Andy Lynes

Yes, that's the one.

I agree. Its not as if it's the latest Harold McGee opus is it? I reviewed the book and it didn't take me long to finish the thing at all. I'm sure they're really busy but everyone has to read something on the loo don't they?

Being charitable to the pub, maybe they are a victim of their own success and just trying to be fair to all their customers by seating those parties who are ready to order and won't keep a table tied up for longer than is necessary. That way they can seat more people in an evening and both sides win. That said, I completely see your point Tony and if it's that much of a struggle to get a seat I'd rather go somewhere less hectic.

Ten years? The man's an upstart compared to Fay Maschler who has been the London Evening Standard's critic for thirty three years. She has her faults, preferences and prejudices, as do we all, but her column is still the first thing I turn to every Wednesday and I'm bitterly disappointed if I find she's on holiday and a guest reviewer is sitting in for her. I'd bet a good few Canadian dollars that Jamie's reviews are the first thing many eGulleters read when they pick up the Van Mag.

I hear he was drop dead gorgeous, the kind of chap women want to have and men want to be. ← Giles Coren?

Curiously, another green salad, steak, special sauce, frites and dessert joint called Entrecote Cafe de Paris is opening at the end of October just around the corner from Relais De Venise. Can they both survive?

This is a typically brilliant bit of pr nonsense by Ramsay. He had the cheek to say that he doesn't make any money on the dish! Its not quite as bad as it looks however as the pizza is meant to be shared by six people.

He's gettnig about a bit these days, any idea who he was dining with?

In a controversial article for Waitrose Food Illustrated, chef Richard Corrigan accuses restaurants that add supplements to dishes of "being greedy" and "exploiting their customers' naiveté" and says that the use of asparagus out of season is "a sign that the kitchen simply doesn't care." He goes on to claim that "My hope is that people will leave my restaurant thinking they were well looked after. To achieve that, you have to get the right staff. I look for people who are happy to be themselves and at home with the concept of service." But do Corrigan's arguements stand up under scrutiny? Many restaurants who charge less than Corrigan's hefty £48.00 for three courses are forced to levy a supplement when serving luxury ingredients like langoustine and foie gras; its not greed, just simple maths. Equally, not all top chefs adhere strictly to the seasons, more a matter of choice on their part than a sign of not caring about their customers. Shaun Hill for example regularly served asparagus out of season at The Merchant House - believing that seasonality in the modern world of efficient global transportation is as much about what you want to eat at any given time of the year as what is available from local suppliers - and no one would accuse Hill of not caring. Service at Corrigan's Lindsay House has been criticised by at least one guide which says that "there can be ‘really serious problems with service’. Staff have been labelled ‘rude’ & accused of basic errors such as pouring sediment into wine glasses – ‘not something you expect from a Michelin-starred restaurant’." I myself suffered a poor service experience at the hands of one of Corrigan's former maitre'ds. Physician, heal thyself?

San Franciscan chef James Shenk serves a delicious quinoa polenta that looks very similar to the Ducasse dish at his funky "nuevo latino" restaurant Destino. Very interesting to see two such disperate establishments sharing a similar idea.

Matthew Norman on Galvin: "it was a delight not to be laboured with any facetious amuse bouches, those mini-cups of frothed-up soups that seem about half as amusing as the cup of cold cat sick they so closely resemble" " no "cappuccino of syphilitic mountain yak with pickled girolles"" "His salmon wasn't great, what little there was being ringed with capers ("Satan's bogies", as his wife-to-be knows them)" Yawn.

You might want to consider Origin in Endell Street, who offer a pre-theatre menu. Fay Maschler has just given it a rather nasty review but Adam Byatt is a very talented chef and definately worth a punt.

Yes, I believe so.

This just in: David Everitt-Matthias's second chef Marcus McGuiness has just won the Best Young Chef of Britain competition, recognition not only of McGuiness's skills but of Everitt-Matthias's continued committment to providing the best training for his staff. Congratulations to them both.

Revealled: Gary Marshall is Amos Brierley shocker!!

I had an excellent dinner a couple of weeks ago at La Trompette in Chiswick. Its a buzzy informal atmosphere, reasonably priced for London at £32.50, but with very good service and food. The new chef James Bennington has maintained or even raised the standards a little. It will take you about 20 minutes by tube (Turnham Green) but you are at least the right side of London. I should disclose that I know the owner.

You may be correct, the egci is an area of egullet with which I'm unfamiliar, and FG is certainly a competent writer, and I admire his spirited defences. Nevertheless, lovely boy that he is, he is still wrong on this particular point. ← If you are going to make accusations in a public forum about people's competency to do their jobs and wish to be taken seriously, at the very least you should be familiar with their work. Otherwise you could end up looking rather foolish.

Dirk, have you had some personal experience that has led you to feel this way. Are you a chef or restaurateur that has suffered at the hands of a writer for example? It would be useful to have some context to your comments. In Steven's case, I think you only have to look at the classes he has written for the eGCI to know that he is not without culinary skill and knowledge and its that, combined with ambition and his ability to write that has led to the publication of Turning the Tables.

Toby Hill has been in and out of more kitchens than I've had hot dinners, so I don't think the fact that he didn't last long at the Box Tree tells us anything in particular. Don't get me wrong, I think Gueller is a great cook and I wish him all the luck in the world, but we don't have all the facts about the fall out and never will, so its impossible for any of us to say who is in the right and who is in the wrong (Andy Lynes - skilled at the art of diplomatic fence-sitting. Well, sometimes anyway.)

As with all these things I'm sure there are two sides to the story. I have heard from more than one person that Gueller is a member of the awkward squad, so I'd imagine Avis has at least some grounds for complaint. Hopefully he can get on with his next landlord if he doesn't buy the place himself.

Gueller feller seller teller.

I'm very pleased I managed to preserve your syntax, which is quite particular, and not write up your answers in "my" voice or paraphrase them which, being the easier option, is always a temptation.

Thanks for the kind words and the correction and my apologies to Melissa!! Having the opportunity to speak to Michael Ruhlman was a real honour, his work serves as an inspiration and a benchmark for me and I'm sure many other writers.

I had a corner banquette table so neither my companion and I had chairs. The table didn't seem particularly small either (although I can't really imagine they have different sized tables) so maybe thats the one to ask for if you can.

I think it shows a complete lack of imagination, but I think we'll have to agree to disagree otherwise we could be at this all night. (You can have the last word though if you like, I'll be a gentleman about it!)