Andy Lynes

That'll be me then.

Cosmopolitans (Dale De Groff recipe from this site of course) Smoked Salmon Croque Monsieur (Eric Ripert recipe from A Return to Cooking) served with champagne Tom Colicchio's braised pork belly served with Ripert inspired lentils with chorizo, shitake mushrooms and shallot Spiced Red Wine Poached Pears with Cranberry Ice Cream (Extra cold Guinness to sip whilst cooking)

I'm getting Eric Ripert's new book. I know because I ordered it from Amazon myself. The wife is going to wrap it up, though I won't be acting all surprised when I open it. Having a cookbook to browse through over a glass or 7 of wine after all the Xmas duties are out the way is the major thing I am looking forward to this festive season. Apart from my little kiddies faces lighting up as they open their presents of course.

According tothis she writes fro the Express. However, I don't know how up to date it is and i wouldn't wipe my arse with the Express so have no personal knowledge of whether she still has a column or not. He profile does seem to be lower now that a few years ago though.

Miss J, I use b.right.on Foods at http://www.hanovernet.co.uk/brightfood.htm .

We need to get the facts straight here, the whole world is watching after all.

Ground beef and cubed pork or both meats in both forms? Are tomatoes traditionaly used, or have they crept in over time in bastardised recipes? It seems to me that there are so many "quick and easy" recipes based around a can of tomatoes that I can quite imagine it as the invention of a food economist working for a cookery magazine.

What are green peppers for? I avoid them at all costs in everything. I currently use a combination of fresh chillis and sweet chilli sauce and some salt and pepper, thats it! So not even a packaged seasoning mix. The result is not actively bad, but it's more like a slightly hot beef stew with some beans in it than a proper "dish".

All excellent ideas and a great link too. I will definately use these next time I cook a chilli and report back. I particularly like the smoked chilli, cumin, oregano, paprika, beer and chocolate suggestions. Great stuff, keep it coming.

I generally take a great deal of care with my cooking, but when it comes to chilli con carne, I rely on what I am sure is an entirely generic and badly anglosized version of the dish: little more than some fried onion, chilli, diced beef, tinned tomato, tinned kidney beans, maybe a little stock and some seasoning, cooked for an hour or so and served with boiled rice. Not stunning is it? Can you help with your tried and trusted recipes?

(I don't think this issue has been raised before but I apologise if I am treading old ground here). Jilly Goolden is a well know "wine personality" in the UK, best known for her consumer advise slots on a BBC programme "Food and Drink". She has now launched her own range of wines called "Keynote", and was interviewed on the BBC Radio 2 Jonathan Ross programme this Saturday, which was basically an extended advert for her product with full details of where to buy it. Goolden is not the first UK wine critic to move into the production side of things. Malcom Gluck of "Superplonk" Guardian magazine column fame has had his own "Superplonk" label wine on the supermarket shelves for a while now. I think there is a clear conflict of interest here, with critics trading off the trust gained from the wine buying public from their reputation as an independent consumer advocate. Is this a UK only phenomenom, or have US critics done the same thing? Do others see this as a problem or is it a harmless bit of commercial enterprise?

I'd want to know the answer to that question for sure before sinking £12mill into a restaurant. My guess is that it may not be so hard, be it definately wont be easy. Two for one vouchers in the Observer maybe?

Also mentioned that the huge Grand Prix Cafe complex in Berkeley Square had closed after only a year and a similar sort of investment. So maybe what we have been saying about a doubtful future for Sketch on this thread is not so far fetched.

Does he think it's the most important restaurant opening ever (he might actually).

How many chefs are there in the kitchen during a service. What does Heston actually do! What proportion of the cooking is carried out on non-standard equipment. How do they cope with such large numbers of very small dishes going out in quick succession. Where have his chefs worked before coming to the Fat Duck and do they find the job very different from other kitchens they may have worked in. Does Heston talk as much in the kitchen as he does to the punters. What are the kitchens favourite/least favourite dishes to prepare. What are they working on at the moment for future menus.

I would have said Beatles/Status Quo and Oasis as Liam thinks he's John Lennon and Noel thinks he's Rick Parfitt. There's nothing really very Stones-like about Oasis. You want Primal Scream circa "Rocks Off" for that comparision.

So few people will have heard of Gagnaire in this country that his pulling power is going to be limited to, well, everyone that posts on this board probably.

I might get into trouble if I were to encourage the use of polls. I think they are all important to the evolution of eating out in London, except maybe the last 2 on the list. You could argue that you couldn't have one without the others so looking for an overall "winner" is probably a bit futile.

Excellent meal at The Merchant House last week which I will write up either here on my website in the near future. Over a kir in the kitchen I learnt from Shaun that : Photography for his new book will take place in January, but not sure of publication date He has had the people from Restaurant magazine in recently so expect an article soon. Apparently the photographer brought along a lighting rig that would not have looked out of place on the set of a hollywood movie, only to end up taking pictures of the food in the restaurant's garden. Paul Rankin of Roscoff/Cayenne fame spent an evening in The Merchant House kitchen a while back and did Shaun's washing up for him!

Surely the only definition of "ever" is since the first restaurant opened in London. This is claimed to be Rules in 1798 although I did see something about Browns Hotel claiming they were first, but in 1837. So it's either Rules, or the Ritz when Escoffier was there, or Le Gaveroche or the first branch of McDonalds, all of which I would argue have much more significance than Sketch.

Hub-UK - space is not a problem so post away. The link will be entirely relevant and of great interest I'm sure to all looking for info on this subject. I am pretty sure I am not alone on this board in spending time hunting out food and drink websites so if you want to make it easy for us, please go ahead.

It does work though, and the batter doesn't have an overly pronounced yeasty flavour either so won't mask the flavour of the fish too much. It makes great mushy pea fritters as well.

Chez Nico was a three star restaurant, as was Le Gaveroche and the Waterside still is. As far as I am aware, MPW's abilities as a chef were held in the highest regard by his peers, one of the reasons he was awarded "chef of the decade" by the AA guide as voted by a large panel of professional chefs. I can't really see that another Gagnaire outlet can be seen as genuinely significant, certainly not in the way that his own restaurant obviously is.

A big investment has been made in the place so I doubt that the whole thing will close, although it's not totally unthinkable that this time next year the whole place will be a night club with a casual restaruant attached and Gagnaire nowhere to be seen.

Authentic British fish and chips means soggy chips and batter normally. However, a fantastic batter recipe is: 110g plain flour, 10g fresh yeast or 5g dried 150 ml beer at room temp Just mix it all together and let the yeat activate for 30 mins or so before using. It's the crispiest batter you will ever taste.