TV chef to leave Jersey as well as Ormer

Tuesday 21 November 2017

TV chef Shaun Rankin has confirmed he is leaving Jersey after more than 20 years following the decision by St. Helier’s Ormer restaurant to end its relationship with him.

Ormer’s owners confirmed yesterday morning that the Michelin-starred chef had been removed from the Board of Directors, and that he would no longer be involved with the Don Street-based restaurant or any of its subsidiaries.

“It is time to move forward with a refocused vision for Ormer and Shaun Rankin does not form part of our plans for the future,” they said in a statement, but added no further details. 

Express has spoken briefly to Mr Rankin - he initially denied that he had been removed from Ormer, but later in a further statement, he commented: “The newly-formed shareholder group of Ormer Jersey has decided to refocus in a way which is incompatible with my food philosophy and would require me taking a different direction.” 

However, removing a top chef like Mr Rankin just before the busiest time of the year for a restaurant is an unusual move, and the national media have since begun to speculate over the reasoning behind it. The Times quote an anonymous "source" saying Mr Rankin had been in negotiations with Ormer’s senior team “for weeks”, alleging: “There is something else behind the scenes that people are not happy about.” 

The news brings to a close a relationship between Mr Rankin and the island spanning nearly a quarter of a century. He began his island-based career in 1994 when he started work at five-star hotel Longueville Manor where he would stay for eight years.  

He later presided over the opening of Michelin star-winning Bohemia in St Helier, before opening his own personal foodie venture in 2013, when he opened Ormer in Don Street. Ormer since gave rise to the adjoining Don Street Deli, and an Ormer branch at Flemings Mayfair Hotel in London in 2016. 

Mr Rankin said that he was “extremely sad” to be leaving the island. “My focus has always been on sourcing only the best quality ingredients and offering the highest standards of food and service –  I received my first Michelin star at Bohemia in 2005 and have maintained star status at Ormer Jersey for five consecutive years, the first being awarded just four months after opening in 2013.”