176 replies to this topic

[fisherman]

Just booked a table at Sats for dinner in June, anyone been lately?

[Matthew Grant]

That;s incredible! According to Observer Food Monthly he is booked up for 9 months solid!

Introducing our new star - Sat Bains, the chef who doesn't do lunch

[fisherman]

We read that at the weekend, didn't believe it for a second, daft thing to publicise really, it will put people off booking.

[Bapi]

Just booked a table at Sats for dinner in June, anyone been lately?

Hold on a second Didn't you do exactly the same thing last year and book for June ---just like me today?

Edited by Bapi, 01 April 2008 - 08:34 AM.

[Brownbear]

Just booked a table at Sats for dinner in June, anyone been lately?

Hold on a second Didn't you do exattly the same thing last year and book for June ---just like me today?

That was a mistake Mathew, what it should of read was we have been full for the last 9 months, We only take bookings 2 months ahead.

Bapi and Fisherman there is definately deja-vu in the air.... see you both soon.

[olicollett]

Thought 9 months was quite a while!!

I'll be going back soon enough, i've had some very, very good meals this year but i don't think any of them were better than my meal at Sat Bains last september!

[fisherman]

Aye :)

It's Jo's birthday mid June........

We now have a ritual, Sat's for hers, Anthonys for mine

When are you going?

Just booked a table at Sats for dinner in June, anyone been lately?

Hold on a second Didn't you do exactly the same thing last year and book for June ---just like me today?

[fisherman]

Bapi and Fisherman there is definately deja-vu in the air.... see you both soon.

Looking forward to it Sat. We've struggled to top last years meal at your place, in fact we've failed, so the bar is set pretty high for this year :)

[Duncan]

Aye :)

It's Jo's birthday mid June........

We now have a ritual, Sat's for hers, Anthonys for mine

Sorry we shan't be joining you again this year. We've got a table booked for Judy's birthday at a little place just north of Barcelona.
Although come to think of it, there's my birthday to plan for as well.

[RDB]

I must reiterate my sorrow about leaving my booking too late on a recent weekend in Nottingham and missing a highly prized table at one of my fav restaurants. Bapi I await your 2nd review

Congratulations by the way Sat on your recent OFM award, truly deserved. I must say that hair piece you wore in the footage (Roux Scholarship) on the Great British Menu tonight really suited you.

[Gary Marshall]

Just booked a table at Sats for dinner in June, anyone been lately?

Hold on a second Didn't you do exactly the same thing last year and book for June ---just like me today?

hold on a second didn't you say you were organising a meal at sat bains for scott and i?

no, it's fine you look after yourself.

Edited by Gary Marshall, 02 April 2008 - 12:17 AM.

[JudyB]

Sorry we shan't be joining you again this year. We've got a table booked for Judy's birthday at a little place just north of Barcelona. 
Although come to think of it, there's my birthday to plan for as well.

OK, not so subtle hint taken, I have now booked for Duncan's birthday.
(Although based on last time we may need a very light diet between then and going to Spain for my birthday...)

[Duncan]

Sorry we shan't be joining you again this year. We've got a table booked for Judy's birthday at a little place just north of Barcelona. 
Although come to think of it, there's my birthday to plan for as well.

OK, not so subtle hint taken, I have now booked for Duncan's birthday.
(Although based on last time we may need a very light diet between then and going to Spain for my birthday...)

Ok, we're now in light diet mode until the end of the week. Judy booked the package with the surprise menu (full writeup and photos) and we had an excellent time all round. Highlights included a Wagyu beef carpaccio, Rabbit "not from the garden", Veal with morels and broad beans, Chocolate and pistachio dessert, and a Peach and raspberry dessert.

Full menu:

Aperitif: Champagne, Oyster with Tabasco & Worcestershire sauce, Tempura Oyster with lemon mayonnaise

Squid-orzo-alphonso-coriander;
sweetcorn soup, foie gras, popcorn, pickled girolles;
melon, tomato, balsamic, olive oil;
salt cod croquette
Sauvignon Blanc (N.Z., North Island)

Breads: treacle and paprika, lincolnshire butter.

Monkfish, Wagyu beef "carpaccio", "soy truffle" shoots, mussel juice
Chardonnay (Adelaide Hills)

Crab "Brown Bread and Butter", sea herbs, grapefruit

Rabbit "Not From The Garden", salsify, ash "Noma"
Pinot Gris (Oregon)

Lemon Sole, Abbey Park asparagus "Raw - Cooked", Bellota Ham

Goosnargh Duck, Foie Gras Royale, pumpkin salad, cocoa, cumin fudge, birch sap
Mademoiselle (3rd growth Medoc)

Wild sorrel granita

Rose veal from Shropshire with morels, broad beans, jersey royal, jus gras

Fig, pine nut ice cream, aged parmesan

Cheeses from Premier (Eric) (Ticklemore, Tunworth, Langres AOC, Lincolnshire poacher, Maroilles 'La Cave', Cropwell Bishop stilton)

Pineapple, fennel, coconut and lime foam

Chocolate "Fruit and Nut", yoghurt
Maury & Chenin blanc (S.W. Aus)

Caramelised Peach, raspberry, basil and sage

"TASTE - TEXTURE - TEMPERATURE"

Tea and chocolates

[CalumC]

Just had a look at the pictures, very jealous. Definitely up the top of my places to go. Looks awesome, cheers for taking the photos.

[olicollett]

Awesome.. i'm off in less than 2 weeks :):):)

[Bapi]

You beat me to it Duncan. We were there on Friday for my birthday too. Will write it up shortly, but as I still have to write up Hibiscus it may be a while.

A great meal, though and different to yours in places. Mmm, cornish sole with veal marrow and asparagus. Bloody sublime.

[RDB]

You beat me to it Duncan. We were there on Friday for my birthday too. Will write it up shortly, but as I still have to write up Hibiscus it may be a while.

A great meal, though and different to yours in places. Mmm, cornish sole with veal marrow and asparagus. Bloody sublime.

He did beat you to it this time around .Last year I had a fiver riding on Duncan getting it done before you Bapi, and I lost. Great review all the same Duncan.

[JudyB]

He did beat you to it this time around .Last year I had a fiver riding on Duncan getting it done before you Bapi, and I lost. Great review all the same Duncan.

To be fair to Bapi, last year was for my birthday (not Duncan's), so we went there about a week after Bapi. This year we were apparently there two days before him which did give Duncan a head start.

[david goodfellow]

Anybody been recently?

Be great if someone had a review of the five, and seven course menu's,or make my day and tell us about the bespoke.

Jasper Gerard seems suitably impressed, as I was on my visit, some time ago now though.
http://www.telegraph...Nottingham.html

I know that I have in the past been critical of the pricing a bit, especially the bespoke menu at £150, however I am a very big fan of what Sat produces and would make the trip again.

[confiseur]

Anybody been recently?

Be great if someone had a review of the five, and seven course menu's,or make my day and tell us about the bespoke.

Jasper Gerard seems suitably impressed, as I was on my visit, some time ago now though.
http://www.telegraph...Nottingham.html

I know that I have in the past been critical of the pricing a bit, especially the bespoke menu at £150, however I am a  very big fan of what Sat produces and would make the trip again.

....one of my souschefs was there with his mrs a couple of weeks ago...£400 plus bill for the 2 of them ( they had the bespoke and thought most of the courses where good to very good..2-3 didnt work at all though)
At these prices I will most certainly not be paying a visit...unless some expense account critic needs a bit of company...

[olicollett]

Anybody been recently?

Be great if someone had a review of the five, and seven course menu's,or make my day and tell us about the bespoke.

Jasper Gerard seems suitably impressed, as I was on my visit, some time ago now though.
http://www.telegraph...Nottingham.html

I know that I have in the past been critical of the pricing a bit, especially the bespoke menu at £150, however I am a  very big fan of what Sat produces and would make the trip again.

I went 2 weeks ago.

We went for the 10 course menu. 3 of the dishes were superb, a couple were a bit hit and miss and the rest were good. Highlights included a very nice crab bisque, beef cheek and a lovely rhubarb desert. We didn't go for the supplement of ham, egg and peas but it was available.

I think in total it came to £145 each on a table of 6 everything inc. We went for bottles of wine for the table because it didn't make a lot of sense with 6 of us going for the tasting wines at ~£65 each.

I've been to Sat Bains 3 times now, I always thoroughly enjoy the experience, it's a very warm and relaxed atmosphere that's quite different to a lot of the stuffier places out there. The cooking can be quite adventurous which probably explains why there's often some dishes that miss the mark, but considering how often the menu changes that doesn't surprise me. I think if every dish was 100% on the money every time it'd definitely be a 2*.

I'll certainly be going back anyway, although I don't rate the food quite up there with some of the top places in the UK, the overall experience is always fun, and it helps only living a mile away!

[david goodfellow]

Anybody been recently?

Be great if someone had a review of the five, and seven course menu's,or make my day and tell us about the bespoke.

Jasper Gerard seems suitably impressed, as I was on my visit, some time ago now though.
http://www.telegraph...Nottingham.html

I know that I have in the past been critical of the pricing a bit, especially the bespoke menu at £150, however I am a  very big fan of what Sat produces and would make the trip again.

....one of my souschefs was there with his mrs a couple of weeks ago...£400 plus bill for the 2 of them ( they had the bespoke and thought most of the courses where good to very good..2-3 didnt work at all though)
At these prices I will most certainly not be paying a visit...unless some expense account critic needs a bit of company...

Blimey, your sous is a real serious foodie, must be on some serious wages too! lol

Any idea how many courses, and more to the point, did they enjoy the whole experience?

Noted that you put down Europe as your base, was he doing a bit of a foodie tour, or was it a one off?

[confiseur]

Anybody been recently?

Be great if someone had a review of the five, and seven course menu's,or make my day and tell us about the bespoke.

Jasper Gerard seems suitably impressed, as I was on my visit, some time ago now though.
http://www.telegraph...Nottingham.html

I know that I have in the past been critical of the pricing a bit, especially the bespoke menu at £150, however I am a  very big fan of what Sat produces and would make the trip again.

....one of my souschefs was there with his mrs a couple of weeks ago...£400 plus bill for the 2 of them ( they had the bespoke and thought most of the courses where good to very good..2-3 didnt work at all though)
At these prices I will most certainly not be paying a visit...unless some expense account critic needs a bit of company...

Blimey, your sous is a real serious foodie, must be on some serious wages too! lol

Any idea how many courses, and more to the point, did they enjoy the whole experience?

Noted that you put down Europe as your base, was he doing a bit of a foodie tour, or was it a one off?

Was in Europe now back in the uk...and decently paid too...as are my staff...but then again we are not in hotels/restaurants anymore

He had shed loads of courses..all very small portions and wines to go with them, thus the bill. He lives in Nottingham and used to be pastry chef at a couple of michelin places so he was well treated by Mr B, being taken into the kitchen where Mr B personally cooked them a course a la minute so to speak...

in general they enjoyed the experience but it was still gulp time when they got the bill...

[david goodfellow]

Anybody been recently?

Be great if someone had a review of the five, and seven course menu's,or make my day and tell us about the bespoke.

Jasper Gerard seems suitably impressed, as I was on my visit, some time ago now though.
http://www.telegraph...Nottingham.html

I know that I have in the past been critical of the pricing a bit, especially the bespoke menu at £150, however I am a  very big fan of what Sat produces and would make the trip again.

....one of my souschefs was there with his mrs a couple of weeks ago...£400 plus bill for the 2 of them ( they had the bespoke and thought most of the courses where good to very good..2-3 didnt work at all though)
At these prices I will most certainly not be paying a visit...unless some expense account critic needs a bit of company...

Blimey, your sous is a real serious foodie, must be on some serious wages too! lol

Any idea how many courses, and more to the point, did they enjoy the whole experience?

Noted that you put down Europe as your base, was he doing a bit of a foodie tour, or was it a one off?

Was in Europe now back in the uk...and decently paid too...as are my staff...but then again we are not in hotels/restaurants anymore

He had shed loads of courses..all very small portions and wines to go with them, thus the bill. He lives in Nottingham and used to be pastry chef at a couple of michelin places so he was well treated by Mr B, being taken into the kitchen where Mr B personally cooked them a course a la minute so to speak...

in general they enjoyed the experience but it was still gulp time when they got the bill...

Thanks for that valuable insight.

Not hotels/restaurants? ignore me if I'm too nosey

Sounds like they had fun.

Seems to me your sous is bit handy on the old pastry, bet that was part of the attraction to his Mrs, can't beat a good pud, straight to the heart, so to speak. lol

Edited by david goodfellow, 24 April 2009 - 08:44 AM.

[Gary Marshall]

great review in the telegraph today, congratulations!

http://www.telegraph...Nottingham.html

[olicollett]

great review in the telegraph today, congratulations!

http://www.telegraph...Nottingham.html

That's pretty much identical to what I ate when I was there - although i think i got in a muddle with another meal, it wasn't a rhubarb dessert i was thinking of it was the lime tart with marshmallow!

[Hearno]

In the comments that followed the story a gent called Nik Pure wrote:

Report this commentTo those in the industry, we regard Baines as little more than a magpie, stealing the "shiny" ideas, techniques and flavour combinations from younger up-and-coming chefs, having jumped onto the molecular gastronomy band wagon, a term he embraces, while Heston and Ferran don't, and they are the driving force of this movement. Flavour combinations of chocolate, black olive and salt have been done for almost a decade, Gerard himself had seen the beef cheek/oyster combination at Hix's (brilliant) chop house.
Baines is a talented chef, technically close to perfect. Unfortunately, he lacks the 'je ne sais quoi' of Blumenthal/Campbell/Atherton/Flyne, the true geniuses of British cuisine.
Try the Vineyard, Fat Duck or Anthony's, and if you can't, then go to Sat's a year or so later, and see the dishes on his menu. Nik

Which prompted an angry response from Mr Bains:

Your comments are absolutely unfounded, have you actually eaten at my restaurant? I've never used the word molecular Gastronomy to describe the cuisine here. Hix never invented the beef and oyster combination, but he added his own style to it. The chocolate, olive oil, bread and sea salt was rooted in Spain and is a story we tell all our guests when they enquire.
I have an open door policy and nothing to hide, it's quite ironic that I'm friends with Mark, Anthony, Jason and Heston and if you knew what you were talking about would notice our food is quite obviously very different.
I would like to invite you behind the scenes to witness for yourself the thought process and effort that myself and team put into every element here at Restaurant Sat Bains.

Touched a nerve, or was he just responding with justification to an unfair comment?

[RDB]

great review in the telegraph today, congratulations!

http://www.telegraph...Nottingham.html

Great review in the sense that Sat's cooking and restaurant truly deserve all the praise they get ( I have mentioned this a few times before). However, the actual way the review is written is terrible. It is just full of tired cliches, "This might be Robin Hood country but you won't feel robbed", " Every mouthful reveals another layer of flavour", "When I'm reviewing, I eat first. Footballers warm up by kicking balls; I limber up by eating." etc etc

Not to mention this blunder " How it only has one Michelin star when Hélène Darroze's hidebound Connaught extravagance has two says more about French bias than Bains". No it actually says more about lazy journalism than anything else.

All followed up with an ending which is based upon cliche and the above blunder, " Michelin men, even more than foodies navigating back roads in a Nottinghamshire industrial estate, are going up a blind alley".

[food1]

You have to take these reviews with a little pinch of salt. Other than Jay Rayner, Terry Durrack, Fay Mashler and Mathew Fort, pretty much all of the rest of them don't have an effing clue as to what they are talking about and they can get so many facts wrong.

We had a contrary review by the female journo of the Sunday Telegraph a couple of months back. It wasn't so much a bad article but just a terribly written piece, that came across as a complete nonsense and factual wrong. One of her gems was that she stated that the amuse she had left no impression, a carrot cappachino. I've never made one of these in my life!! Reviews are all well and good but they should at least have the decentcy to get the actual facts right.

She has since cast her 'expert' view on Anthonys outpost in Leeds, which made me very angry indeed. The piece was a total insult to Anthonys. Absolutly no need for some of her very silly and amateurish comments about the place, which to me only demonstrated her complete lack of knowledge. The Flinns must have been totally pissed( for all about five minutes!) Thats all the piece deserved.

One of the worst things about working at a half decent level in catering is not the long hours, the commitment etc but having to listen to total gobshites, who don't have a bloody clue!

[olicollett]

You have to take these reviews with a little pinch of salt. Other than Jay Rayner, Terry Durrack, Fay Mashler and Mathew Fort, pretty much all of the rest of them don't have an effing clue as to what they are talking about and they can get so many facts wrong.

We had a contrary review by the female journo of the Sunday Telegraph a couple of months back. It wasn't so much a bad article but just a terribly written piece, that came across as a complete nonsense and factual wrong. One of her gems was that she stated that the amuse she had left no impression, a carrot cappachino. I've never made one of these in my life!!   Reviews are all well and good but they should at least have the decentcy to get the actual facts right.

She has since cast her 'expert' view on Anthonys outpost in Leeds, which made me very angry indeed. The piece was a total insult to Anthonys. Absolutly no need for some of her very silly and amateurish comments about the place, which to me only demonstrated her complete lack of knowledge. The Flinns must have been totally pissed( for all about five minutes!) Thats all the piece deserved.

One of the worst things about working at a half decent level in catering is not the long hours, the commitment etc but having to listen to total gobshites, who don't have a bloody clue! 

In fairness to the reviewer, although it was badly written they seem to pretty much agree with me on the dishes, which means they must know what they are talking about

That Nik Pure clearly seems to have missed the mark somewhat.