Michelin Chef Phil Thompson Serves Breakfast To Ford Owners
Two star Michelin chef Phil Thompson was on hand with his mum, a former dinner lady, at an A1 roadside catering truck to serve up 100 free breakfasts for Ford owners taking part in the Ford Centenary Tour.
The bread rolls were made by Phil and filled with dry-cured smoked bacon. Phil describes the perfect bacon butty: "Freshly baked bread and nicely cooked crispy bacon - not too hard, not too soft," he said. "This is not what I usually do but it's great to have mum here helping me out."
Jamie Parnell, one of the 100 customers who sampled the food said: "It was a brilliant start to the day. It's unusual to get a free breakfast, especially one as good as this."
The Ford Centenary Tour is currently travelling the UK visiting Ford dealers, plants and events, finally finishing at the Goodwood Revival between 16th and 18th September 2011.
65 year old Kathy, who helped her son prepare the breakfasts, was a dinner lady for Ford at Dagenham providing meals for thousands of car workers for 43 years.
"I'd rather do 78 covers at the restaurant than be shouted at by mum," Phil said. "She's my toughest critic. She doesn't like anything fancy - her favourite is steak and chips - so I have to make everything as plain as possible. No garnish, no garlic - and even then I'll still probably get it wrong!"
Today, Kathy's daughtersKaren and Tracey are still working within the catering division for Ford, the third generation of Thompsons serving food for Ford workers.
"There are not many canteens in Ford I've not worked in," said Kathy. "Most of the workers started calling me 'mum' and I was cooking for literally thousands of them every day."
