SOME chefs are so passionate about food, sometimes their personalities eclipse the dishes they serve.

Many may remember the cheeky grin of Jean Jacques Jordane – the face of the Laughing Onion.

The Kemp Town bistro opened in 1976 as the creation of manager, cook and cabaret performer extraordinaire Mr Jordane.

According to a review by Jakki Phillips in The Argus in 2002, the restaurant was known for twinkling fairly lights and walls plastered with press cuttings detailing Jean Jacques’ exploits in the 1960s.

As guests arrived, Jean Jacques would be hard at work in the kitchen, preparing the menu, which was basic French cuisine, such as chicken Provençal, cassoulet and snails, and would offer live piano music and the typically French sounds of Edith Piaf on the radio.

After waiting her whole meal to meet the notorious chef, our reviewer wrote: “Then Jean Jacques is here, bursting up the stairs like a bat out of hell. Little finger crooked over the microphone as if cradling a quality glass of champagne, he isn’t much changed from the pictures of yore.

“A little thinner on top, perhaps, a little wider of girth but that shirt is still ripped to the waist and the chest hair is as evident as ever, except now it’s grey.

“He sings, he bawls, he exalts, not always in tune but passionately nonetheless. ‘Encore! Encore!’ we shout as Jean Jacques pauses for a vaudevillian moment. He is an old pro, after all.

“There’s a none too deathly hush as some inebriated diners haven’t quite noticed the break. No matter, Jean Jacques has something to say: ‘You know what it’s all about? It’s all about love’. ‘Hurrah!’, we cry. Because in the alcohol-fuelled world of the Laughing Onion, it’s easy to believe it really is.”

Other chefs may be remembered for different traits.

Chef Vernon Osmond was captured in an iconic Argus shot having trouble with his pancake in 1988.

In 2004, TV chef Brian Turner made a surprise visit to Brighton beach to find the best beef dish to celebrate St George’s Day.

In 2005, chef Mark Kinzel gained extra attention, not only for his food.

He dived into the record books by holding 19 ping pong balls underwater with one hand. Mark Kinzel, who was 22 at the time and from Queen’s Park Road, Brighton, set the new world best at a charity day held by the Royal Oak pub in Kemp Town, Brighton, on May 28.

Mark, who works at the Tin Drum pub in St James’s Street, Brighton, said: “I do have quite large hands but I was forced into it by my mates.”

It took five minutes to get the balls in position and hold them down.

He is still an up and coming star and is now the right-hand man at Sam’s of Brighton and also helped to open the Preston Park Tavern.

Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty turned heads in August when they turned up on Hove Lawns to film Channel Four series Friday Night Feast, now being aired. They were putting together an item about food waste and mixing with Brighton and Hove chefs to cook up food past its best-before date and destined for landfill.

Jamie said: “We’re here in town cooking with some of Brighton’s best talents to tackle a massive issue that involves 50% of everything we throw away.”