Soul Food Sec...

[C r a s s !]

This might interest some of you on here...

You might have heard of Brighton's Momma Cherie's Soul Food Shack... for it gained its 30 minutes of fame (twice as much Andy Warhol recommended) when chef Gordon Ramsey came down and kicked ass in TV's Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares. He came, he saw and he conquered... but the writing was already on the wall; rumour has it (and endless Internet forums feedback) chaos once again reigns supreme at Momma's: "...waited over 2 hours for our soul food, which was oily and burnt" "...booked 3 weeks in advance and had to wait outside in the rain for an hour" "...Soul in a Bowl is overpriced at £15 and not worth the money" Kinda puts you off a bit, eh?

But wait! What's this??? Adjacent, there's another Mama Cherie's just opened.* Was this due to the brief presence of Top TV chef Ramsey? Perhaps, although there are no queues today (it was early afternoon!) But we couldn't help having a nose through the window. It was then my wife noticed the photos behind the glass. Naturally they were all of Cherita Jones, or Momma Cherie, standing with her bandana-wearing chef, Brian behind a grim-faced, white-tunicked Gordon Ramsey, as you would expect, for he may well be attributed in part to the lenghty queue gripes - as well as the new expansion project. But it was the next photo that provided us with real chuckle... Momma in a clench with a fair-haired guy in a black T-shirt with sunglasses perched on top of his head... Guessed who it is yet? Paul Roberts... Was this Soul Food Shack inspiration for Desert Soul we wondered? Soulsec, even?!! "Desert Soul, your meals are burning?"

*This second soul food shack exists on what used to be Wongs Chinese restaurant - it's claim to fame was the alley way out the back where Jimmy the Mod (Phil Daniels) gave Lesley Ash one in Quadrophenia. It was the holy grail to many Mods who flocked pilgrim-like to the site of conception, bringing with them their marker pens from around the world. The staff from Wongs used to regularly scrub out the scribblings, even resorting to a coat of masonry paint when the going got too tough. Trouble was, it then became anopther blank canvass for Southend Mods, or Roma Mod Club or Jimmy woz 'ere... How will how Momma Cherie cope with the writings on the wall - as well as the queues?