Is Jamie Oliver Opening a Fifteen Restaurant in Los Angeles?

Today Eater LA dropped a monster of a rumor that world-saving chef Jamie Oliver is going to open a restaurant in Los Angeles. Also: "In other news, word is circulating that Oliver is attached to another TV show which could be shot in LA but that deal hasn't been greenlit yet." Which leads to easy speculation that Jamie Oliver is planning on opening a Fifteen restaurant in LA.

There are currently three locations of Fifteen: London, Amsterdam, and Cornwall (Melbourne closed after a fire in 2008). It's a social enterprise/apprentice program in which every year fifteen disadvantaged young people, between the ages of 18 and 24, train to work as chefs.

The opening of the original London restaurant was the subject of the UK reality series Jamie's Kitchen (2002) and Return to Jamie's Kitchen (2003). The opening of the Melbourne location was featured in a ten-part TV series called Jamie's Kitchen Australia back in 2006 on Network Ten.

It's also possible that Jamie Oliver is just opening a branch of his restaurant Jamie's Italian (with 21 locations in the UK and one each in Sydney and Dubai). But knowing Jamie Oliver's penchant to export proven models to the US — seasons one and two of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution in Huntington, West Virginia and Los Angeles were remakes of his 2005 UK series Jamie's School Dinners) — Los Angeles getting its very own Fifteen seems more than likely.

· Jamie Oliver Rumormongering [Eater LA]
· All Jamie Oliver Coverage on Eater [-E-]