Michael Caines has always been reluctant to talk about race - but now he feels he has to speak up
The chef Michael Caines doesn’t like talking about race. Though he’s known for a while that he’s one of two black chefs in the UK with a Michelin star, he’s always wanted the focus to be on his food and not the colour of his skin. But the rise of the far right across the world, and the notable lack of diversity in the catering and hospitality business, has led him to feel he has to speak up.
“We’re at this point where all of a sudden we’re becoming very tribal again, we’re becoming very anti-immigration and very scared of people’s value in terms of where they’re culturally from,” he says. “I don’t talk about my colour. I see myself there on merit. But, now I’m happy to talk about it. There’s a point to make about what that means.”
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