There are a lot of great people I've met over the years working in hospitality. There have also, from time to time, been people I've disagreed with. That's genuinely no problem for me; life is about opinions and you can't agree with all of the people all of the time.
What I do despise however are angry keyboard warriors who just seem intent on arguing with anyone from behind a computer screen and who seemingly get pleasure from trying to put other people down. I think we could all agree the industry would be much better off, as would the world as a whole, without such pathetic creatures.
One such person I came across fairly recently was Neil Patterson-Azzopardi, the seeming epitome of a keyboard warrior who seems to think he's some kind of social media superstar. He's apparently a former chef and chef blogger and unfortunately still seems to be part of the industry, working in chef recruitment according to his website here. He has more than one Twitter account, seemingly so he can retweet his own content. I thought it would be interesting to document some examples of his behaviour as a warning to others who may be unfortunate enough to cross paths with him.
Spat with Dom Robinson
Dom Robinson is the Chef Patron of the Michelin-starred pub The Blackbird in Berkshire. It all started with a completely innocuous tweet regarding his attendance of the 2020 Michelin Awards:
Naturally, Neil couldn't wait to come rushing in with some obscenities:
More titbits followed:
"Deluded" as Dom Robinson put it above seems a very accurate description for Neil; read on for further confirmation of that.
Spat with Adam Handling
I've been a fan of Adam Handling since I first saw him on MasterChef; he seems a thoroughly decent fellow and all accounts I've heard have backed that up. He posted on Twitter recently his thoughts on the current chef shortage, and of course our friend Neil couldn't help but aggressively weigh in to the debate, Adam summed it up quite well here:
And many of the replies to Adam summed up what other people thought too:
Surely all those people can't be wrong and not a surprise to read he turns nastily on anyone who disagrees with him; I've certainly seen more evidence of that too.
Social Media Bullying
I have to admit to be being rather shocked when I saw the below. Imagine the scenario; you work in hospitality, you make a genuine mistake when posting something on social media, and then you're subjected to this vile abuse:
Of course the lady is wrong, but what possesses someone to behave in such an abusive way towards someone else in the industry? I once knew a chef who was absolutely convinced the AA Guide and Michelin Guide were secretly produced by the same people. My mind never generated a single thought regarding trying to humiliate said person on social media.
I wonder if it had been a male chef who'd made that mistake, if Neil's response would have been the same. His actions really did echo some behaviour Gary Usher recently referenced in a tweet:
Vile behaviour towards women in the industry can take many different forms, but none of those forms should be acceptable in the humble opinion of this little old chef.
Spat with LeadingRestaurants.co.uk
LeadingRestaurants.co.uk is a site I'm reasonably familiar with, having used it a number of times in the past. I know a number of chefs who check the site also; appearing on it means you hold an award from a major food guide which is never a bad thing.
I recall one occasion in the past where our AA rosettes seemed to vanish and when I contacted the site to see if they could shed any light, they helpfully explained that the AA do frequently make "admin errors" and indeed, the rosettes appeared back on the official AA website a short time later.
One thing I also know is that their site is the only online destination that posts regular updates from the AA guide and indeed the only place where you can get a current count of all rosette holders at different levels. Even the recently launched Explore UK site by the AA doesn't have that information.
From what I could gather on Twitter, Neil the keyboard warrior used data from the website to produce his factually inaccurate post here and LeadingRestaurants.co.uk either pointed this out or asked him to remove it. But to confirm my suspicions, I thought I'd just be bold and email the site and see if they could shed any light. The response I received was as follows:
As part of the spat on Twitter, they did also post this handy explanation:
What a bloodbath! I don't believe I've ever seen a more comprehensive rebuttal. However further to the above, there's actually something I believe LeadingRestaurants.co.uk missed. Previously on Neil's blog, whilst referencing the AA Guide, he actually posted the following:
Interesting, don't you think? So he uses, in his words, a "third party website" to check for updates from the AA Guide. You don't have to be a professional detective to conclude the only site that could possibly be is LeadingRestaurants.co.uk.
So why would Neil not just admit to using the data? He'd not even been asked to take the post down. Why retaliate with wild accusations and a stream of utter drivel? It really does say a lot about his character.
I've also put together a couple of handy tips for Neil I thought he might find useful as he seems to lack a basic understanding of certain words:
TTFN 2: Taking existing information and converting it into new, original information is not plagiarism. Based on that definition, every book ever written has plagiarised the dictionary.
Should you work with Neil Patterson-Azzopardi / Chef Associates?
I've never worked with Neil so I can't comment on his skills as a chef recruiter. It's entirely possible he's the best chef recruiter in the world, although it seems very evident his web design and social media skills are utterly dire.
However, if you are considering using his recruitment services, I would urge you to hesitate and ask yourself if you really have the stomach to be associated with:
- Someone who literally goes out of his way to abuse others in the industry on social media
- Someone who is a proven liar
If you do still choose to make contact, you could find yourself subject to the following abuse:
Or:
Or:
Even if you choose willingly to work with him, you run the risk of being abused on social media, what an enticing offer that is not.
There are many reputable chef recruiters and chef recruitment agencies who:
- Aren't proven liars
- Don't abuse other members of the hospitality industry on social media
- Don't abuse their own clients on social media, just because things haven't quite gone to plan
Why not give your business to one of those people instead?
Why do I care?
I'm just a humble former chef, but I still hold the industry in the upmost regard and social media keyword warriors like this really do make my blood boil. I believe Neil likes to refer to anyone who doesn't agree with him as a "snowflake" but I'm far from that; I just have little tolerance for delusional abusive liars.
Imagine as a young person looking to get into the industry that you saw the behaviour above online, would it not make you think twice? That just can't be right and people who engage in such behaviour need to be eradicated from the industry.
Why do I care?
I'm just a humble former chef, but I still hold the industry in the upmost regard and social media keyword warriors like this really do make my blood boil. I believe Neil likes to refer to anyone who doesn't agree with him as a "snowflake" but I'm far from that; I just have little tolerance for delusional abusive liars.
Imagine as a young person looking to get into the industry that you saw the behaviour above online, would it not make you think twice? That just can't be right and people who engage in such behaviour need to be eradicated from the industry.