Andy Lynes

Anthony - welcome to eGullet on behalf of the UK. From a personal point of view, I always look forward to downing a good few glasses of wine etc with a meal. I sometimes think that I am all to eager to use food as an excuse for indulging my enthusiasm for alcohol. Then again, I am British after all.

We have now attained the incredible position of 63 in the cheftochef hot 100 and just 7 votes away from the 62nd spot. I think Roy Castle said it all when he sang : "If you want to beat the rest, if you want to be the best, dedication's what you need" Keep voting, and maybe we to can be record breakers (this will mean nothing to our American chums, but I kind of like it that way).

Thom - we are delighted to have the inside track as it were. Please continue to post at will. I enjoyed the short run of Eat Soup, although it was a bit lad mag for my tastes really. Gourmet magazines for the general public in the this country have a chequered history with many failing, such as Al A carte, Taste, Gourmet Good Food etc.

We are going to need around another 400 votes to make it into the top 50, but as we have now avoided the cut, I can see no reason for us not to make it. Could all the co-ordinators at the very least promise to vote every day if they are at their computers. That would give us a minimum of 17 votes a day which would mean we could do it in just over within 3 weeks, excepting bank holidays of course. A little something for virtually nothing really.

I knew you were joking, but you can never be too careful can you. You don't know who on that list might be looking in!

Good lord no, I think we all have our lives in perfect balance.

We could never condone sabotage of other, equally worthy foodie sites. Besides, we only need 10 measly votes to make the next jump up and "simply cooking" will be simply 71. BTW - I have heard that authors get obssessed by their ratings on Amazon, and check them regularly. I understand why now.

Canard a la Rouennaise is indeed pressed duck with the sauce created from the juices of the pressed carcass, shallots, cognac, red wine and then thickened with the liver.

Tony - if I were you I would go. I believe that Hollihead's reputation preceeds him and that many, if not all of his employees knew what he is like before they decided to work for him. I also know that Ramsay's brigade are extremely loyal to him, for whatever reason and are willing and able to swallow what he dishes out. I would be suprised if the situation was not similar with Hollihead. Simon - by coincidence, I have just finished re-reading Down and Out in London and Paris by George Orwell and was going to post to recommend it to those who hadn't got round to doing so yet. It's a terrific book, and still very relevant today. It's also quite short, which is an admirable thing for a book to be. (Edited by Andy Lynes at 2:37 pm on Dec. 18, 2001)

I think it's worth chipping away at this, but my only concern is if no one is actually bothering to vote for any of the other sites, what is the traffic like overall and will it bring us any new users? Nevertheless, keep voting!!

Macrosan - let me know what happens.

I agree Tony, but what about all those restaurants we eat in where the chef has not been foolish/egotistical/brave enough to expose his working methods to a primetime audience? I, like many others I imagine, usually think people are nice and perfectly alright when I meet them, but in fact know nothing about them whatsoever, apart from the public persona they wish to project. I have spoken to Gordon Ramsay twice following meals at this restaurant and he was utterly charming and very happy to chat. If I had not seen Boiling Point, I would have no reason to suspect that he was anything other than a nice guy at all times. I have heard stories about tele chefs from their ex-employees that would suprise you (all gossip of course and note the "ex", sour grapes a strong possibility) so is it really fair to judge Ramsay on this basis? Did you see the undercover report that cost Nigel Marriage his career about 5 years ago. Gary Hollihead was covertly filmed in his kitchen and he was actually worse than Ramsay. Would that stop you eating at the Embassy? Who knows what Pierre Koffmann or Michel Roux Junior are like to work for. They may be lovely, but on the other hand, they have serioius kitchens to run and that takes a lot of discipline in one form or another. I would not defend the strong arm style of management. Bullying in any form should not be encouraged, but until there is an across the board investigation into the working practices of chefs, Ramsay is being used as a convienient high profile scapegoat for what is in all likelihood a very common problem. If you are willing to eat out in London, you are going to have to accept the risk that you are eating food prepared by a brigade working under less than ideal conditions.

I must admit I was unaware of it until Jason sent me a message. It's pretty nifty isn't it? Just in case others are wondering, you can send someone on this board a personal message by either clicking the word "messenger" at the top of the main board page, or the arrows logo with the word "message" by the side of it, which is at the head of every posting in each thread.

Macrosan - did you check your eGullet messages?

An enjoyable read with apparently more content than previous issues (I haven't done a editorial vs advertising page count and won't either). I don't really find anything particularly interesting about rich lists. It's a bit like opening weekend grosses for films. Who cares if it took ษmill, it doesn't make it a better movie. Similarly, the fact that Rick Stien has amassed £20mill won't make me go back to The Seafood in Padstow. As a punter, it's an irrelivancy, as a professional, it may be of interest perhaps. I don't have a problem with the design particularly. Why not have some restaurant reviews and more interviews. My ideal magazine would be the food equivilent of Q, i.e. monthly, news section, a couple of in depth interviews, some industry related articles and loads of reviews.

I'm afraid not. Between work committments and already scheduled visits to places like The Square and St John, I have yet to make it to The Crescent. Maybe early next year.

Nexty time, you should starve yourself on the day and have the cheese and a dessert, unmissable.

St John is definately a one off, there's nowhere quite like it in London which is a strength. You have understood the one note criticism. The food is not about complex flavours, so therefore it is not a failing of the cooking.

A star would kill the whole thing stone dead - it's positively anti-Michelin.

Slopped in studied way - if they could manage that it would be be worth a Michelin star. This is me being vague again. I think the lack of pretention is their USP, and something that they are very well aware of. That's not a bad thing by any means. I just get a mental picture of Fergus Henderson doing his nut if one of his chefs tried to be neat with the food: "Do you think you're working for Gordon Ramsay? Now throw that away, and this time spill more gravy. We'll be getting another AA rosette if you carry on like that"

Enjoyed a very pleasant evening at St John yesterday with a number of other egullet/C********s. It was my first visit to the restaurant proper and I was favourably impressed. The restaurant and bar are formed from a converted smoke house. Both are very plain and functional. The kitchen is open to the dining room which is all very nice when the chefs are cooking, less so when they are cleaning up. I also feel that the chefs would probably be happier if they could shout at each other, sing and take the piss like normal kitchen brigades do rather than have to be on best behaviour because they are sharing their space with the customers. The food is equally unadorned and for the most part tastes great. The bone marrow salad was a hightlight, as were all the puds we tried, but main courses were a little disappointing. My braised hare with swede was slopped on the plate, works canteen style and although good, was a little one note, as were most of the other main courses. To me the pared back nature of the food is done in rather a studied way, and arguably is as pretentious as the most elaborate creations of a 3 starred kitchen. Service was pleasant, if a little slow. The bill came to around £50 a head which included 3 courses, side dishes, 4 bottles of wine, coffee, water, digestifs and service. Two of the table had the woodcock at £23.00 which was by far the most expensive item (tastes like most other game to me, not as nice as grouse I didn't think) with most mains under £15.00. So, not destined to become a favourite of mine, but I really like the bar and will definately go back for a chitterling sandwich sometime.

Steven - you are correct that I am a veteran of several, rather prestigous it must be said, cookery competitions. It sounds like a bloody good excuse to visit NY as well. I wonder if I could get sponsored by somebody to do it? Perhaps I could cook latke for charity, a bit like all those marathon runners that get free trips to NY if they collect so many £1000s of pledges.

Congratulations Steven - I would say something like "is there anything your not good at", but it would only go to your head. And besides, your forever taking the piss out of me, so I won't.

A great book to look at but not really to cook from, whereas Chef For All Seasons meets both criteria successfully.

I haven't been to those you mention, but just to add a name to the debate, what about the Nags Head in Knightsbridge, opposite the Berkley Hotel? I had a very enjoyable after lunch drink there the last time I went to La Tante Claire.