Andy Lynes

From the way you describe the meal, you bailed out early on, almost as if you were expecting things to go wrong right from the off. One bad dish a wasted night does not make. I would have thought that under usual circumstances, the first step to have taken would be to complain about the salad and ask for a replacement, and see how things went from there, especially with all that good wine still to drink! I get the sense that you may have felt slighted by the fact your reservation was treated as being no different from any other customers, i.e. no one warned you in advance that chef would not be in attendance which may have influenced your decision making on the night. No one on this board has all the facts about the incident except for you, so we are really not in a position to make judgements about who is right and who is wrong. However, if you have been happy to spend the amounts that you have in the past with this chef, it seems a terrible shame to cut yourself off from what is obviously a source of great enjoyment and friendship for you. I think you need to have the discussion you are playing out here with the chef in question and see where it gets you. Either he will understand your position and things will be better in the future, or he will fail to and then you will know that you can't really go back. At the moment, it appears that the chef feels the restaurant has done enough to redress the situation, and doesn't understand that for you, it goes beyond a tough quail salad and a waived bill. I'd be interested to know what the final outcome of all this is.

You can download a press release about the new Hardens guide at www.hardens.com and here's an article in the Independent about their "controversial" comments on Ramsay : Ramsay Rage

I'm not the type to kiss and tell.

I did it for last years guides, got sent the survey again this year, and missed the deadline. Which is a pain, because they send you a free copy if you contribute.

They still haven't forgiven me? Some people.... Very glad to hear that you enjoyed the meal though. Just out of interest, did they still have the third, shorter tasting menu option?

Peter - could you edit the above post to delete the lengthy quote and provide a link to the original article please due to potential copyright issues. Thanks.

I have found that no single guide is reliable enough. I have disagreed quite strongly with markings awarded, and even the inclusion of some establishments in The Good Food Guide, The AA and Hardens. Having said that, Hardens guide is very handy for names and numbers (but very similar in format to the Zagat which you dislike, the Good Food Guide has the most text per restaurant (whether or not you could call it all innformed opinion is another matter) and The AA is quite a good "control" to check if there is a consensus across the board. There have been threads on this board relating to all the areas you are interested in, so if you are lucky with the search facility you should find what you are looking for. However, if members would be kind enough, perhaps posting your top three choices in each of Andrews categories here on this thread might be helpful. I will consider my choices and post something a bit later today.

Please go fuck yourself as many times as you like. Tommy, you're not going to let him talk to you like that are you! (In no way attempting to stir up a fight on the boards because it's a Sunday and I'm bored).

Your menu as it appears on the restaurant website sounds full of really enticing dishes (that terrine of pork cheek sounds great by the way) and it would appear that getting hold of whatever it is you want to cook with is not a problem. What would you say is the best, or your favourite, out of the local produce available to you. Is there in fact anything you can't get that you would really like to be able to.

Have a great time, be very interested in you opinion of Hibiscus in particular.

It's going to be in the September OFM apparently.

Here's a recent-ish article from caterer http://www.caterer.com/archive/articledeta...articleID=38428 They have a website at http://www.chavignol.co.uk In the same general area is the Kings Arms in Chipping Campden where the head chef is Graham Grafton (it may be worth checking to see if he is still there), a former head chef at The Greenhouse, sous chef to Henry Harris at Fifth Floor (where I met him) and senior member of Simon Hopkinsons brigade at Bibendum where he worked alongside Harris, Phil Howard, Bruce Poole et al. Some basic info : http://www.chippingcampden.co.uk/ccrests.htm you'll need to scroll down. If you are travelling around a bit what about The Walnut Tree Inn http://www.walnuttree.co.uk/ (a favourite of Claude and Clare's at Hibiscus by the way).

Only that it is closed for good : http://www.croque-en-bouche.co.uk/

Of all the big name chefs you have worked with in the UK, who has exercised the most lasting influence on you?

What about the Marches restaurant at Overton Grange in Ludlow. It's where Bosi used to cook. I honestly have no idea whether it's any good or not or who the current chef is but it's a possible I suppose. The other place is The Waterdine, owned by Ken Oakes (?), who used to own the property that Hibiscus now resides in. I think but am not at all sure, that he had a star there, or was certainly featured in the Michelin guide. here's a link with some basic contact info. You'll need to scroll down a bit http://www.fatbadgers.co.uk/shropshire.htm

Yes. Whats the problem exactly? I can't make it. It goes all grainy. I suppose that means it separates, technically speaking. If you are still interested, can you tell me what recipe/method you are using. If you can do the much more temperamental and delicate warm butter versions then mayo should pose no problem to you at all in theory.

Heston is on at 8.00pm on Wednesday. It was the first show this week. I believe Locatelli will eventually be re-shown on BBC2 in what now must be referred to as the Jamie Oliver slot of 8.00pm on a Tuesday.

All diners get the first three courses, so your "starter" is in fact the fourth course of the meal. I had what is now the tasting menu on my second visit to the restaurant and was very impressed by it. If you haven't been before you must try the crab biscuit, it is sensational. The lamb is excellent as well. I am now feeling very envious! Do tell all on Monday. BTW, did you catch Kitchen Chemistry, Heston's TV series on the Discovery channel on Wednesday?

Steven, in the mid-Eighties, artist Mark Kostabi appeared on a UK TV chat show called the Last Resort with Jonathan Ross. Midway through the interview, and with no warning at all, he broke off from the conversation, turned to camera and simply repeated his name over and over. I don't remember anything else about the interview, but I certainly remembered his name. You should think about pulling something similar on your next networked appearance, only intone the words eGullet.com. The only problem may be that you will never be invited to appear on TV anywhere again (I have never seen Kostabi on the small screen since that day), but thats a small matter.

The answer to the question posed by this thread is yes. It had better be, as the vast majority of the reviews on my site, and the comments I make on eGullet are on the basis of a single visit to a restaurant. If something goes hideously wrong, then you just have to make a value judgement about it's cause. It is because the restaurant is in fact crap, or is it a "bad night" for them? If it's a stunningly good experience, you have to make a similar judgement about the liklihood of that experience being shared by others or repeated by you at another time. I would also guess that, given the speed at which restaurants are reviewed in the UK, many critics on this country write on the basis of a single experience (I think Jay Rayner for his own part has said as much elsewhere on these boards). As long as you know, or can safely assume it's a review based on a single visit, there's no harm in my mind. Steven obviously just didn't like the FL experience, and that wont fundamentaly change, no matter how many times he goes back (unless they have a major change of heart about what they are doing there, which seems uinlikely at this point).

Circleplum - with posts like that, you'll reach 3000 before you know it.

More likely that Cabrales will for her 3000th which must be due today or tomorrow I should think.

Bloody hell! Please keep us imformed. I think I'll start saving now, just in case. Is the "we hope" in case Martha's banged up at the time and can't make it do you think?

So that's November then. I wonder how far they've gone over budget? Mind you, £125.00 a head for food, shouldn't take them long to make the money back.

The only time I cooked Lobster, I cut it in half whilst it was still alive and roasted it in a hot oven for around 8 minutes or so, and served it with a buerre blanc. Lovely, but killing it gave me the willies, and I note you say you don't want to have to pre-kill the thing.