UFO Info Week-End

He dropped out of Vassar and went to the Culinary Institute of America at a time when the lemon wedge

He dropped out of Vassar and went to the Culinary Institute of America, at a time when “the lemon wedge and sprig of parsley were seen as the definitive garnish” He came off heroin in the late Eighties. Was there a turning-point? “I couldn’t stand the whine in my voice any more You know, always whining for money. And being afraid to answer the phone or open the door, in case it was someone I owed money to I was weak. I looked in the mirror and saw someone pathetic and needy.” He went on to the government methadone programme, “which got me off the street overnight, but three times a week I had to queue up with other hideous junkies.” Ultimately, he went cold turkey “It feels like the marrow in your legs is going to explode You lie there all night, your legs kicking and kicking. It sucks.” In the book, he says he always sought “to fill the empty spot in my soul”.

Has it been filled now? He’s not sure, “although I know what won’t make me happy. A new Jag won’t make me happy.” He isn’t especially materialistic, no. “If I got a good car, I’d have to look after it, and wouldn’t It would get dirty and dented, and then I’d feel guilty. I do have a weakness for cowboy boots, though.” What gives his life meaning now? “Not being such a bad person any more,” he says. “And having other cooks tell me they like my book.”Our time is up One last question, then. Anything you wouldn’t eat, Anthony? Well, he could have tried live monkey brains in Asia.

But? “I didn’t want to look at the little monkey’s face as they were popping his skull and getting his brains out.” Honestly, what a big girl’s blouse, after all. Perhaps, even, he could just about get away with wearing the sort of dress lady cellists wear ‘Kitchen Confidential’ is published by Bloomsbury at £7.99. The latest cutting-edge television format designed as entertainment for all the family was revealed yesterday as the silent movie. The latest cutting-edge television format designed as entertainment for all the family was revealed yesterday as the silent movie.With traditional variety under threat, Anthony Davis, a 26-year-old entertainer, is pinning hopes on silent films inspired by the legendary slapstick comedian Harold Lloyd as the future of family viewing. A 20-minute pilot was screened to representatives of all Britain’s leading television stations yesterday.Mr Davis, with his producer Richard Lucas, has plans for a further five episodes of a romantic comedy told without speech but with conventional silent-movie captions and music.

It is the first silent movie specially made for television.Mr Davis, a former child actor in Grange Hill, said: “I think television is now so heavily reality television, so violent, there’s no wholesomeness left. The whole family used to watch television together and that isn’t happening any more. Variety has just disappeared.”The series, called Kiss of Life, stars Mr Davis as Hal, a character closely modelled on Harold Lloyd, who made more than 500 silent movies. Hal bumps into the most beautiful woman in the world ­ and then spends the rest of the story trying to find her again, with only her shopping list for clues.Although traditional in many ways, the story has taken the vogue for “reality television” into account. As Hal is pursuing the woman through real streets, he is filmed with a long-lens camera which also captures the real-life reactions of passers-by. But what is very strange is that the venture ignores the talents by which Mr Davis has been making his living in recent years ­ voice-overs and impressions..