Andy Lynes

Why does John Torode shout all the time? John, just stop bloody shouting will you! And you don't have to try and get all the food in your mouth in one go. That's why knives were invented.

Well, I'm going for my Birthday meal so in theory it's not actually a review but it may come in handy for something in the future. I'll post something though.

I haven't been to the restaurants you mention this year so I can't comment on those, but I do think Arbutus is worthy of a star. It is a casual restaurant, and a very good one, but the cooking is absolutely top drawer stuff and in theory 1 star is all about the cooking. I think Robuchon deserves the star despite being awarded at lightening speed. If anyone is allowed to have their track record taken into consideration it must be JR. I'm very surprised that Apicius in Cranbrook didn't get the star this year. I'm going back tomorrow so it will be interesting to see if its as good as I remember. I'm sure Marcus Wareing must be delighted, not to say somewhat relieved, to finally get his second star - it's been a bloody long time coming. I would imagine that Gordon Ramsay RHR has been under intense scrutiny by the guides given the Ramsay empire's aggressive expansion and the fact that the grinning Scot hardly seems to have left our screens or our local offy windows this year. Based on a stunning lunch in November, I think it more than deserves retain its 3 stars. Given that the name over the door is often to be found away filming in LA or launching a range of food product for BHS, or a porcelain range for Royal Doulton or a nationwide pub chain etc etc etc eat, its a very neat trick indeed to pull off and goes to prove the depth of quality in the organisation.

Dec 11 2005, 06:00 PM, but not on this site.

Undiscovered by the Good Food Guide maybe but Rayner, Coren, Norman, Maschler, Square Meal and Time Out have all found their way there.

I was surprised to find out the details, especially after the rumours about the likes of Nobu moving into that space. Good on them I think - does the world really need another Nobu or Gordon Ramsay restaurant?(Easy for me to say living a 50 minute train ride from London I suppose). I'd never heard of John Mooney, but his CV is pretty impressive and includes the The Signature Room at The 95th in the John Hancock Center, Chicago; with Dean Fearing at Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas; sous chef of Red Sage in Washington under Mark Miller; executive chef of ‘W’ Hotel, New York and chef of Pure at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai.

I wrote a couple of lines about the new restaurant at the Shelbourne for the Independent a few weeks ago (click here).

I haven't applied a strict like for like logic as if 5 rosettes really did equal 3 stars then Petrus and Foliage would have had 3 stars for ages. The Square has held two Michelin stars and 3 AA rosettes for ages and if the AA have noted an improvement, Michelin may also have noted the same and decided to promote. I suppose if we're trying to retain an interal logic then rising 2 star would be the equivilent of 4 AA rosettes.

If the announcement of some new AA rosettes today (click here for details) has any Golden Globe like bearing on what we can expect from the Michelin Oscars then in London, The Square will get 3 stars, La Noisette, Roka, Arbutus and Robuchon will get 1 star each and in the provinces Linthwaite House in the Lake District and Sienna in Dorchester will also get a star.

I didn't think much of the Peasent I have to say. Haven't been for a while though.

Close to Sadlers Wells and walking towards Islington are The Fish Shop www.thefishshop.net and Upper Glas www.glasrestaurant.co.uk.

A sommelier in a top London restaurant told me recently that he believes he got the job because he told the chef at his interview that he didn't really believe in matching food and wine and just wanted his customers to enjoy what they were drinking, whatever it was. Apparently that was music to the chef's ears.

The same thing that happened to being satisfied with the plastic food at your local chain grocery. ← That's a surprising comparison to make in my view. I think trying to pair a wine with every two or three bites of food on an extended tasting menu can easily become rather tiresome and be more about marketing pricey wines to a certain sector of the restaurant going public than the pleasures of the table. What could possibly be wrong with carefully selecting an adaptable wine to compliment a number of different dishes? To me, that shows respect for the efforts of both the chef and the winemaker without turning a sociable meal into a convoluted and expensive exercise.

Its very common in high end UK restaurants: Pied a Terre The Fat Duck offers "a selection of wines by the glass to accompany this (tasting) menu is available at £90 per person. Or an alternative selection at £295 per person (minimum of two people). The Capital Le Gavroche Restaurant Sat Bains

I have both Larousse and the revised edition of The Oxford Companion to Food (to which I am a contributor) on a shelf next to my computer and I refer to them both in the course of my work occasionaly. I don't use them much, but there have been a number of times when I've been very grateful to have them around, which is how it should be with works of reference I think. There's a table of contents and excerpts from On Food and Cooking at Harold McGee's Curious Cook website which might help you make up your mind: click here. By the way Fat Guy, do you have the 2001 revision of Larousse? I think I know where your coming from but I think "pretty much a failure" is a tad on the strong side.

There's no reason to suppose that a meal in a newly opened restaurant can't be outstanding. I can't comment on Bacchus as I haven't been (although from reports and reviews I have to say it doesn't look like it's going to be quite my sort of thing) but I loved the meals I had at Arbutus this year. I don't think age has anything to do with it at all.

Henry Harris liked it when he went in 2004 (click here). Mind you, Waitrose Food Illustrated were picking up the tab.

He's in Nottingham by the way: website! Haven't been yet - still haven't even been to Anthony's come to think of it(oh the shame).

I happened to be browsing through my collection of foodie cuttings last night and came across a string of articles from Caterer and Hotelkeeper in 2000. They included interviews with Jason Atherton, then head chef at Anis, John Campbell, then at Lords of The Manor, Heston Blumenthal and a feature on a press trip to el Bulli with Blumenthal, Ramsay, Paul Merrett (then at The Greenhouse lest we forget) Simon Shaw, Kevin Mangeolles, and last but not least Sat Bains, who also got his own Caterer interview in November of that year. Given that his current menu includes the likes of "Duck egg 62oC, chervil tubers, fried bread" and "Cumbrian lamb 'sous - vide', parsnip - maple - smoked roe, lemon confit, lamb gravy" you could argue that he would have been in good company in the pages of the latest OFM.

← Let's not forget Jason Gilmore, head chef in November 1995 according to Caterer and Hotelkeeper's Menuwatch feature of the time (although how reliable that information is I don't know as they call Heston "Blumenthar" throughout the short feature). Though the menu was all "barigoul of artichoke" and "chicken Bois Boudran, pomme fondant", he was doing triple cooked chips even then, albeit boiled in water, blanched in oil then fried in veal fat with not a desiccator in sight. And the cost of three courses? A mere £22.50. Just about get you a bottle of wine there these days.

I bought it when it came out in 1994. All very serious restauranty stuff. The design looks a bit dated now but I've seen it going cheap in the remainder shops from time to time so it might be worth having a look. I really liked the recipes in French Leave and especially Coming Home which are more doable for the home cook.

I would imagine that's cumbava which is Kaffir Lime (click here ).

Evidence to the contrary. Restaurant magazine in the UK also reported that Ramsay had been spotted dining at Nobu in London three days after the New York opening. Ramsay was also due to be cooking a gala dinner in Vere in Dubai on the 2 and 3 December.

It has been variously described, depending on how closely the speaker's involvement with it is. These descriptions range from "technique" to sinister cult. ← Very interesting - I must look into the subject a bit more closely.

My mistake, apologies to the chef.