Court throws out A-Z payment case

A-Z Restaurants, the London restaurant group, and chef Gordon Ramsay were embroiled in another high-profile row last week over bonus payments to two chefs.

In a further ramification of the falling out between A-Z Restaurants and Ramsay, A-Z claimed that chefs Mark Sargeant and Adebola Adeshina had failed to pay back loans of £500 and £700 which they had received in May 1998 while working under Ramsay at Aubergine restaurant in London.

But A-Z's claim was thrown out of court. The West London County Court, which heard evidence from Ramsay, ruled that the payments were bonuses and not loans.

"It was a complete waste of our time," said Ramsay after the case. No one from A-Z was available for comment.

In June, Ramsay faces another court case with A-Z, along with Marcus Wareing, former head chef of the group's L'Oranger restaurant. The pair are contesting a £1m writ for damages after they left the group in 1998, taking most of the staff with them.