Andy Lynes

Simon - just keep it dry between you and Ant, thats all I ask. You know how people talk.

The talented Mr Ramsay (Gordon). Perhpas we need to publish a list of eGullet acronyms.

Thom - I have to admit to trimming the quote to increase to the comic effect, but I don't think I distorted the meaning too much. Liza - you are in grave danger of incurring Simon's wrath, you are not allowed to be too nice to people on this site you know. Sam - does AB have some influence over GR?

You can always trust Simon to find the lowest common denominator

eGullet is yet young and to be honest I have no idea how many industry people or journalists are registered users. I only really recognise Jay Rayner and Anthony Bourdian. Perhaps Fat-Guy has a better handle on this. Simon - what's so funny about peace love and understanding? Chill out, as the youngsters say.

Thom - it's great to be able to have this dialogue, thanks for continuing to post. Hope it will be of some use.

I'm not sure the good people at caterer would appreciate the comparison to Skoda and Idi Amin. I realise the news/jobs thing is a bit obvious, but I would reiterate the point that I would not be suprised to see any article that you have published appear in Caterer. Nobu is a good example when both yourselves and Caterer ran very similar stories in the same month. Whatever you think of Caterer, they have pretty much cornered the market and covered the restaurant scene every which way over the years. Tone, style and feel will make a big difference but it's what you put in it and not what you leave out (hotels and contract caterers etc) that will make the biggest.

Ok - Caterer© starts with a news section, so does Restaurant ®; C has featured predicitions about food trends in the coming year before as has R; C has regular signture dish items/masterclass articles which is reminisant of Chefs Special in R; C ends with a jobs section as does R, C has regular ingredients articles, as does R. Design and photography in R is better than C in my opinion. the whole tone of R is much brighter and younger than C. R reads and feels like a mainstream magazine, whereas C feels like it doesn't need to try so hard because it has a captive audience. I do like C BTW, and am a long term reader, but it can be very boring some weeks. About 1 issue in every 4 is really good.

I read in "Restaurant" magazine that Mr Bourdain will be appearing at the Royal Festival Hall no less to talk about his book and TV series sometime in January (no date given I'm afraid). The story also calls Bourdain "a kind of intellectual Jamie Oliver". Anthony, you're going to sue, right? Maybe Fat-Guy can represent you!

I was hesitating about posting for that very reason Thom. However, I thought it was the best issue yet. Setting aside the cover feature for a moment, I liked the lunch story, the Robert Read piece and the lucky seven bit. I think you need to shrug off the ghost like presence of Caterer, I wouldn't have been suprised to see any of the above in that mag. However, I shall continue to purchase and read with interest as the magazines identity is beginnig to assert itself I think. As for the cover article, I always enjoy Bill Knott's writing and it was good timing to have HB as cover star, the man for 2002 without a doubt, although he will continue to be a figure of controversy I think. I assume the interview was done a while ago, as many of HB's ventures for the new year were not covered. HB has promised to contribute to this site quite soon, so I will let him reveal all himself in good time, unless you get the scoop of course!

Bux - as you have figured it out, can you let me in on the secret.

Seb, are you in the kitchen or front of house?

Helena, thanks very much for putting me right. I based my posting soley on his first book and knew nothing of his reviewing activities. That'll teach me to judge a book by it's cover, or indeed what was written in it

Glad we cleared that up. So, is the restaurant Lettonie-ish, same stuff just re-located?

Bourdain has not struck me so far through his writing as "kind and gentle". I would imagine he would take great delight at ripping the #### out of any book forwarded to him for review. However, it does sound like an excellent idea. Jay, Anthony - can this be arranged?

I loved "Bone...". It is part comedy, part crime thriller, set to a culinery backdrop with some cooking and seriously gruesome stuff. It does fall away a little towards the end in terms of plot , but is a great read, and will take little or no effort to finish. Recommended.

Seb - thanks very much for the inside info. Any further info will be gratefully recieved. LML - "You sound like a rapist" - what!!!!!!!

Matthew - welcome to the site. You are right of course to say that a chef cannot simply ask for 3 stars, it was a fatuous remark. However, I do feel that Michelin like the sort of public courting that Marco and Ramsay indulged in and that it certainly did their relationship with the guide no harm. That said, I don't know precisely how these things work, but if you go on to the extent that Ramsay did about getting his 3rd star, I'm sure the guide must have had some helpful feedback for him help him on his way. I read in "La Tante Claire" that Koffmann demands a quiet kitchen, and he comes across very well in both his books. Roux Jr also appears a gentleman from my siting of him in the Gaveroche dining room and on the tele. However, what do we really know about them and how they manage their brigades? My guess is that they are probably as reasonable a boss as you could expect to find, but the truth is I have no idea. This lack of knowledge won't prevent me from returning to their restaurants however (lack of funds will do that!). I have no wish to knock GR BTW. It's just that he has entered the next phase of his career which is now more to do with building a business empire than a reputation, and that is of no interest to me as a paying guest. I'm more interested in finding the new GR before the tele and big money get to him or her.

The first page will do I'm sure. Who the #### is voting for "Thats My Home", The Stepford Wives?

Jay - thanks for posting this. I can't help admiring Bourdain for his candour. It would have been so easy for him to claim the trip was a dream of a lifetime, something he had always planned to do. Bourdian is Mr Cynical and we should expect him to tell it like it is. I kind of like the fact that he crosses jungles to eat the beating heart of a snake, only to find that it's all so boring he just wants to get pissed. Bearing in mind that this will be a TV series as well as a book, I find this a much more attractive proposition than say Jamie Oliver's "everything is fantastic and boootiful and my misses is up the duff and I'm so excited about everything, look at all the mates I've got, blimey misses, the ideas are just tripping off my over-large tongue, you could use lemon, parsley, tarragon, rabbit droppings, sump oil" approach.

Restaurant Gordon Ramsay is in Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea and that is where is has his 3 stars. Whether he actually cooks there any more I couldn't say. He has places in Glasgow and Dubia to worry about as well as Claridges and his consultancy with Singapore airlines (and tv apperarances and book writing and a family of three to look after). I would give Petrus a go over GR's places these days. Marcus Wareing still has something to prove, it's a little cheaper, the food is wonderful and Christophe Chalvidal is a great Maitre'd. Go for a £26.00 lunch, ask for table 2 and spoil yourself.

This thread is quite incredible - if eGullet required a justification to exist (and of course it doesn't) this would be it. I don't think you would find a more intelligent or well informed debate on the art of the restaurant anywhere, Steve Plotnicki's review alone is worth the price of admission, which is nothing BTW. So I though it was time to lower the tone Whilst we're on the subject of tourists and commuting chefs etc, I do get the horrible feeling that much of the initial bad press suffered by Ducasse was due to his appalling lack of fore-thought at not being born in America. It seems that there has now been sufficient time to put this aside and give him a fair hearing. I hasten to add that if an American were to open the "best" restaurant in Paris, I'm sure he/she would be in for a very rough time indeed.

As a UK resident who has not yet had the opportunity to eat at GT or Craft, I would like to add my comments to this thread, but feel free to ignore them as uninformed. When I read about Craft (and indeed Ducasse's Spoon concept) I was reminded of the awful Mongolian Brasseries we have here in Britian. The concept there is that you queue up and select various vegetables and seasonings to acccompany some chopped or sliced meat which is cooked on a vast hotplate by a "chef" who you also have to queue up for. This appeals to the British who traditionaly love to queue, and apparently offers choice to the customer along with unlimited guaranteed freshly cooked food. The reality is that you wait around forever for meager platefuls that all taste the same no matter what you ingredients, sauces and condiments you select. You give up after a couple of tries and end up hungry at the end of the evening. Now, I'm not for one second proposing that Craft is the US equivilent of a Mongolian Brasserie. I understand that Craft is a serious endevour and that MGs are a vile low brow rip off. But the similarity, it occcurs to me, is that they are concept driven. They are both attempting to provide a restaurant experience out of the norm. MG does it because most British are afraid of the genuine article, Craft because New Yorkers want a change from it. I have Colicchio's book and the food is fantastic. I would love to try GT, but I'm afraid wild horses wouldn't drag me to Craft.

All it will prove is that we have been dumb enough to vote every day for the next couple of months. What it may achieve on the other hand is bringing some new users to the site. I think getting on the first page will do the trick, then trying to get to number 1 will be sheer hubris.

All doubters must now kneel before the majesty of eGullet. We shall prevail, we will have our dominion........ahem. Not that I'm taking this at all seriously you understand.