Andy Lynes

A restaurant is a restaurant wherever it is in the world. Michelin's criteria, as far as they are willing to explain it (and there's actually quite a lot of information available when you look for it) is as valid in New York as it is in London, Paris, Dublin or Rome.

"Our definition of three stars remains inclusive of the words “fine wines, faultless service, elegant surroundings.” which indicates that at this level we look for all round excellence." - Derek Bulmer, head of Michelin UK from his eGullet forum chat earlier this year. There's a lot of useful information straight from the horses mouth that should help de-code the guide ratings, including typical number of visits before awarding a star etc. This FAQ on the Michelin website should also help with some of the other questions raised on this thread.

Did you know that its Chocolate Festival this week? No, neither did I. Sounds like some interesting stuff going on including tastings at Pierre Marcolini.

Those three restaurants do very little PR stuff, if any, and as I understand it rely very heavily on local custom although Chez Bruce attracts more customers from further afield than the others.

It will be while you are at the hotel though won't it!

I doubt you will find anything as good locally. If it was me, the sheer convienience of a Michelin quality restaurant on my doorstep would win me over.

Anne - there's plenty of other Northern based folk who agree with you on that! I'm hoping to Fraich-en up my jaded Southern palate sometime very soon.

It is now although its not clear if Moir went during the first week the place was actually open or the week of the soft opening.

Although some egulleters do Seems a high price to pay for a decent bit of grub, but it is the North I suppose and your options are limited.

If they go to The Food Room they could have both - I spotted that Andrew Castle out of GMTV when I was there for Philip Britten's guest spot a couple of week ago. Andrew Castle! You can't get more "OK" than that can you?

Gramercy Tavern opened in 1994. ← That's the power the NYT's food critic - you can get a reservation in a restaurant 9 years before it even opens.

I had the most amazing prune and armagnac souffle at The Restaurant, Hyde Park Hotel when Marco Pierre White was the head chef back in 93 or 94. It was huge, beautifully cooked and when the waiter poked a little hole in the top with a spoon and poured in creme anglaise, I was in heaven. The pastry chef at the time was Thierry Busset who is now at Cin Cin in Vancouver. I ate there recently, but had to leave before dessert because our jet lagged kids had to get to bed. A real shame!

London is your lobster then - and to think I was going to suggest a Travelodge! Options close by include The Basil , The Capital and The Millenium. I'd check out lastminute.com as you'll have a wide range of choices with that budget.

Trim my signature?! But I rely on that for what little self esteem I have left after 4 years doing this job.

thanking you kindly. one day I'll learn how to use technology. ← The pleasure was all mine.

Emma, an especially warm welcome from me for such an intelligent first post. I glad you spotted my plea which, as you can see, has so far had sod all effect.

As we all know restaurant criticism has absolutely nothing to do with the situation in Iraq. Please feel free to post about Sir Clemet Freud's reviews in this thread, anything else will be deemed off topic and removed immeadiately. Ta ever so.

I don't really care who gave him the job, I just enjoy reading what he has to say. I wasn't blown away by the review but I'm sure he'll warm up to the job over the coming weeks.

Although the Telegraph article points out that the chef's comments "might come as a shock to Ramsay's wife, Tana, who cooks for their four young children in a separate kitchen at home", in fact, Ramsay has been deriding his wife's abilities in the kitchen for years. This from a Telegraph interview in May 2004: "Tana is banished from his £500,000 kitchen in their Wandsworth home (she has a smaller, MFI version upstairs). Why is that, I ask? "Because she might ruin it! She might burn things. God knows what havoc she could wreak," he says, looking genuinely aghast. "The next thing you know she would be coming up with recipes for Claridge's menu. It would read: 'Such and such, by Mrs Tana Ramsay.' No f------ way. I am the chef, this is my world. She is a school teacher." Which hasn't stopped Tana Ramsay getting the job as glossy UK magazine Grazia's food editor.

One of the problems we had was that the liquid came to a fairly fast simmer after around 6 hours (when the meat was not yet tender) and as we cooked the dish for a total of 8, this was almost certainly the cause of the dried out meat. I did think of putting the lid ajar on the cooker, but as the idea is to leave the dish to cook by itself overnight or when we are out of the house, I wanted to see what the result would be if we just left it. The cooker has just four settings - off/low/high (for reducing sauces) and warm for warming through already cooked dishes. Any ideas how to rectify this? The liquid came up around 7/8 of the way up the meat which I think may have been too much. Would there be any benefit in reducing the amount?

I don't see the difference but it really doesn't matter, honestly!

DEFRA figures for the year ending 2003 (the latest available) show a 15-20% increase in the cooking ability of Australians awarded a British passport, although that was regionally adjusted down 7.3% for those living north of Watford.

It was a cheap joke at the expense of the Brits, which is fine as my response was a cheap joke at the expense of the Yanks.

I'll take a wild stab and say The New York Times searchable restaurant database? There's 44 of them. You'll need to be registered and logged in to the Times site for that link to work by the way.

What is your accomodation budget?