Sir Terence Conran has accused Britain's leading restaurants of being "pretentious" and writing menus in "obscure franglais" to hide sub-standard food.
He claims they are staffed by "snooty" and "off-hand" staff, who serve up meals which are little more than "over-presented canapes".
The food has "masses of arty swirls, fiddles and froths" but tastes of very little and "certainly doesn't satisfy anybody with a reasonable appetite".
His criticism has sparked controversy in the trade, although it is likely to be welcomed by diners who don't know their pommes boulangeres from their potatoes.
But The Sunday Telegraph says that Sir Terence may have to eat his own words.
It points out that several of his own restaurants have menus peppered with franglais.
The Sunday Telegraph 01/01/06 page 5
