Former Telegraph editor Tony Gallagher is working at Moro, in Islington
Former Telegraph editor Tony Gallagher is working at Moro, in Islington Reuters

Former Telegraph editor Tony Gallagher has apparently swapped newsprint for menus by taking an entry-level job at a fashionable restaurant in Islington.

Only weeks after being brutally ejected from the editor's chair at the paper, Gallagher, 49, has begun work at Moro - slightly lower down the career ladder than he has been accustomed to.

When the Evening Standard contacted Moro in the Islington district of Clerkenwell, a staff member confirmed that Gallagher was carting a tray of vegetables to the kitchen.

It sounds like an early April Fool joke, but Gallagher appeared genuine in his Twitter announcement of the surprise career move.

It's not known how long Gallagher intends to work at Moro, but its location in trendy Islington means he will probably have to listen to plenty of metrosexual gossip from the chattering classes - in between fetching their soup. Ironically, the Telegraph ediorial under his command frequently flambéed the self-regarding denizens of London N1 – and the disdain has been largely mutual.

Moro is not far from the Granita restaurant where Tony Blair and Gordon Brown dreamed up New Labour over dinner in 1994. The Telegraph was a major thorn in the side of New Labour – no less than when Gallagher broke the expenses scandal in 2009 in a scoop that saw him promoted to editor.

Working in a restaurant can be hard work with long hours, which Gallagher should be used to, given his background. There is also the occupational hazard of dressing-downs by head chefs when things don't go perfectly. So it will be interesting to see if Gallagher is as good as taking tongue-lashings as he was reportedly adept at dishing them out.

Maybe a few Labour MPs will go to dine and gloat. But they'd better take care that their receipts do not show any meals charged to improper accounts, or Gallagher could mount a comeback with expenses scandal part deux.