Andy Lynes

Recipes are a cooks best friend. They guide him through the culinary jungle to the perfect result, a wonderful braise, a beautifully reduced sauce, a towering souffle. But sometimes a recipe turns rogue. 5 teaspoons becomes 5 tablespoons, 5g turns into 50g, key ingredients and stages of preperation are missed out entirely. What are the terrifying results of such incompleteness and inaccuracy? How many dinners have been ruined? What happens WHEN RECIPES ATTACK!!!!! We want to hear your stories.

Dan Barber of NYC restaurant Blue Hill went and mentioned his dinner in this article. Don't think he liked it much!

St John makes many appearances on these boards, so it is assumed that most will know where the restaurant is, but its a good point.

I think this is a reasonable consideration, and have to admit that a cooker like mine would look dreadful in your kitchen. It looks dreadful in mine. I suppose I was just trying to point out that you can probably get away with a lot less than you think you might need, which is really the same as Jon was saying.

As an aside, apparently Simon Gueller is now running a catering firm, which is a shame for the restaurant going public, although good if you happen to attend an event he is catering I suppose.

Gary no offence meant!! Where do you get the pans if I may ask?

I have a Zanussi MC5634 four gas burner/electric fan assisted oven/grill which is about 15 years old and worth about tuppence. I have no room for a range, professional or pretend, and I don't particularly want one. I cook nearly everything at either 180c or 200c unless a baking recipe calls for a higher temperature. I do need to spend money on decent pots and pans, but apart from that, I don't feel as though my cooking is hampered by the equipment I have, or don't have more to the point.

I'm not sure you can say that on egullet actually.

I will try and write up my report today, but I would say shouldn't miss the opportunity to go to 3 York. Good value for both food and wine, lovely room and the best service I've experienced recently. I ate at Pool Court maybe 5 years or so ago, had the best Tart Tatin of my life there, but can't remember much else about the meal. The room, which I didn't particularly like, has a nice view over the canal but the service was very formal at the time I went. They have a very good webiste here with a panorama of the dining room and menus, which read very well I have to say. Heathcotes occupies the site that was Rascasse which is a really nice canal side location and a very nice room. I haven't eaten there, but have had very good food at his other brasseries. Leodis, a brasserie style operation, was very good the last time I went, again a few years ago. Website here. There used to be quite a good Chinese restaurant opposite the Crown Plaza Hotel which served excellent Singapore noodles, no idea if its still trading or not though.

I own it, have read it, marvelled at it, but can't remember cooking a damn thing from it. But you can learn a lot from just reading it. I also have his "Cuisine Des Quatre Saisons" a collection of his columns from Le Journal du Dimanche which is a fantastic read, with lovely pictures by Herve Amirad.

Another spur of the moment meal at Racine on Wednesday evening. A freebie starter courtesy of the chef of calf's foot jelly with saffron pickled eggs was surprising and quite lovely, triangles of the jelly resting against quarter of the eggs in a row across the plate dressed in zig-zags of some sort of emulsion and loads of fresh parsley. The sharpness of the eggs and dressing working very nicely with the unctious jelly. The dish appeared on the bargin early bird menu, but even so seemed to signal that the kitchen had raised its game a notch or two since my last visit in October last year. In addition, the menu now offers around 12 starter and main course choices along with the set menu and specials compared with 9 when the restaurant opened. The salade gourmand (£8.50) that night came with slices of ballotine of foie gras, duck ham, rabbit, croutons, tomatos, green beans and mache. A main course of mixed grill of lamb (13.95) included chop, kidney, liver, confit tongue and crepinette, plus some straw potatoes, watercress and a side of gratin dauphinoise. A real winner with a beautifully seasoned and cooked chop, spicey faggot and melting tongue making it the king of mixed grills. Petit pot of chocolate (£6.00) was covered with a layer of creme friache which provided a nice foil to a very rich dessert, served in just the right amount. A nice bottle of Macon, coffee, water and service brought the bill to £58.00. The room was absolutley rocking but the front of house was coping with ease. Racine seems to me, speaking as an acquaintance of chef Henry Harris, to go from strength to strength. In the 9 or so months it has been opened, it has developed a strong personality in terms of both food and service and appears to be something of a minor London institution with Ned Sherrin name-checking it as one of his regular haunts alongside the likes of The Ivy and Joe Allen's in the latest issue of Restaurant magazine.

Uk chef Henry Harris of Racine in London has written some decent Atkins style recipes which are being published in the Telegraph. Yuo can find links to them on this thread.

Please note : some of these links may require free registration to view. Restaurant reviews Belinda Richardson in trouble. Matthew Norman gets himself in a right state over 8 over 8 . Matthew Fort at Cafe Arabica. Will Buckley in north Norfolk. I do hope he made it back to civilisation without too much trouble. Coren gets to grips with Eat and Two Veg. Do you see what they've done there etc. India Knight reviews The Fox and Goose whilst AA Gill is on his hols. Richard Johnson is on a Pilgrimage. Food Ok, I've seen the evidence with my own eyes, Henry Harris is indeed half the man he used to be. Here's how he did it. Jill Dupliex is the Times cook in "Cut Out & Cook". Purple craze is on his mind. Yes, its Mark Hix's touching Hendrix tribute in the form of a fruit pie. Tom Conran's Spanish classics. Nigel Slater: raw! Fiona Beckett with more food for students. I thought they lived on beer and fags? Drink Jane McQuitty's summer bargins. Michael Jackson on bourbon. Shamoe motherfucker! (Oh, hold on a moment. Wrong Michael Jackson). Superplonk. Say no more. Giles Clime on why the Brits beat the French when it comes to winetasting.

Very nice review Catherine, I've been looking forward to reading about this restaurant, the first report we've had I believe. Doesn't quite sound like it lived up to its reputation as 32nd best in the world and I wonder if that is ultimately more of a hinderance than a help to this sort of operation. Could it ever hope to live up to such expectations?

Oh, I get it now...you're Patrick Bateman aren't you?

If Turner was still around, I'm sure they would have been offering his "grazing menus" as they are his signature style. They will be offered at the Bentley apparently. b

Rocco Forte has just brought the hotel and it is already listed on his website. Chef Andrew Turner has either left or is about to leave to open Bentleys Hotel and Angelo Maresca joins from the Savoy on Monday : Maresca joins 1837. as Andrew Turner leaves. Rocco Forte Hotels. The restaurant is to be refurbished and served traditional british food and have "Grill" somewhere in its new name, perhaps taking up where the Savoy Grill left off?

One possible definition is that gamey is the natural flavour of the meat and of meat that is hung for a short period, high is when the meat is left to hang so long it begins to rot. Here is quite a good article from chef and game expert Ian McAndrew that touches on the subject but gives no definitive answer to your question, if indeed there is one : game on.

In London, its what I would expect. I've seen it on the Ivy's menu for a similar sum in the past. On the other hand, Shuan Hill puts it on his £33.00 for 3 courses menu with no supplement.

Rules have it for a relative bargin of £19.95. Website says that "all Game Birds are classically served with Bread Sauce, Breadcrumbs, Game Chips & Game Jus" and if you can stomach grouse between 3-5pm Monday to Thursday, you get a starter included in the price. No price for side orders, I'd want something green with all that I think. website

ST John have it for £24.00, but like you say, not much cheaper really.

Anjum Anand would get my vote. She looks like she could be the Nigella Lawson of Indian cookery.

Please note : some of these links may require free registration to view. Restaurant reviews Belinda Richardson speeds The Plough. Rural! Matthew Norman eats lunch in a Synagogue. Kosher! Matthew Fort at The Vineyard. Disappointing! Jay Rayner at Osia. Fusion! Coren on Conran. Alliterative! AA Gill at Ashbells. Soulful! Tracey MacLeod risks a blind date in Wales. Potentially life threatening! Food I once phoned the Fifth Floor kitchen and asked "Is Henry Harris around?" "Oh, hes very round" came the witty reply. But no longer. Two stones lighter, Henry presents his Atkin's inspired recipes. Slimming! Jill Dupliex on tomatos. Fruity! Mark Hix raises his game. Savoury! Monty Don, not in the garden, but in his kitchen. Unexpected! Tom Conran on the grill. Spatchcocked! Fiona Beckett takes a University Challenge. Intelligent! Drink Andrew Catchpole on the joys of Pic Saint Loup. Continental! Jane McQuitty mixes her drinks. Dangerous! Tim Atkin on Robola, Roditis, Aghiorghitiko, Limnio and Xinomavro. Grecian! Malcom Gluck's Superplonk. Convienient!

I had a salad of two colours of beets with boiled egg, watercress and a horseradish and mustard dressing at the Blue Print Cafe recently which was lovely, although swimming in the dressing which I had to be very careful not to spill down me.

I've never appeared on Crimewatch, that was just a nasty rumour. The photofit just looked a bit like me, thats all. They couldn't prove a thing.