Andy Lynes

Linguine with tomato, chili, olive and basil sauce Serves 4 as Appetizeror 2 as Main Dish. Sometimes, the desire to crash on the sofa with a glass or three of wine is much stronger than the desire to spend hours in the kitchen generating washing up for my long suffering wife. I'm therefore always on the look out for recipes that take less than an hour to prepare, but still deliver in the taste department. Here's a dish that I recently knocked up out of store cupboard ingredients and that I enjoyed eating enough to want to record and share with others. I make no great claims to authenticity (well, I've used ketchup, so how could I?) or particularly original thought, but it is a genuinely quick and easy plate of food to prepare and worth having in your repetoire for those occassions when the inner-chef is demanding an early night. Ingredients 1 T olive oil 1 medium onion, finely diced 1 fat clove of garlic, finely diced 1 red chili, halved, deseeded and sliced 400 g canned tomatoes or passata 1 T tomato ketchup 8 black olives, pitted and chopped 8 leaves basil, torn or sliced sea salt and black pepper to taste 320 g linguine Heat the oil in a pan and sweat the onion until soft, add the garlic and chili and fry gently for a moment. Pass the tomatoes through a mouli legume (omit this stage if using passata) and add to the vegetables. Cook for 15-20 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken, then add the ketchup (you may not need a tablespoon, you want just enough to add sweetness to balance the acidity of the tomatoes.) Stir in the olives and the basil at the last moment. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the linguine as per packet instructions, drain, toss with the sauce and serve immeadiately with grated parmesan, a splash of extra virgin olive oil and some more torn basil leaves if you wish. Keywords: Main Dish, Italian, Easy, Vegetarian, Pasta ( RG634 )

Herbicidal wins a signed copy of "Prime Time: The Lobels' Guide to Great Grilled Meats", Peter B Wolfe a signed copy of "Meat" by the Lobels and Food Zealot gets a certificate for a Lobels' "Madison Avenue" pack, which is a sampler of meats that includes 2 filets, 1 boneless NY strip steak and 1 Porterhouse steak (a $90 value). A big thank you to everyone who took part and especially to Evan for such a generous haul of prizes.

Italian chef Maurizio Morelli and sommelier/wine importer Antonio Cerilli opened Latium on 26 September at 21 Berners Street, formerly a Fish! restaurant. Morelli has worked at Paolo, the green Olive, Ibla as well as the Halkin and Lanesborough hotels. Modern Italian food will be served in minimalist surroundings of black tiled flooring, dark wood seating with grey covers, white walls and sepia-tinted food art. The restaurant has 55 seats, a wine list of approx 200 regional italian wines inclusing 10 by the glass and offers a set lunch for between £14-£22.00 and a la carte between £19.50-£28.50. View the menu Latium 21 Berners Street Fitzrovia London W1T 3LP 020 7323 9123

I hope you all appreciate the effort required to keep a straight face whilst typing in the above post.

Steamroller Restaurants, owners of "hush" in Mayfair, will open Shumi at 23 St James Street (formerly Che) in October. Although first and foremost an Italian restaurant, Shuni will borrow heavily from the Japanese style of eating and presentation. Chef Lee Purcell, previously of Daphne's and Sartoria, has developed a menu with dishes designed for sharing, including saffron scampi with red pepper sauce, tuna and monkfish carpaccio with samphire salad, zucchini flower tempura stuffed with lobster and rice flower spaghetti with a white tomato sauce. A feature of Shumi will be its "paccio bar" (or Italian sushi counter), inspired by Michelin starred chef Moreno Cedroni who developed the idea of "Susci". Seabass, tuna, salmon, and yellowtail will be served sahimi style seasoned not with wasabi and soy but infused olive oils and fresh herbs. United Designers have fitted out the Grade II listed 1960's building with white marble flooring and top lit curtains wrapping the room. Bar capacity - 150 Restaurant - 90 Chefs table - 8 Shumi 23 St James Street London SW1 020 7747 9380 website

Its not really a matter of hoping one way or the other, simply what works and what doesn't in London. Locanda Locatelli is likely to remain a fixture on the scene for quite some time in my opinion.

Surely they'd go off in a year? And where the hell would you put them all? Do they give you a shed or use of a lock up in Neasden? We should be told.

Don't call them, they'll call us. Details of the opening event came through to me today from Gabrielle Shaw (NB: their exclamations and capitals) : "Krispy Kreme's first UK store opens in Harrods Food Hall at 9am on Friday 3rd October. They are giving away A YEAR'S SUPPLY OF KRISPY KREMES to the one lucky person who is first in line! Packs of goodies for the first 12 in line, and limited edition Krispy Kreme T-shirts to the first 100 through the door! You might need your camping gear to be in the running!"

I've been to Locatelli just the once and whilst it didn't thrill me skinny, the idea that it might fail is really a notion from out of left field.

My experience with UK chefs is that unless you actually speak to them, the request doesn't register. My guess is that you could go direct to the chef with a phone call at Pied a Terre, The Square, Winteringham, Le Champignon and possibly the Capital, but would need to fax or e mail through a CV for the rest which would end up on the desk of a PA in the first instance.

Please note : some of these links may require free or paid registration to view. Restaurant reviews Jan Moir is down at the doctors. Matthew Fort goes to the dogs. Jay and Simon sitting in a tree etc.... Giles Coren at Edera which means ivy. Just thought you'd like to know. AA Gill at Uli. The quite frankly yummy Tracey MacLeod gives Conran's etain a Glasgow kiss. The equally lovely Marina O'Laughlin lords it up at Petrus by Marcus Wareing. Latest Observer Food Monthly is now on line with an extract from Nigel Slater's autobiography "Toast". a further extract is available here. Food Tamasin Day Lewis is so Provencal darling. Gordon Ramsay reveals his secrets about trade. Sorry, I mean't reveals trade secrets. Virtually the same thing though isn't it? Mark Hix grabs a kebab. A further extract from Madhur Jaffrey's Curry Bible, review coming soon on eGullet. Heston on matters of taste. Drink Jane McQuitty says that cheese and wine are not a marriage made in heaven. Anthony Rose writes a corker of an article. Superplonk. Tim Atkin knows when he's been Tango'd. Mark Palmer joins the professionals.

The coroners conclusion.

Bearing in mind "retirement beckons" excellent post above and that eGullet would not encourage or condone anyone to seek to work illegaly inthe UK, here are the details of all the 2 & 3 star restaurants in the UK with a few comments for each. These are my opinions and supposition only, but may be of some help in narrowing down your choices : Pied à Terre Chef Shane Osbrne 2 Stars 34, Charlotte St Bloomsbury W1P 1HJ Telephone: (020) 7636 1178 Fax: (020) 7916 1171 E-mail: p-a-t@dircon.co.uk Website: http://www.pied.a.terre.co.uk London restaurant, young aussie chef making his name, rising reputation, small restaurant, accomodation highly unlikely. The Square Chef Phil Howard 2 Stars 6-10, Bruton St Mayfair W1J 6PU Telephone: (020) 7495 7100 Fax: (020) 7495 7150 E-mail: info@squarerestaurant.com Website: http://www.squaresrestaurant.com London, established chef, trained with both Marco Pierre White and Simon Hopkinson, individual approach, intelligent bloke, large very busy restaurant, accomodation highly unlikely. Le Gavroche Chef Michel Roux Jr 2 Stars 43, Upper Brook St Mayfair W1K 7QR Telephone: (020) 7408 0881 / Fax: (020) 7491 4387 E-mail: bookings@le-gavroche.com Website: http://www.le-gavroche.co.uk Legendary address, demoted from 3 to 2 stars when present chef took over, classic cuisine with some contemporary influences, may have a long waiting list for stagiere positions, accomodation unlikely. Capital Chef Eric Chavot 2 Stars 22-24, Basil St Chelsea SW3 1AT Telephone: (020) 7589 5171 / Fax: (020) 7225 0011 E-mail: reservations@capitalhotel.co.uk Website: http://www.capitalhotel.co.uk Part of hotel so accomodation a possibility. Established chef with a strong reputation, modern food, fairly small and possibly not the busiest of restaurants. Gordon Ramsay Chef Ramsay/Mark Askew 3 Stars 68-69, Royal Hospital Rd Chelsea SW3 4HP Telephone: (020) 7352 4441 / Fax: (020) 7352 3334 Only 3 star in London, internationaly famous, small but packed, accomodation unlikely, named chef may not be in the kitchen that much. Waterside Inn Chef Alain Roux 3 Stars Ferry Rd Bray-on-Thames SL6 2AT Telephone: (01628) 620691 / Fax: (01628) 784710 E-mail: reservations@waterside-inn.co.uk Website: http://www.waterside-inn.co.uk Another legend, old stager, classic cuisine, accomodation a possibility, reputation is varied depending who you talk to. Fat Duck Chef Heston Blumenthal 2 Stars High St Bray-on-Thames SL6 2AQ Telephone: (01628) 580333 / Fax: (01628) 776188 Website: http://www.fatduck.co.uk Experimental cuisine, tiny, tiny kitchen, menu changes rarely,accomodation unlikely. Winteringham Fields Chef Germain Schwab 2 Stars Silver St Winteringham DN15 9PF Telephone: (01724) 733096 / Fax: (01724) 733898 E-mail: wintfields@aol.com Website: http://www.winteringhamfields.com Fairly remote northern location, long established chef was looking to retire recently but changed mind, reputation variable depening who you talk to, possibility of accomodation. Gidleigh Park Chef Michael Caines 2 Stars Chagford TQ13 8HH Telephone: (01647) 432367 / Fax: (01647) 432574 E-mail: gidleighpark@gidleigh.co.uk Website: http://www.gidleigh.com Remote South West location, chef has been at hotel for 8-9 years, now has with expanding interests, marked down in new AA guide, variable reports on recent meals, modern food, accomodation a possibility Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons Chef Raymond Blanc 2 Stars Church Rd Great Milton OX44 7PD Telephone: (01844) 278881 / Fax: (01844) 278847 E-mail: lemanoir@blanc.co.uk Long established and world famous chef, has never achieved 3 stars, wildly variable opinions on the restaurant, great setting, large kitchens, accomodation a possibility. Le Champignon Sauvage Chef David Everitt Matthias 2 Stars 24-26, Suffolk Rd Cheltenham GL50 2AQ Telephone: (01242) 573449 / Fax: (01242) 254365 Small kitchen (total of 3 in brigade), may be fairly quiet during the week, talented chef willing to share his knowledge, not a lot of feedback on the restaurant but I have visited recently and was very impressed, accomodation highly unlikely but a very nice part of the country.

Again, I'll provide a full list later (bit busy at work at the moment) but your best bet for accomodation would I guess be The Capital in Kinightsbridge (2 Star chef Eric Chavot), Le Manoir Aux Quat Saison just outside Oxford (2 Star chef Raymond Blanc), Winteringham Fields outside Hull (2 Star chef Gwermain Schwab) or Gidleigh Park in Devon (2 Stars chef Michael Caines). All are either hotels, restaurants with rooms or remote enough to be likely to offer rooms to staff. I really have no idea if they will pay or not. Being based in London would give you the potential opportunity to move around a few restaurants as all the head chefs know each other. Shane Osborne at Pied a Terre (2 stars) is getting good word of mouth at the moment, although its a small restaurant (hence the name) and so I would guess is the kitchen. Philip Howard at the The Square (2 stars) is a personal favourite of mine and he is a highly regarded chef in the business at least (views on the restaurant vary). Osborne trained with Howard, although their styles are very different indeed. Ramsay (3 stars) would probably be the most recognisable name to have on your CV, but I dont know how much he is actually in the kitchen these days. You would more likely be working with chef deb cuisine Mark Askew.

I agree. All I am saying is that £55.00 may look like a bargin in 6 weeks time if the prices rise to say £60.00 a head. Also, you have a good chance of Marcus Wareing having cooked your dinner at Petrus, for the moment at least, whereas you have little or no chance of that happeing at RHR I would guess.

There must be a middle range French place that does them. I've just checked the website for Mon Plaisir and surprisingly they are not listed on any of their menus. Can anybody else think of somewhere similar that might do them. What about Incognico?

I just get a feeling that it won't be £55.00 for long, given Ramsay's (and just about every other London restaurateur) track record for raising prices soon after opening. Tom Aikens is a good example, rising from £39.00 to £49.00 in the matter of a few weeks.

So you did, and I had already read it! I think I must be suffering from short term memory loss, the stress must be getting to me.

Ok, enough of the shoes already, what about the food? I hope you'll post your impressions over at the other current Locatelli thread.

Its so difficult to tell, Ramsay has upped his prices quite swiftly at The Savoy and before that at The Connaught. but its only a couple of weeks away so you may well be lucky.

It will certainly narrow down your choice if you stick to 2 or 3 star restaurants as there are a total of 12 in the entire country. I'll list them all later today when I have more time, but for starters you are looking at London (no live in accomodation) and Bray on Thames amongst others (not sure if there is accomodation at The Waterside for staff but I doubt it and I'm sure there isn't at Fat Duck. Bray is one of the most expensive places to live in the UK but is minutes way from Maidenhead which would be affordable).

I think it would be a great opportunity to try Petrus at what I'm sure will turn out ot be a bargin price. I was considering returning to RHR soon, but having seen the new Petrus restaurant and read the menu, I am now planning to try there instead.

But what about Pressed terrine of veal head, Crispy chargrilled veal sweetbreads, Ardennes frogs’ legs scented with cumin and lemon confit or Carpaccio of duck liver ‘à la minute’? I thought it was an unusual opening menu, it will be interesting to see how long some of those dishes survive.

Actually rancid as in the dictionary definition of "rank smell or taste" or is that poetic license for "not very nice"? If the food you were offered was actually rancid then I would have thought you would have had very strong grounds indeed to get the bill reduced or even not to pay. It seems extraordinary to me that a restaurant of the standing of LL would allow rancid food past its kitchen doors. Did you notice anyone else in the restaurant complaining that night? If one dish was rancid then there would be a high probablility of a whole batch being similarly bad.

It put me in mind of the recent story about Brooklyn Beckham being hurt whilst out shopping with his mum. Who bloody cares! And that was the second or third item on radio news bulletins for the whole day. Are we to believe that Oprah Winfrey rang up like a good little customer 6 months in advance when she ate at 15 recently? Oliver is a celebrity and doubtless has many celebrity mates. I am unwilling to believe that he has no way of taking care of them at his restaurant and that one or two tables are not kept back, especially on a Saturday night, for late reservations from the rich and famous. That Clinton didn't get in just smacks of headline hunting.