BIG APPLE IS MARCO’S NEW TASTE
Marco Pierre with ex-wife Mati
By Adam Helliker
Despite his success – he was the first Brit to win three Michelin stars – celebrity chef Marco Pierre White is turning his back on Britain and moving to New York.
Although the Byronic gourmand is enjoying a renaissance in his television career after taking over from former protégé Gordon Ramsay as the face of Hell’s Kitchen, and presents Great British Feast for ITV, his domestic affairs are in disarray as his Spanish-born wife Mati filed for divorce 18 months ago.
I bumped into the Leeds-born entrepreneur (whose £50million empire includes the joint venture with Frankie Dettori, Frankie’s Bar and Grill) on board the P&O Cruises liner Ventura, home to his first floating restaurant, the White Room.
The irascible Marco, 47, explains: “My ego is all I have left. I will probably be moving to New York.
I am excited about the restaurants – I want them to be friendly French in style and probably called Café Bordeaux or Simply Blanc. Hopefully there will also be about 30 Frankie’s opening globally too.”
But while Marco seems destined to become a star across the pond, with American TV series Chopping Block, the former enfant terrible of British cooking has lost ground on the London restaurant scene since the sale of his unprofitable establishments Mirabelle, Quo Vadis and Drones.
But just where does this transatlantic move leave his family?
The restaurateur, who is in the middle of an acrimonious divorce, is less forthcoming about his messy personal life.
At the moment, Marco is in sole charge of his two sons Luciano, 14, and 13-year-old Marco during their school holidays and tells me he plans to take them on an “educational” cruise during the summer.
Yet things are not so rosy regarding his seven-year-old daughter Mirabelle, who is the subject of a protracted custody battle with former bartender Mati, with whom she currently resides in Holland Park.
A friend reports: “Mati and Marco are still fighting for custody of Mirabelle, with a court hearing due later this year.
"It’s a matter of pride for Marco – despite the fact he is the boys’ guardian they spend an equal amount of time with both parents.”
And many of the couple’s friends fear that one consequence of Marco making New York his home would be increased financial uncertainty for Mati. Explains one pal: “Marco insists on Mati taking all her receipts to one of his restaurants if she needs cash.
"Marco has brought Mati to her knees. She’s had to resort to the generosity of her friends, otherwise she’s totally reliant on Marco’s sporadic handouts.”
But thrice-married MPW’s cavalier attitude to divorce is, he insists, part of the legacy of his mother’s death when he was six.
“It instilled in me an ability to move on. My plans for the next year are to fall in love. I don’t believe that I’ve ever truly been in love because I don’t believe that I’ve known myself well enough in the past to allow someone to love me. So I must take the blame [for the failed marriages], as I should never have entered into those relationships.”
Ladies of the Big Apple – you have been warned.
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