Jamie Oliver is all over the BBC today after announcing that he is to close six of his Italian restaurants due to “post-Brexit pressures”. This is not the first time Jamie has blamed the economy for having to shut down his restaurants. In 2014 he closed three of his three of his four Union Jacks eateries after claiming they were “no longer sustainable in the current challenging climate”. Nothing to do with the dire reviews panning the over-priced food on sale. Then Jamie’s Italian in Istanbul came a cropper, filing for bankruptcy just 14 months after it opened. Anyone who has had the misfortune of forcing down a distinctly un-Italian meal at a soulless Jamie’s Italian will agree with the many, many reviews panning the chain. As Tanya Gold wrote of his “boastful, narcissistic” restaurant in Soho:

“The pasta is well-seasoned but overcooked; the Crispy Italian-Spiced Duck Leg has never dreamt of Italy, let alone quacked there… All this is a hoax inflicted on the clients… by Oliver’s fame… an ‘Italian-Style’ Harvester selling overpriced food that does not know where it is from.”

Is it that the economy keeps conspiring to force Jamie to close his restaurants? Or is it that overly-salted, overly-priced food isn’t popular with punters…