MasterChef's Anna Haugh shares major restaurant red flag you need to look out for
BBC MasterChef presenter Anna Haugh has advised Brits on what to look out for when dining in both swanky and wallet-friendly restaurants with her two-word ‘red flag’ warning.
The 45-year-old, who previously served as the head of Gordon Ramsay’s now-defunct London House restaurant, is a Michelin-star-winning chef who has appeared on everything from Hell’s Kitchen to Ready Steady Cook and Morning Live.
The Dublin-born gastronomist was announced alongside Grace Dent as Gregg Wallace and John Torode’s official MasterChef replacements last year, with the pair currently fronting the 22nd iteration, which is set to conclude with MasterChef: The Final 2026 on Friday (5 June).
Ahead of the cooking show’s finale, Haugh spoke about restaurant concerns, while Dent, 52, revealed the ‘old school’ hospitality legend that she loves.
Anna Haugh restaurant red flag
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In conversation with FOODbible, the Irish star claimed that her one restaurant ‘red flag’ was when staff, including those working on the bar, manning tables, expediting the pass, or running the business from the door, appeared disgruntled.
“Red flag? Unhappy staff," she told us.
Her reasoning? She claimed that if hospitality staff are visibly dissatisfied, then it probably means there's often a much bigger issue than just poor service.
"The staff look unhappy, it’s rotten from the top," Haugh explained.
Last year, a survey created by Hospitality Jobs UK and KAM Insights in partnership with the Access Group suggested that overall hospitality employee satisfaction had taken a dip alongside wages, with almost half of staffers earning under £30,000 per year.
Moreover, respondents said they had been asked to work longer hours than the previous year, with only 41 percent reporting they had been compensated for those additional hours, as per The Caterer.
Anthony Tattersall, general manager of hospitality at Access, said the survey showed employees are ‘facing increased challenges, with many key results moving in a negative direction compared to previous years’.
“While this is disappointing, it’s not entirely unexpected. The sector is under immense pressure, especially with impending changes to National Insurance Contributions and the Minimum Wage.”
Haugh said staff morale really just ‘comes down’ to employers ‘seeing’ them and understanding that they do exist outside the perimeters of the job.
“So many businesses are really struggling and when you’re struggling and times are hard, it can be difficult to stop, take stock, and then realise that these people that are all in your business are real humans,” she continued.
“And I think that’s just the whole meaning of life, the value of life is recognising the humans that are in the room with you. It’s so important.”
Haugh and Dent’s restaurant green flags
Amid the bad comes the good; Haugh loves when workers are truly passionate about their jobs.
“Green flag is staff who get excited when they tell you about something that’s on the menu, or there’s something where they’re like, ‘Ooh, this has just come on!’,” she claimed.
“That’s a really good green flag, that means that they’re kind of part of the whole dream.”
Dent, who competed on the 2023 edition of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, agreed, adding: “You’re so right there. The ultimate green flag in a restaurant is people who own the restaurant that just cannot help but own a restaurant, because they love it so much. […] I love that.”
The food critic claimed that she was a ‘big fan’ of ‘old school hospitality’, name-dropping Jeremy King, one of London’s most revered restaurateurs, whom the BBC described as ‘a legend of London dining’, as having a ‘magic kind of golden touch’.
Jeremy King offers budding businesspeople advice
The founder of institutions like The Ivy and Le Caprice recently took to the stage at SXSW London to offer business advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.
He said: “Whatever business you’re in, decide what you’re going to do and be able to summarise it in one sentence.
“Then everything goes back to that. It’s surprising how few people do it, and that’s one of the reasons businesses become increasingly muddled.”
Celebrity MasterChef new judge announced
Dent returns to screens this summer to present Celebrity MasterChef UK with recently announced co-star Giorgio Locatelli.
The Italian said that hosting the programme alongside the writer was a ‘real honour’.
“I can’t wait for you to see what our celebrity contestants bring to the kitchen, as we are really putting their culinary skills to the test in this series.”
Keep your eyes peeled for an official release date and the slew of celebrities competing for the coveted trophy plate.
MasterChef: The Final airs tonight (Friday 5 June) on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 8pm.
Topics: Celebrity, Restaurants and bars, TV and Film
Ella Scott