Andy Lynes

Success with Aux Lyonnaise, but Taillevent have just e mailed me back to say they are fully booked for that Friday. As I only e mailed them on Friday, that is incredibly efficient of them, and they have very kindly offered alternatives, all of which I am unable to take them up on. Very disappointing. I now feel rather foolish as I decided on Paris as a venue for my 40th at least 12 months ago, although we only confirmed exact dates quite recently. Do you think Le Meurice would be able to obtain a table for us in advance of us arriving? Does it work like that, or would we need to see the concierge when we get there?

In case anyone is interested, the itinerary is shaping up as Taillevent on Friday night (although I fear I have left it too late to get the booking, currently awaiting response to a carefully worded e mail), Jardin D'Hiver Saturday lunch and Aux Lyonnaise Saturday evening (again depending if we have let enough time to get a table). Definately not the most adventurous of line ups, but one that will suit us down to the ground if it comes off. Thanks to all for your input, I'll report back on all the meals.

For one reason and another, we have no option but to dine in the Winter Garden at lunch (life's hard eh?). The main restaurant at Le Meurice is still on my list for dinner on Friday night, but we'll only be having three meals in Paris and I find the idea of having two of them in the hotel we are staying in a little bit unadventurous to say the least! I do want to have a 2 or 3 star experience while I am there, and Alleno is definately a name to watch, but I just like the idea of getting out and about a bit. I am however having severe difficulty in deciding which restaurant to plump for. Guy Savoy is leading at the moment, but the cost is breath taking. For that reason Taillevent is looking appealing - an "affordable" 3 star. Despite what Gary says, I think the room is very important. I really couldn't imagine paying hundreds of Euros to sit in Le Grand Vefour for example. On the other hand Le V looks gorgeous, but I don't fancy paying 80 euro for "Risotto Carnaroli aux olives vertes et aux morilles". Decisions, decisions.

Its a shame Matthew Nornam's reviews fromn the Sunday telegraph aren't on line. Last week he gave 11 out of 10 to Amaya, an up market Indian restaurant in Knightsbridge. I'd have loved to understand his reasoninf for that.

From the photo on the website, the decor of Jardin D'Hiver looks to be far more to my taste than that of the main restaurant. I'm told that the food is "more toned down than Le Meurice, but still fairly serious" and gets the thumbs up in the 2004 Time Out guide to Paris restaurants, which lists dishes such as tomato and mozzarella in pesto sauce, Caesar salad, steak tartare and duck with black cherries and cabbage. No menu on the website however which is a bit frustrating.

What if we split red wine on the sheets though? That's going to cost a bob or two at Le Meurice!

Newlands B&B is just around the corner from L'enclume and inexpensive. Never stayed there, but look like a decent bet.

I can see the headlines now: "Critics queue to laugh at bloke who was once in a TV cookery competition as he tries to make an impression on the Ludlow restaurant scene."

I meant the 5 dinners and 2 lunches, Tuesday to Saturday, that The Merchant House is currently open for. You could actually make it 10 services (5 lunch, 5 dinner) and up the revenue a bit.

Say you did around 20 covers per service with an average spend of £50.00 a head and you did 7 services a week for 48 weeks of the year, your gross annual revenue would be £336,000. You should be able to make £100,000 out of that. Wage costs would be minimal and as you would be "living above the shop" you wouldn't have additional housing costs. Sounds like a goer to me!

One of the reasons I returned to The Merchant House so often, apart fropm the fact that it was so good, was that it was obviously a one off that couldn't last forever. I hope that there is a chef with the talent, dedication and balls to keep the Ludlow phenomenon going. Maybe there's another Anthony Flynn out there somewhere.

We will actually be dining in The Winter garden at Le Meurice rather than the main restaurant. Does anyone know what menu is served there? Is it more in the brasserie style? If so, I'm now thinking that a bistro meal might well be do-able.

He's had stars wherever he's cooked, so he's had at least three consecutive stars and I think he had them at the same time for City Rhodes and Rhodes In The Square. If he put his mind to it, I don't doubt he could have got 2 or maybe even 3 if he wanted them, but he just took a different path.

That is very wrong of you. Whatever you think of Rhodes TV persona, he is a very able and talented chef and restaurateur, while Harriot on the other hand is a complete...entertainer.

No, he's never held more than one. Looking forward to his new place at the Cumberland Hotel, although I still haven't made it to Rhodes 24 yet. I must rectify that as soon as possible.

Le Gavroche which held 3 stars for a longtime before it was demoted to 2 and La Tante Claire (now closed) was demoted when it moved premises. The only other 3 stars I can think of were The Oak Room and Chez Nico at 90, both of which "handed back" their stars when Marco and Nico retired from the kitchen.

It won't. The last thing on earth Michelin would do is award a 3rd star one year if they thought there was the remotest possibility that they might have to take it away the next.

Three knives and forks but no star.

As far as I am aware, no new restaurant has ever gone in the guide at 2 stars, so if it happens, it will be an historic event.

The news was out on 15 Jan last year and its usually announced around the same time every year.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the "Latte Art", or is that just a tourist thing?

We took the kids up to London between Christmas and the New Year and, as Bodeans was closed for lunch, we ended up in Nandos in Frith Street. A very good meal, clean premises and efficient service all for about 35 quid. (As a reasonably interesting aside, I can confirm that Aladdin at The Old Vic is the gourmet's panto of choice this year. By an odd coincidence, Fergus Henderson and family were sitting in the same row as us on the night we went.)

The first time I heard the term "gastronaut" used was by UK chef and TV personality Keith Floyd in the 1980's. I'm pretty sure he "invented" it which this article by respected food writer Emily Green appears to bare out. I do so dislike this sort of article that profers to be about something but is in fact about nothing. As a freelancer however, I can quite see how this "story" came about.

Sounds like you might have missed the recent eGullet Q&A with McGee.

I can't remember where I read it now, but Chapter One restaurant got the thumbs up recently. These are some of the other threads about Dublin on eGullet: Thorntons Patrick Guildbaud L'ecrivain The Tea Room Casual dining