and probably my last restaurant.”

Fast forward to the present day, you are based outside the town in Pueblo La Noria, how are things there?

“I was nervous about that at first because we are not in the town centre so we don’t really get many walk-ins, but that helps our business model. We are a Michelin-styled tasting menu restaurant. My kitchen is headed up by Chef Maurice who has been with me for a long time and is my strength – he is an amazing chef. I am still in the kitchen most days but some days I work the front of house, as I love my clients, old and new, and I really enjoy chatting and making them feel welcome. La Noria is close to the Feria ground market in La Cala. You can park your car or walk from La Cala. We can park your car for you, and we also offer our VIP service which includes a chauffeured Bentley which will be available again this summer.”

Finally, as if all of this wasn’t enough, I hear you also have a Cookery School, a Geranium Yacht, and a Jet.

“The Geranium Yacht is based in Puerto Banús and we do exclusive VIP day trips to see the dolphins, snorkel, etc. I supply at least five excellent courses on the yacht which is piloted by Captain Jack, and we also include unlimited wine, beer, and soft drinks. It is a great VIP experience priced very reasonably. The Jet is a Citation CJ3 which flies from London to Málaga and seats eight people in pure luxury. My cookery school is held in my finca where we grow papayas, mangoes, lemons, limes, vegetables, and we have a banana plantation. It’s a special day of tuition, some hands-on, a great learning but also fun experience. A four-course lunch is served with wine pairing included. An amazing must-do day!”