WHEN top London chef Paul Gayler introduced a last minute change to the menu his kitchen staff thought he'd gone mad.

The head chef at the swanky Inigo Jones restaurant turned convention on its head and declared that, as of the following day, they would be offering a brand new seven course selection.

That, you might think, is drastic enough, but what confused his staff even more was that those dishes would contain nothing but vegetables.

"They thought I'd flipped over night," remembers the Hadleigh chef.

That was back in 1984. A time when Paul, of Rectory Road, says the word vegetarian was synonymous with "lentils and sandals" and the food choice was equally limited.

Paul wasn't and isn't a vegetarian himself, but as a fan of good food he decided it was time to re-dress the balance.

"I remember reading an article by Colin Spencer in the Good Food Guide," says Paul. "He'd been to a well known hotel for dinner with friends. He was a vegetarian and all the meat eaters were offered foods like venison, foie gras and lobster, but as a vegetarian it was a choice of nut cutlet or melon."

That article was enough to prompt Paul's sudden change of culinary direction.

"I came back to my staff and said from tomorrow we are going to be the finest French restaurant serving great vegetarian food."

It was such a bold move that the press jumped on it and Paul was soon the talk of the town.

"I was very much seen as a revolutionary," he reveals.

"At that time, when a waiter came to the kitchen and said table four wants a vegetarian meal there would be a barrage of abuse," he explains of his profession's attitude to non-meat eaters.

"People thought it was a pain in the arse and a lot of chefs were just giving them the vegetables from the beef dish. I wanted to try and change that."

"The overriding challenge was to overcome the image of bland, uninspiring dishes such as stews, bakes and raw salads, which generally took so long to make and gave so little pleasure in return," he explains. "I wanted to produce vibrant, exciting meals full of variety, colour, flavour and texture."

Paul, who trained at Thurrock College, later took his vision to the exclusive Lanesborough Hotel in Knightsbridge where he was made executive chef.

It's not just those that can afford the top flight restaurant prices that have been able to benefit from Paul's creations. He has shared his culinary skills with a generation of vegetarians though his hugely popular cookery books. His latest Pure Vegetarian, which includes dishes such as seaweed wraps and pumpkin curry, was released last year.

"Vegetarian food has changed so much over the years," says Paul. "it's not got the stigma it had and most people now eat a lot more vegetables as part of their diet.

"With the huge variety of vegetarian ingredients now available, learning to cook without meat and fish doesn't mean reinventing the wheel, it just takes a little care and thought to achieve great tastes and textures."

He says attitudes are changing, but the restaurant business is still dragging its heels somewhat. Turning his attentions closer to home he says there is room for improvement.

"I don't think there's a great deal out there," he says. "The Boatyard in Leigh is probably doing more than anyone else and Paris in Westcliff also does a fair bit, but we probably could see more.

"It is worth remembering that roughly 45 per cent of the population have reduced their meat intake by choice. In my experience, putting an interesting vegetarian option on the menu appeals to a large number of non-vegetarians too."

Paul's next book The World in Bitesize will be released in October.