Andy Lynes

Pied a Terre is due to re-open in early September. The place has been completely re-designed with an extended (non-smoking) dining room, second floor bar area and private dining room. The interior will be decorated with suede walls, cream leather banquettes, rosewood furniture, Matteo Grassi chairs, floor uplighting, grass weave and tarmac flooring. There will be art by Hamilton, Blake, Hodgkin and Clare Chapman, ceramics by Jane Blackman and glass pieces by George Papadopoulos. Shane Osborne has been travelling and researching his new menu which will include new dishes of sauted langoustines with caramelised foie gras, pine nuts and beurre noisette poached lettuce; turbot cooked on the bone with sauted cepes and confit potatos, preserved lemon and fresh thyme; ansd white chocolate and cardamom cream with blood orange juice and spiced bread tuile. (Info courtesy of Sauce Communications)

I contacted Peter Gordon to see if he would like to add his comments to this thread. He e mailed me the following helpful advice, along with a plug for his latest books, but I think we can allow him that! "I always prefer to make my own tamarind paste. I take 1 block of compressed tamarind and cut / break it into 6-8 pieces then put in a pot and cover with 2cm warm water, bring slowly to a boil and cook it out until it becomes a porridge like mixture, stirring often. The pass it through a moulis or sieve. I recently used the Indian style dark glossy tamarind paste from a jar and whilst it gave the panna cotta I made a sharp and tangy quality, it didn't taste quite right. Although I have used this particular tamarind when making soups and laksa as it seems less noticeable. I hope that helps. And while I'm on here, you need to go out and buy my latest UK book Salads - the new main course (Quadrille). Anyone in the US (the Hawaiian amongst you) needs to get my latest US release Peter Gordon's World Kitchen from Ten Speed Press. Cheers, Peter Gordon."

Sounds like something out of a David Cronenberg movie.

Shame the picture was an old one. I'll see if I can get some snaps of the new interior when I go next week and post them here, although I won't photograph the food as I'll be too busy enjoying it.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is Page Six? Thanks.

Usually about the same time as the chef is emptying the contents of your dinner plate over your head and kicking you out the door.

The The eGullet.org Copyright and Fair Use Policy states, "What would not in our minds be acceptable would be saying, "Hey, I found this recipe in so-and-so's cookbook, here it is!"

The bottom line is that this forum is for the discussion of UK restaurants, cuisine and travel. That discussion is bound by the rules of our user agreement. Some of the posts on this thread could arguably be characterised as "mean-spirited insults" which are disallowed by the Society's User Agreement. I'm going to let them stand for the moment as they are relatively mild and I try not to be heavy handed when moderating, but lets be civil and stay on topic. Thanks.

Fisherman, my comment wasn't aimed at anyone in particular, although I personally couldn't see myself raising issues of personal hygiene with a complete stranger.

Richard Johnson - a member of the eGullet Society who is yet to post but who was reading this thread yesterday. Good rule of thumb for this forum - never post anything here you wouldn't be prepared to say to someone's face.

The recipe is on page 170 of The Sugar Club Cookbook. I can't reproduce it here for copyright reasons but the quantities are 7 egg yolks, 200mls honey, 300mls milk, 300 mls cream and 200ml tamarind paste. Its the usual method, but beat half the honey with the sugar and heat the the other half with the milk and cream.

Just in case you aren't aware of it, you might want to check out the eGullet.orgThe Ministry Of Rum forum.

The style of these columns is to take a subject that I have some strong feelings about and then go at them with all the subtlety and sensitivity of Leatherface swinging a chainsaw. Bcause of the subject matter, they do generally stimulate some debate but if I am honest, I don't set out to write with that intention in mind. I get a feeling in my gut about something and the column flows from that feeling. The only thing I consciously try to do is put some jokes in and make them funny.

This is a humorous piece so should be taken lightly. I wasn't suggesting food could be a substitute for faith, but that as a faithless person, the closet thing to religion in my life is food. I was speaking metaphorically. I don't question that there may well be health benefits associated with observing religious dietry restrictions, but the point of them is much more to do with control than reducing heart attacks.

A mystery never to be solved I'm afraid as she is no longer around to ask.

The series portrays critic Matthew Evans as someone with enourmous power and influence over the Sydney restaurant scene, something this article in the Sydney Morning Herald backs up. But is his opinion respected by the general dining public?

In the kitchens I have worked in, chefs have always been given a beer by the owners/management at the end of dinner service which might explain why they were so surprised when a punter got a round in as well.

I have a confirmed booking for lunch on 17 August. It might be worth checking with the restaurant on the current situation.

As a result of the most recent report on this thread and the comments made about plating style, I spoke to Ramsay's PR company Sauce Communications today to find out if there was a particular reason for the apparent change. They told me that Ramsay's style has continually evolved over time and that nothing is served in the restaurant without his direct involvement. They told me that Simone Zanoni (great name) is now head chef of Royal Hospital Road. Zanoni has worked within the Ramsay organisation for a long time and has worked with Mark Askew for a number of years. Mark Askew is now Ramsay's group executive chef but still heavily involved with Royal Hospital Road. Sauce confirmed that there will be a major refurbishment of the dining room at RHR over the 2005 Christmas period, although there were no details of who the designer will be.

He's going to Wales to open a pub and then onto Cardiff to open a big modern restaurants according to Restaruant magazine.

Marcus Wareing always used to serve cherries at the old Petrus, along with a little treacle tart or something else sweet. God I miss that place.

A very nice piece of word smithery, Andy. ← Thanks Moby, that's very flattering.

Food looks great, although I find the amount of squeezy bottle action quite surprising. (BTW - Its RamsAy.)

I'm glad you enjoyed the article and thank you for the very kind compliment.

Great cooking is always revelatory.