Andy Lynes

So perhaps it had gone downhill in those four months? Fresh faced and full of youthful vigour at the beginning of the season; a little tired and over rehearsed towards the end, like an actor who has perfomed Lear one too many times.

Candy restaurant: View from the restaurant over the beach

Moby - I take it you are not suggesting that the restaurant has gone downhill in the four months since Tony ate there? It seems unfortunate that you were seated where you were; if you were in the main dining room and unaware of your position in the pecking order so to speak, do you think you would have had an appreciably better time?

The simple answer is I guess that they don't want a magazine full of maps! The Food Paradise feature is picture heavy and nice to look at whereas the rip out map feature is more utilitarian. It would have made the article more user friendly I suppose, but there are contact details for all the places mentioned. I'm glad you thought the piece hit the mark. Its always difficult to know what to include and what to leave out. I think the only way to approach these sort of things for an international audience is to make sure you include the must do's and balance that out with some less obvious places. Leaving out West or Lumiere from a general diners guide to Vancouver would be a bit like omitting Gordon Ramsay from a London overview, it would distort the article. Including the likes of Parkside (not exactly a secret in Vancouver, but lacking the profile of the aforementioned restaurants) adds at least some balance. It skims the surface thats for sure; there was a lot of ground to cover in too few words. Asian restaurants certainly get short shrift, but then that could be a whole article all by itself. At least its put Vancouver on the map as a potential food destination for olive readers.

Am I allowed to plug my Food Paradise Vancouver article that appears in the August edition of olive magazine that should be available in Vancouver soon (I know you guys are a month or two behind the UK)? I know Babera Jo's stocks the magazine so keep a look out for it and you can tell me why I got it all wrong!

I think the series so far doesn't quite bear comparison with Floyd Around France which has been showing on cable recently, but I'm prepared to give it a few more episodes before I make up my mind. I haven't felt fully engaged by it as yet although I'm not sure why; maybe the barge is more of a distraction than a properly unifying theme, perhaps Stein just isn't convincing unless he's talking about seafood.

I ended up doing a lot of cooking at the holiday cottage. We had one reasonable meal out in Blueberrys Restaurant, Wesley House Tel: 01834 845785 but it was nothing to write home about. Candy cafe was frankly terrible but has one of the most stunning views of any restaurant in the UK. If a named chef bought the property they could transform Tenby a la Rick Stein I'm sure. I'll post a photo later this evening. Excellent old fashioned ice cream sundaes and knockerbocker glories are to be had at Fecci and Sons in Upper Frog Street. Probably the gastronomic highlight of the trip! We also ate at Kook-a-Ba, High St, Saundersfoot. 01834 813814. Entirely unremarkable but the kids liked it and Saundersfoot is very pretty.

Was that the Shepherd's review. I'm not sure if that ever got past the threat of legal action stage. I think this is disappointing news; a safe obvious choice. But then I would say that wouldn't I.

Thanks to Joe Warwick, editor of Restaurant magazine, for clarifying the situation. I'm sure that we all appreciate that no one would want to make the situation any harder for Robbie Millar's family and friends than it needs to be. As a Michelin star chef, Robbie Millar was amongst the elite of his profession worldwide and I know that his loss is deeply felt. I sincerely hope The eGullet Society can contribute in a meaningful way to a tribute to his life and work.

Paternoster Chophouse's "Beast of the week" is grouse with celeriac puree, bread sauce and some other bits and bobs for £40.00.

Poche grille and get the best of both worlds.

How about Elephant in Torquay, home of Simon Hulstone aka eGullet's "ginger chef." The boy can cook and they are open for lunch.

Perhaps Adam could be encouraged to share his ideas on this thread for the benefit of everyone rather than in private.

Michelin's criteria for 3 stars, as pointed out by Derek Bulmer in his eGullet Society chat includes the wording "“fine wines, faultless service, elegant surroundings." With the refurb, I think LCS has all three now, but I suppose it depends if "faultless service" in the eyes of Michelin equates to armies of waiters and sommeliers rather than the slightly more informal but nevertheless informed and correct service you get at LCS. I personally think that Le Champignon Sauvage would fit in quite nicely alongside The Fat Duck, Gordon Ramsay and The Waterside Inn.

Yes, do let us know when there is further news on the tribute, eGullet would definately like to be involved.

Photo as promised

Am I being stupid?

A little disappointed at the brief news item in Caterer today. I would have thought Robbie Millar would have warrented a longer piece at the head of the news section.

Just back from Cheltenham and a fantastic lunch at LCS. I was there to write an article for olive magazine, so I'm going to have to keep the details for that. I will say that it was the best of the three meals I have had there. If I could have levelled one criticism in the past of David's cooking it was that it tended towards richness. Now, there is the same intensity of flavour, but the food is a little lighter. I was even able to fancy a petit four or three with my coffee for the first time. We had around 8 courses and I would find it very difficult to single out a dish for particular praise - they were uniformly excellent. However, favourites around the table were pan fried cock's kidneys and langoustines, langoustine tortelloni, langoustine sauce; seared dived shetland scallop,raw cauliflower, cauliflower puree, cumin froth; and breast of wood pigeon, date puree, goats cheese cream. Each of the dishes had additional elements to those listed on the menu which I won't go into as I don't want to spoil the "surprise" for anyone going soon. Its amazing to think of the how the room was compared to it now. It was a nice enough place to enjoy a meal, but it didn't really do the food justice; now you feel like you are in a two or three star restaurant. I have some pictures which I will upload soon. I was having a wander around town this morning and came across a couple of places that will be of interest to eGulleters: Nectarous Wines just around the corner from the restaurant where I bought a bottle of the Rully that I had enjoyed at LCS yesterday and Cooking: The Books (2, The Courtyard, Montpellier 01242 577908) which has an amazing selection of cookbooks, and a very good second hand stock as well as foregin titles such as Ducasse and Keller etc.

The first Roux Scholar in 1984 was Andrew Fairlie, now head chef of Gleneagles. Callaghan won it in 1991 when he was at Roscoff. Roux Scholarship website.

There isn't really a "Fat Duck" style restaurant in London. In terms of cutting edge cuisine, Pierre Gagnaire is involved in Sketch in Conduit Street, and Bjorn Van Der Horst's food at The Greenhouse in Mayfair is quite different. Jason Atherton, head chef of Gordon Ramsay's Maze has worked at el Bulli, but I don't think anyone would say that Maze is like the Fat Duck.

Thanks for taking the time to post Nicook, please pass on our condolences to all at Shanks. Sunday Life's report includes some quotes from Paul Rankin, Robbie Millar's mentor and close friend.

I think we must have caught Peter at just the right moment because I understand he is a very busy chap, what with restaurants either side of the Atlantic, books and TV shows and God knows what else. Very decent of him to respond, and so quickly.

Reports with tributes in the Belfast Telegraph and BBC news.

Here's the news report at Ireland online. This is shocking news. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to spend an evening in the Shanks kitchen a couple of years ago to watch a service. The atmoshpere was very up and relaxed (although busy like any good restaurant kitchen), and my impression was that Millar was much liked and respected by his brigade. He had just returned from a trip to Provance and had overhauled the menu to reflect the ideas he had gathered there. He seemed very excited and fired up and the food was just terrific. I know from spending time in the old Roscoff kitchen that he was highly regarded by his former collegues there both as a cook and man and I'm sure he is going to be missed terribly.