Andy Lynes

Hold on a minute - thats my post! I cooked soup noodle the next day after seeing Tampopo. That film always makes me hungry How about Mildred Pierce and her chicken restaurant? Whilst we're talking James M Cain, how about the "recipe" for iguana in "Serenade". You have to put them in a pot of boiling water alive so they purge their bowls . The bones make great soup according to Cain.

Um.....Cape Fear?

I'd go for cepes, girolle, morel and mousseron (sp?). I had the latter in a risotto that came with some turbot I had at The Square in London recently. They were lovely in a slippery sort of way. The linguine sounds great btw, also my favourite pasta I think.

Did you see the Meades interview in Restaurant? In it, he admits to having become jaded towrards the end of his reviewing career. I think we can safely say the same about Gill. I saw yesterdays piece and was appalled (well, not appalled as such but within the context of how entertaining/informative/worth reading any bit of writing should be it was dreadful).

Made a version of a Henry Harris dish on Saturday - warm salad of anya potatos, asparagus, chestnut mushrooms and bacon with red wine vinegar cream sauce (thats my version, the "proper" recipe is jersey royals, morels, asparagus and bacon with hollandaise). Blanch the asparagus, cook the pots until just tender, then saute in butter, add the mushrooms and cook through, then the bacon and asparagus at the last moment just to reheat. Pile into bowls, then deglaze the pan with the best red wine vinegar you can find and add some whipping cream. Poor over the salad and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Wash down with Pol Roger White Foil. Follow with a plate of Montgomery cheddar and walnut bread. Yum.

Annual guides are just that, annual and out of date the second they are sent to the printers. I read many press reviews and will and definately influenced by what they say. A recent example was Orrery, which recieved very positive reviews from the likes of Matthew Fort and Fay Maschler. I compared these to the printed guides before making a booking, so the two go hand in hand. Maschler especially is absolutely invaluable for keeping up with the numerous new openings in London.

Cappers - what time did you get to this place. You said they only had ciabatta left so I assume you arrived late? Do you think you got the end of a joint of beef that had been hanging around or something?

Here is guellers website : click.

That's a bit of a narrow view. It implies that only an Indian national can claim that their restaurant is Indian & that families who have been here for generations lose that ability. Wareing can call his cuisine pretty much what he wants - you choose to agree with him or not - but its really his call. I agree about the cuisine, and I didn't comment upon that. All restaurants serving Indian cuisine in this country are British restaurants. I'm not trying to make a complex point here, only that if the food is prepared by British people, of whatever race, in Britian, the food must be British.

Oh bugger! I knew that. I shall have to organise another meeting in London for the Friday then!

John - although I was suprised to see the cling film, I wouldn't want to see Borough Market forced to adhere to any particular rules, the majority of the stuff looked fabulous. It has a real atmosphere to it which may disappear if standardised in anyway. Cabrales - I didn't notice any cooked products from specific breeds, but my guess is that there almost certainly is. I am going back a week on Tuesday, but Simon may well be able to help you on this point sooner than that.

Tommy mentioned fried chicken and champagne on another thread, which, even at 9.00am on a Sunday Morning seems extremely attractive. The best recipe for fried chicken I have come across is in UK chef Shaun Hill's book Cooking At The Merchant House which is available from Amazon.com.

Where's Steve P when you need him, he knows a thing or two about this subject. 1990 Dom Perignon is another real winner, which I sample courtesy of the kindness of Mr Plotnicki when he attended the UK eGullet dinner.

Cabrales - I wouldn't for one second criticise you for wishing to speak French in London, or indeed Berkshire restaurants. I don't speak French, but am generally reassured when front of house are of that extraction. They just do it all better somehow don't they. And I am sure they are more than happy to converse in their mother tongue with you. Excellent report BTW. I do think sometimes that Blumenthal is being deliberately confrontational with his menu speak, almost daring his customers to order a particular dish, Snail porridge just makes you involuntarily go "ugrh, yuk!".

But Wareing is British and his restaurant is in London, that to me makes it British.

I'm sure we've discussed Borough Market before, but I finaly got around to visiting the place on Friday. I was knocked out by how great it smells, especially the large veg stall with all those wonderful herbs, and you can smell the Jersey Royals a mile off. My favourite however is the Neal Yards Diary shop which should carry an X rating in my opinion. God, it was heaven, and I didn't even try any of it. I was a might disappointed with the fish, which is wildly over priced. £14kg for Monkfish cheek is taking the piss, it's the stuff they usually throw away for goodness sake (very good though they are). I was also suprised to see such a lot of cling wrapped meat. However, I was dreaming up dishes as I wandered about and will be back very soon for some Glouster Old Spot, some Montgomery Cheddar and loads of that lovely veg. Cannot wait.

This is probably not going to be "special occasion" enough but I had some really lovely Pol Roger White Foil (nv) in a restaurant the other day. It's in the shops in the UK for the equivilent of $34.00 and a 1993 for $55.00. It had good acidity, a bit of body, nice and dry and just delicious.

My last meal at Petrus was over 18 months ago, but on the 3 occasions I have been, saltiness was not a problem. What may have made a difference is that Angela Hartnet, Wareings head chef, has left the kitchens. Perhaps whoever has taken over has a different palette. In all seriousness, maybe someone ought to speak to Wareing about it before he loses customers.

Out of interest, why do you expect front of house to be able to speak French? It is a British restaurant after all! (That sounds like I'm being funny I know. I'm not at all, but am interested).

I enjoyed an excellent meal at The Orrery a few weeks ago. £45.00 for their tasting menu which included a stunning assiette of duck (roasted breast, braised leg in a herb crumb, onion tatin and foie gras and a banyuls sauce) and some great cheese. Service was exceptional, but the tables are very close together, unless you get the nice ones by the window. Pied a Terre was very good but the earth didn't move for me. It is such a small place, you begin to feel a bit claustrophobic after a while. It was also very, very hot on the January night I went, everyone was in shirtsleeves and the poor waiters were visibly sweating.

Over dinner at The Square last night I established that Mr Pooles dislike of The Embassy was entirely due to the front of house style, which simply got on his nerves. He said he couldn't wait to leave, although the food was very good. His main objection seems to be that there were vast armies of meeters and greeters swanning around in smart suits looking pleased with themselves, and not enough people actually waiting tables. That was it really, so it just seems like it wasn't his sort of place.

I'll answer your first question tomorrow, but The Orrery is currently on form, dishing up some of the best French food I have had since Petrus. Chris Galvin is still very much in charge and delivering on his Michelin star. Service is very professional but warm. I will get around to a full review very soon, promise.

If the chef isn't very good, what would be the point?

The Harvester restaurant at The Black Lion is just a short stagger from Chez Lynes in Patcham, Brighton and one I make only when they have the freshest and most tasty bacon bits on offer on the salad cart (confirmed by telephone in advance). Otherwise, The Elizabethan Tandoori is our most regular haunt (at least once every 5 years, major flooding allowing).

If you bothered to read "Restaurant" magazine, you would know that Meades has lost a third of his body weight on a citrus and protein diet. He's now around 12 stone rather than the 19 at the height of this reviewing career.