Andy Lynes

So you can be the one to break the bad news.... Given Angela Hartnet's reputation and experience as GR's opening batswoman and troubleshooter, it could just be that "Menu" will turn out to be the Italian equivilent of Petrus. I look forward to your report BLH.

The recieved wisdom is that the post of restaurant reviewer is much sought after by journalists but very difficult to come by. Are you envied by your colleagues, and having done the job for a few years, do you feel blessed or cursed?

Our thanks to Henry Harris for an informative and entertaining session. As you may have noticed, Henry was already a registered member of eGullet before he agreed to take part in the Q and A, so hopefully we will see him around the boards from time to time in the future.

A very diplomatic and fair answer. How disappointing!

Bux - you can find a recent menu from Racine here.

Talking of Simon Hopkinson, apart from writing his excellent books, do you know what other plans he has currently? Will he ever return to the professional kitchen do you think?

Uh.....thanks!

LML - you surpass yourself.

Do you eat tripe yourself and have you ever served it in a restaurant. If so, was it a big seller?

Henry, you hint in your reply that your time at "hush" was not the best of your career. Would that be a correct assumption, and if so would you care to elaborate? (alternatively, you may feel free to tell me to mind my own business).

Wow Andy this sounds sososo good. Won't mind if I half-inch your idea sometime, for personal use, will you? (Ongoing exploration of the rich-upon-rich concept.) It was the strip of smoked salmon that sent it right over the top, I bet. Please, go ahead. The final result was quite rich, but it was a small portion so not stomach churningly so, and the pickle helped to lighten the dish a little. The smoked salmon looked quite pretty against the light pink of the poached fish, which was another reason for using it. They published my less than fully reliable recipe in a book so I could scan it and let you have it if you are really interested. Adam - it was duck fat simply because I always render the fat from my ducks for confiting the legs (also a Pierre Koffman recipe). I'm sure goose would do just as well.

Affirmative TF.

Pierre Koffmann was the first chef to poach salmon in duck fat I believe. It's a great way to treat the fish. I nicked the idea for a dish I cooked in the 1997 Masterchef semi final : salmon poached in duck fat, served on a potato pancake (a la Georges Blanc) with anchovy dressing. I covered the cooked fish with a strip of smoked salmon for contrast and finished it with some cucumber pickle. It was lovely, even if I do say so myself.

Gavin - I thank you. Henry - in case you are confused, it is now a tradition that this question is asked at an eGullet Q and A. It was originaly put by stalwart of this board Cabrales.

Racine seems to have been welcomed with open arms by critics and customers alike. It would appear that London was crying out for the sort of robust French food you are currently dishing up, and is in strong contrast to the "jelly and ice cream" school of cooking that makes the headlines at the moment. Is this a happy coincidence, or did you sense the time was right for such a venture?

The brigade at Bibendum in the late 80's and early 90's working under Simon Hopkinson was really only rivaled by that of Marco Pierre White at Harvey's for talent : Phil Howard, Bruce Poole, Matthew Harris, Graham Grafton, David Burke, Ian Bates and of course yourself have all gone on to be successful head chefs. My question is : What was it like working in that kitchen at the time? Was there a realisation that it was a particularly special time and were you all a bunch of prima donnas?

We're pleased to welcome Henry Harris, chef of Racine restaurant in London's Knightsbridge, to eGullet.com for a Q&A session August 28 and 29, Wednesday and Thursday, 2002. You may begin asking questions at any time, and Chef Harris will be here to answer them on the arranged dates.

Thanks Robert.

Robert, can you let us know if you actually know Dr Revenue, then we can better understand where exactly it is you are coming from. Thanks.

I wouldn't dismiss Maschlers criticisms on the basis of bad mood, but I thought the manner in which she made some of them was indicitive of her feeling a bit miffed at being given a naff table (especially the bit about the art on the walls). I am sure this will come up in conversation next time I see him.

The "dirty linen" scenario thankfully doesn't arise very often on eGullet, and it's therefore quite easy to spot. It certainly has been in this case. What we don't want I think is for members to become paranoid about every post about a restaurant: "why does this person seem to love/hate this place so much. Whats the real story". But we do need to be alert to instances where there may be more than meets the eye to a post, and not always take things at face value.

Here's some more from the Evening Standard http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/html/food/ea...top_direct.html.

Did anyone see this rather bad tempered, but nevertheless 2 star review from Fay Maschler this week? : http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/html/food/ea...top_direct.html

I take it that you only have drrevenue's opinion that this is the case?. If so, it's a very big assumption to make, and infers that no one below the position of head chef is qualified to run the kitchen in the owners absense. I would be very suprised if that were true, but I have no way of knowing for sure. And neither, I would guess, do you. I have to disagree with you Robert, this is eGullet at it's worst. We are being used as a dumping ground for emotions that would be much better channelled into a productive face to face meeting between the parties involved. A business and reputation is being dragged through the mud here and none of us really know the full story as to why it is happening.

In my opinion, this sort of very specific, very personal situation is not appropriate subject matter for a thread on these discussion boards. I was uncomfortable with the initial post, and the thread has degenerated in pretty much the way I expected it to. Although posted under the guise of a general "topic", I suspect this is simply a bit of calculated mud slinging from a someone in desperate need of a thesaurus (for "disgusting" you might also use nauseating, sickening, revolting, nasty. Was that quail salad really "sickening"? Was it really "revolting" that a chef should leave his kitchen when you happened to have booked a table in restaurant?) and a dictionary (idiot=A foolish or stupid person. A person of profound mental retardation having a mental age below three years and generally being unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive. So, just to clarify, it doesn't mean "anyone who disagrees with me"). I dislike seeing eGullet.com misused in this way. If you wish to persue this matter, I strongly urge you to do so via personal correspondance with the parties involved and take us out of the loop. If you continue to post on this matter, I think the least you can do is alert chef Röckenwagner to the sort of things you are saying about him and his operation on this board and allow him the opportunity to defend himself in light of your accusations. I would be more than happy to e mail him via his address on his website www.rockenwagner.com if you feel uncomfortable about doing so yourself.