Andy Lynes

I recently had the opportunity to watch a lunch service at Tom Aikens and was very surprised at how classical the food looks now compared to a couple of years ago. Some really lovely dishes went over the pass that day.

Pages is definately worth a look and there's also Denny's round the corner in Dean Street click which is primarily chef's uniforms but they also do knives.

Leon Jaeggi & Sons in Shaftesbury Avenue might fit the bill Click.

Here's Marina O'Loughlin's take on the subject: click here.

As if! It's only a website...

Bibendum opened in 1987 and has 80 seats compared with 170-ish at Cafe Anglais. It was the first of Conran's modern restaurants (he opened the Soup Kitchen and the original Orrery in the early 50's) and its not until the opening of Quaglino's in 1993 with 300 seats that you get a "gastrobarn". Le Cafe Anglais is closer in size and shape to Bluebird which opened in 1997 but reminds me far more of the original Fifth Floor at Harvey Nichols. The stained glass is more Ivy I think. No doubt it will take more than a few weeks, or even months, for LCA to settle down, but from my two recent meals there, I think its a London institution in the making.

Are you a Morrissey fan by any chance?

Just stumbled across this news item Koffmann plans a brasserie.

Both the press release and the flyer are far too generic and full of tired old cliches which makes the place sound like just another restaurant. You need to be specific about the food, service, decor and atmopshere to accentuate what is different and special about the place. If I had received the press release I wouldn't have given it a second look.

Just out of interest, Gary Rhodes had a recipe in one of his books for deep fried cod skin which must have appeared about 10 years ago. How Nordic is that!

Why would he ask the question if he didn't really want know the answer?

He must fit that in between giving Eliza Doolittle elocution lessons I suppose.

Thumbs up (mostly) from Terry Durack click.

This thread is to die for. It's like egullet on acid! It's so moist and succulent it melts in the mouth. I've never tried this thread before but I'm really surprised how much I like it, I'd definately try it at home. Absolutely. Its got so many flavours and textures. I'd never have thought of putting Stigand and Busboy together but they really work. If you couldn't get Stigand, could you use grahamR instead? I thought it was going to be really heavy, but its not at all, its really light. How long would it keep for in the freezer. My friend gave me a whole load of comments by Zoticus and now I don't know what to do with them, have you got any suggestions for how I could use them up?

Ducasse is not alone in his fast food prediliction of course. We recently had Ramsay's Burger King revelations, and I recall Nico Ladenis saying that he used to take his daughters to KFC now and again.

Oh God, I was that food writer.

I see where you're coming from now, I took you too literally. Yes, you've described my cook book collection quite accurately and, although I don't write recipes professionally, I recognise exactly what you're talking about.

I wasn't comparing the contents of Ruhlman's books, but challenging the idea that he had only just broken your notional "code of silence" with the publication of Elements. I think there is much more than "bits and pieces" of information which might be seen as "breaking the code of silence" in Ruhlman's back catalogue, but even if that were the case, it seems we agree the code had already been broken. The basis of my skepticism about "the code" is based on over 20 years of collecting, reading and cooking from cookery books, along with a reasonable amount of time (for an unpaid amateur) working and hanging out in professional kitchens. Although I leant a lot about knife skills and other techniques in the pro kitchen and picked up a lot of good recipes along the way, I can't say there was anything I was either taught or observed that made me think "damn, they kept that secret!” It’s all out there in one form or another and has been for many years.

If there is a "code of silence", which I don't really accept is the case, then Ruhlman broke it a long time ago with Soul of a Chef, The French Laundry Cookbook or A Return to Cooking.

Jan Moir is (click) but Ducasse apparently, not so much.

Here's Fay's report click; she calls it a "terrific new addition to the area."

Not that I'm likely to do so very often, but did he say why? I'm struggling to think of an occasion when I've been fortunate to have a glass or two of the top notch stuff and not enjoyed it.

Coleman's sell prepared mustards we well as mustard powder so isn't the distinction irrelevant?

I searched for "heavy-guage stainless steel pot" and this was the second result listed click.

I had lunch there yesterday after a meeting was cancelled at the last minute (actually, it was cancelled 50 minutes after it was due to start, but that's chefs for you). I hadn't booked and was seated immeadiately - not surprising as they have 175 of the buggers to fill. Pike boudin with beurre blanc is The Greatest Dish in London - well, it probably isn't but it was so wonderful to eat that it felt like it at the time. Roast mallard came with a simple orange, parsley, red onion and olive salad that was absolutley appropriate and very delicious. A side order of potato and cep gratin was less luxurious than it should have been - not enough ceps and the potato was a bit dry and floury, it screamed out for some cream. Service was a bit um, chaotic, but very hospitable and friendly and, as they were discounting the food by 50% (nearly, the discount was wrongly calculated but I didn't realise until I was on the tube) I didn't mind too much. Beautiful room, great atmosphere, Rowley Leigh at the pass - fantastic.