Fine dining chef quits restaurant

A CHEF has blamed the closure of his restaurant on rising costs and a lack of staff.

Stephen Luscombe, who ran Luscombes at the Golden Ball in Lower Assendon for 15 years, formally announced his decision on Saturday.

It is the second fine dining restaurant in Henley to shut in a week following the closure of Crockers in Market Place, as reported in last week’s Henley Standard.

Owner Luke Garnsworthy blamed financial difficulties and a lack of trade but also accused diners of being disrespectful and being unwilling to pay for quality, which has prompted a backlash from locals.

The Golden Ball, which is owned by Brakspear, has been taken over by Ben Watson and Priya Arora-Watson, from London, and will re-open on November 23.

Mr Luscombe said he had tried to keep the closure a secret until the deal had been agreed.

He said: “It was a very hard decision to close a successful business after 15 years. It has always been a success. I had a great following. It was my first business, so it was the heart of my career.”

Mr Luscombe, who is married with three children, said he had carefully considered his decision to close the restaurant.

He said: “I had staff issues, rising costs and other problems.

“I feel the number one problem was staffing. I don’t think it is to do with Brexit. It is happening all over Europe. I am not sure why. We didn’t want to carry on a business with such high standards if we couldn’t maintain them because of our staff levels.

“Another reason was that I wanted to freshen up my opportunities after working there for 15 years.

“After being in a kitchen since the age of 12 and working in some of the toughest kitchens from Paris to the USA, I wanted to find balance in my life.”

He and his family have moved permanently to Mallorca, where they have had a home for five years.

“It is a better life,” said Mr Luscombe. “Spain is in a never-ending summer; it is currently 28C here. I live a five-minute bike ride from the beach. In the UK, the children are indoors watching Nickelodeon; out here, they are learning languages, playing outdoors and meeting people from around the world.”

Mr Luscombe said he had “sorted out” his staff before closing.

“Everyone was pretty much on a temp basis anyway,” he said. “We had a pretty limited service at the end.

“The last head chef who left was the last of what I called my A-team, which was seven chefs who worked at the same time, particularly during the high point of our business in 2018.”

Mr Luscombe said he would miss the people of Henley.

“I was so lucky from the day the doors opened,” he said. “I made a lot of friends around Henley, having been in the area for 20 years.

“People start to come to you for business — you do their children’s christenings, weddings and then, sadly, wakes.”

He will continue catering with his company Home and Away Events, which offers private catering for parties of all sizes.

The business is co-run by Sharon Harper, who was the front of house manager at Luscombes.

Ms Harper, from Woodcote, also retrained during the covid pandemic to drive 40-tonne lorries for the BMW factory in Oxford.

Mr Luscombe said that if the move to Spain did not work out, he would return to the UK as he had a “huge following” and a “great reputation” here.

The chef, who is originally from Devon, trained under Marco Pierre White and Herbert Berger.

He said: “When I moved to London, I stumbled into Marco Pierre White’s restaurant and asked if he had work. He said I had 24 hours to prove myself.

“Six months later, I was plating up the pass with him, so he was clearly impressed. I worked like a dog and kept my head down.

“Any budding chef should cut their mustard in a high-end establishment for three years and get to grips with it. For me, the experience catapulted my talent into something else and fine-tuned me.”

Mr Luscombe came to Henley in 2000 and worked as executive chef for Leander Club in the early Noughties.

Luscombes had many celebrity customers, including Brian Johnson of AC/DC, Gary Lineker and Brad Pitt.

Mr Luscombe said Pitt stayed in the restaurant for eight hours and they chatted about their children.

He said: “They like to come here because they don’t get disturbed and can have a table around the corner. In London, they have to deal with the paparazzi.”

In 2017, Mr Luscombe was fined almost £10,000 by Oxford Magistrates’ Court for undercooking calf liver, which led to a client contracting campylobacter food poisoning.

Tom Davies, chief executive of Brakspear, said: “Steve really put the Golden Ball on the map as an amazing place to eat and Sharon and the team offered amazing hospitality. It has s been a pleasure working with Steve and Sharon and we wish them well for their next chapter.

“We’re excited to be working with Ben and Priya and know the Golden Ball is in good hands with their hard work and talent.”

Meanwhile, Henley Standard readers have hit back at Mr Garnsworthy’s claim that he had never been so disrespected by customers as he was in Henley.

He said customers would not pay for the quality they expected and he had received complaints about his wine list.

He also that his staff had received racist “bile” from diners and that Henley was “60 years out of date”.

But readers of
www.henleystandard.co.uk questioned his attitude and apparent lack of research of the market.

Sam Brown said: “Blaming your customers for your lack of business sense I feel is more the reason you are going under than anything.”

Sam Sims said: “This guy sounds very entitled. Good riddance to Crockers.”

Emma Hawes Taylor said: “He didn’t have the clout of Tom Kerridge, the menu was limited and expensive and clearly his attitude needs work.”

Other readers criticised the poor treatment they said they had received at the restaurant, including bad service and having trouble booking tables.

Jo McDonagh-Hughes said: “He would have had a good reputation if he had treated his staff better and then, in turn, the public.

“I went in there once and was treated awfully. Good riddance to bad management.”

Jamie Taylor said: “To paraphrase, entitled trust fund kid opens restaurant, makes a complete dog’s lipstick of it and blames absolutely everybody but himself.”

Lisa Dipper said: “Let’s be a total d*** about Henley people all because your business plan failed. Why would you do that? Just why?

“Oh, and jumping on the mental health aspect all to save your ego just sums you up. Get a grip and stop defaming the people of our town. So annoying.”

Matt Stone said Mr Garnsworthy appeared “to blame absolutely everything except himself”, adding: “He says his wine list is in line with Tom Kerridge. Yes, but you aren’t Tom Kerridge.”

Laura Holmes said: “This is a shame but not the whole story. I booked a table a few weeks ago through their website, then got a phone call saying I couldn’t have it. Then, on the day, they were posting on their Instagram stories that tables were available.”

Henley town councillor Glen Lambert said: “I asked a friend who worked there how best to try it out and was advised to book the chef’s table.

“Despite being a few weeks before the desired date, they said there was no availability on the midweek date I wanted, nor the weekends either side of it, so we just went to Côte. Much cheaper. No hassle.”

Janet Harrison Tinnion said: “Orwells in Shiplake do so well without the footfall that Henley town centre offered Crockers.”

Other readers wrote letters to the Henley Standard.

Michael Roberts, from Rotherfield Greys, said: “Deeply unattractive was dissing the townsfolk for failing to appreciate such an astronomic gem and implying that they possess unsophisticated palates.”

F T Pryce, from Henley, said Mr Garnsworthy’s claims were “an insult to ordinary Henley people.”

Ann Shankland, of Paradise Road, Henley, said: “As a long-term resident of Henley, and also a regular ‘Henley diner’, I object most strongly to being described by Mr Garnsworthy as ‘disrespectful’ and/or ‘unwilling to pay for quality’.

“It’s ridiculous to blame the failure of his restaurant on the customers. Maybe Crockers did not succeed because it was overpriced. Maybe the food just wasn’t very good?”

Other people recommended other restaurants in the area.

Keith Elliot, from Nettlebed, said: “Mr Garnsworthy may have benefited from observing his neighbour a few doors away where The Square continues to thrive.

“He is clearly feeling sorry for himself. His tone appears to be one of ‘it’s not me that’s at fault, it’s everyone else’.”