EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Duck presses at dawn! Ritz chefs are accused of 'copycat' luxury dishes

A furious row is brewing in the genteel world of silver service dining. So he was shocked to discover that the new head chef at The Ritz, Spencer Metzger, who is currently starring on the BBC's Great British Menu, unveiled his own duck press when he joined the team, alongside executive chef John Williams. I hear that chefs at The Ritz, in particular Spenzer Metzger have been accused of 'copying' veteran restaurateur Otto Tepasse's signature dishes Otto Tepasse was shocked to discover that the new head chef at The Ritz, Spencer Metzger, who is currently starring on the BBC's Great British Menu, unveiled his own duck press when he joined the team, alongside executive chef John Williams Another dish that Tepasse claims has been swiped is the Anjou pigeon with roast figs and game sauce. Otto's dish costs £190 for three courses for two people, whereas at the Ritz one course with pressed duck sauce costs £104 a head. To make his point, the 70-year-old recalls watching Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich play Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B minor at the BBC Proms the day Russian tanks rolled into the Czech capital, Prague, in 1968: 'The extraordinary intensity of Rostropovich's performance, together with the tears pouring down his cheeks as the concerto neared its end, spoke more than any number of words.'