Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2012 | Page 119

that – different shapes and colours and ways of using things.
“There were always lots of celebrities in there – we once had
David Walliams and David Schwimmer on the same table
when they were doing the ‘Little Britain’ for United States
television.”
Emily then moved to the Mandarin Oriental, 5-Star hotel
in Knightsbridge, after earning a work trial within days of
applying for a position. “We did lots of parties with many top
celebrities coming in, including the 50 top chefs in the world.
The Queen also had her party there for the Middleton family
before last year’s Royal Wedding. Others who used to pop in
included Sir Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono and virtually all the
leading footballers in the London area,” she said.
Emily won an award for her afternoon tea during her 18
months at the Mandarin. But she smiled: “I entered another
competition and didn’t get the top award because I had to
make a table out of caramel, and stick it together with hot
caramel. But at the last minute one of my table legs broke,
and the judges told me afterwards, but for that broken leg I
would have won the top award.”
Even so, Emily had come a long way in a relatively short
time, and her education continued with a transfer to ‘Dinner
by Heston Blumenthal’ a one Michelin star restaurant that
was later described by The Times newspaper as 'the best new
restaurant in the whole wide world'.
She revealed: “Perhaps people don’t realise that when
you work for Heston Blumenthal what it entails. You have
to give up your whole life and soul for that position. I
worked horrendous, mammoth hours, and it was stress to
the maximum. I worked from about 8.0am until 1.0am the
following morning sometimes. Then I realised I had been
away five years and worked very hard so maybe it was time
to come back to the Island. You go to London to become a
somebody, but in fact you are a nobody when you are there.”
Having also supplied cakes to Harrods, Harvey Nicks,
S