Andy Lynes

Not much chance of that I would have thought ← Now there's something we can all agree on.

Fi - its allowed! It's there in black and attractive shade of blue. Pweaver's comments have not been amended, changed or deleted in anyway. He has drawn sympathy from some members, others like myself have challenged him on events and his reasons for posting in the first place. That's also allowed. I feel that I really cannot be any clearer in my reasons for criticising Pweaver in posting in the way he has done about this particular incident. As to your example of an outstandingly glowing report, I'd like to quote William Strunk Jr and EB White from their book "The Elements of Style": "When you overstate, readers will be instantly on guard, and everything that has preceded your overstatement as well as everything that follows it will suspect in their minds because they have lost confidence in your judgement or your poise....a single carefree superlative has the power to destroy, for readers, the object of your enthusiasm." You can be sure that while members may not find boundless and unbalanced praise necessarily objectionable, they will be suspicious of it.

I once stood behind Felicity Kendal on an in Harvey Nichols. I had always thought she was a real peach of a woman, and that just confirmed it for me (well, I had to get some food reference in their to remain on topic didn't I?)

As a small reward for cooking lunch and putting up with the relatives without swearing at them or waving my chefs knife in their direction in a very threatening manner, I always ensure that one of my Christmas presents is a big expensive cookbook. Around three in the afternoon, I settle down in a comfy chair, permanently topped up glass of wine by my side, and spend a couple of quiet hours reading while the kids break their new toys and squabble. This year, that book will be Bouchon. I can't wait.

It is certainly not my intention to infer that Pweaver's post is in any way deliberately misleading or exaggerated, just that the situation was a delicate and awkward one that might better have been kept private. However, now that its in the public domain, Pweaver ought to respond to the assertions I made in my earlier post in order to provide a fuller picture of events so that people reading this thread are in a position to make up their own minds about what happened that day. As it is, he has remained tight lipped and instead has tried (and failed) to make me look hypocritical about this issue.

Here's the link to the thread in question. Now I have read my comment in context I can see that its self explanatory and no further response is required from me.

Which thread is that from? I'd like to be able to put the quote into context before responding, at the moment its meaningless to me.

He eats there so often that I suspect he's been single handedly keeping A-Z afloat for the last 12 months.

Matthew - sounds like you got something of a bargin. Rowley Leigh, writing in the FT last weekend, said that he paid 2,300 per kilo and was warned that "prices were about to rise."

It seems to me that even though your book has been inspiring chefs since it was first published 20 years ago (Nico Ladenis is an example that readily springs to mind of an "early adopter" in the UK) the industry is only now beginning to get to grips with the idea of reviewing the accepted ways of doing things in the professional kitchen in light of scientific research. What is your opinion of the industry in terms of how food is dealt with in kitchens currently and do you envisage major changes in the medium to longterm future?

There is an interview with Gingerman chef Ben McKellar by Joe Warwick in the current issue of Restaurant Magazine. I am dining in the restaurant tonight and will report back tomorrow.

Caterer says on this story that "An insider at one A to Z restaurant said some managers and chefs planned management buyouts of individual businesses." Maybe Howard Long can tell us if that includes Aubergine.

careful what you wish for Lynes, we may hold you to that. I'll go home this evening and report back tomorrow. ← No need to hold me to anything, I'm going to do it, with or without big sprouts God damn it!

That sounds awesome. What sort of pickle was it? If I can lay my hands on some large brussels I'll cook this and post a photo.

Thyme is now open and full menu details including a la carte, set lunch and tasting are available on the restaurant's website. Prices appear to be low eg 45 pounds for the a la carte, so expect them to rise within weeks.

The Paul Rankin Group have advised us of the following new openings: Wine, a new wine and light appetiser outlet is scheduled to open in the departure lounge of Belfast International Airport on Friday 12th November. The Rankin Group is investing over £200,000 in the venture, which will create 10 new jobs at the airport. Paul Rankin commented, “I am delighted that we have been able to strengthen our partnership with Belfast International Airport and I am looking forward to a continued successful working relationship and to helping offer passengers within Northern Ireland an enjoyable and memorable travelling experience.” This new wine bar will offer an additional 45 seats to the current Café Paul Rankin at the airport. There will be a range of quality wines, fine Irish & continental cheeses, fresh smoked salmon on Roscoff wheaten bread and a selection of antipasti. Hot daily specials and fresh homemade soups can also be ordered from the Café Paul Rankin menu. The latest Café Paul Rankin has opened in Bow Street in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The Café seats 82 people and employs 30 staff. Paul Rankin commented, “We are delighted to be opening a new café in Lisburn and this will bring our portfolio of cafes to seven. We are eager to expand our number of outlets and Lisburn was the perfect choice; a thriving city and a popular shopping destination." The cafe offers a healthy selection of breakfasts, snacks and lunch with everything from scrambled eggs and the special Café Paul Rankin breakfast to penne a la romana, paninis, quiche, deserts and coffee. Information courtesy of Chris Love at The Paul Rankin Group

According to The Telegraph Ramsay and MPW are already sniffing around the remains which means there is a possibility that Ramsay might get Aubergine back.

Sam, thanks. Hope you have a great meal and please do tell us all about it. Are you going to Merchant House as well?

Moby, I don't want to engage in nit picking with you, but you can't possibly know what the waiting staff did or didn't hear, whether they misheard or misinterpreted snatches of the conversation and filled in the gaps themselves or caught sarcastic comments in full.

I don't know, I haven't contacted them about it as yet. Has anyone else.

I can understand your position on this. Just this week my wife to her mother out for an 80th Birthday lunch to a restaurant in Brighton. Due to problems with both the food and service, they had a terrible time. My wife was very angry and she phoned me at my office and vented her feelings. Although she had complained to the waitress at the time, I urged her to call the restaurant and calmy explain the circumstances i.e. that it was a special occasion and what the problems had been. When she did, the manager who had not been on duty when my wife dined, was apparently mortified and has asked my wife to return and be taken care of properly. Issue resolved. Whether or not my wife will actually return or not is another matter, but the restaurant have in my opinion done their best to make her happy. When my wife phoned me, I didn't quiz her on her behaviour in the restaurant. I didn't ask for a chronology of events, I just sympathised. That's because it was a private conversation between two people who are close to each other. I can think of numerous occasions where people have complained to me on a one to one basis about the way they have been treated in a restaurant, how bad the food was or how big the bill was and I say to them "Oh God, no! Really, how awful!" But eGullet.org is not a private conversation. Its a very public forum, read by thousands of people all over the world everyday. When there are reputations at stake, eGullet members and its officials cannot in all good conscience simply say "Oh God, no! Really, how awful!" to every sob story. Imagine if it was your restaurant that was being talked about in this way, and the members of eGullet as one united in saying how terrible a chef you must be, how bad your food is and how amateurish the service at your restaurant must be for such an incident to have occurred. Wouldn't your reaction be "How can they say that, they weren't even there?" You feel let down and slighted by your experience at Hibiscus, it obvious that you don't feel that you have been accorded the respect you deserve. You felt the need to tell someone about it, I completely understand. But because of the nature of the circumstances, you should have picked up the phone to a mate, had a good rant and got it off your chest. He or she would have been in a position to listen and take on board what you said at face value, which is what you say you want. Then you should have picked up the phone and thrashed the whole thing out with Claude and Claire, although now that you have written what you have, I think that's going to be a very difficult thing for you to do. Let me say again that this is in no way intended to deter members from posting about bad restaurant experiences. We all have them, God knows living in Brighton I have more than most. But I would ask that members think very clearly about the circumstances in which the meal was taken and be totally honest with themselves about the reasons for their disappointment. Nine times out of ten, it will be very straight forward - the food was over/undercooked, the waitress was surly, you weren't offered a drink for 20 minutes after sitting down at the table, you felt it was overpriced. But when it gets more complicated, as is the case here, where the food was great and there are apparently no complaints about the technical aspects of the service, be sure that you are able to offer a complete and accurate account of events or be prepared to be asked to fill in the gaps. And think carefully about why you are posting in the first place, what you want to achieve by posting and what you imagine the effects might be of your actions. If you are satisfied that you are acting in the best possible interests of all parties, go ahead. If not, phone a friend.

This is of course pure supposition of your part Moby and in my opinion not a satisfactory basis upon which to be drawing conclusions about the restaurant owners and staff's behaviour, and in particular to be using words like "shocking" and "outrageous". To say that the Bosi's exhibited "completely unacceptable behaviour" on the basis of PWeaver's account of things is at best premature and at worst misguided. But I thank you for your post as you have illustrated exactly why this sort of incident is not suitable grist for the eGullet mill. As always, this sort of speculation gets nobody anywhere and simply serves to drag the level of debate and discourse on the UK forum down to the lowest common denominator - "he said" "she said" "oh isn't that terrible" "I agree" "I disagree". This is a futile subject for one very good reason - it's none of our business. I'd be interested to know details about the food, the technical aspects and timing of the service and so on, but that's all irrelevant in this case because a chain of events that none of us will ever know the full details of made those things of secondary importance.

I agree totally, there is no question of inhibiting negative reports about any restaurants.

No, as long as members continue to post on individual meals in restaurants, then the good and bad should be reported. The purpose of my post was simply to point up the gaps in Pweavers1984 report and underline that the best way to resolve a dispute with any restaurant is directly with the establishment in question. For the record, my "personal acquiantance" with the Bosi's totals meeting them on about four or five occasions over a period of nine years.

This appears to directly contradict the content of your post: "you are not allowed to eat in their restaurant, unless you either shut your mouths, are stiff, old and/or including speaking with a false well-to-do lisp."; "in all honesty don't think they deserve 2 Michelin Stars, and I hope in January they receive just the one". I have to question your motives for posting this on a public forum. It appears that the situation came to a head at the restaruant on the day, that you have "discussed" your issues with the restaurant owners and that the matter should now be closed. What do you hope to gain from informing the world about this incident? In your account, Claire and Claude Bosi were incensed by a table of their customers (industry collegues to boot) enjoying themselves, and you and your party did no wrong. That makes no logical sense. Are you really 100% confident that nothing that was said by you or your party could have been reasonably misconstrued by the Bosi's or their staff as being critical of the service or the food or them personally? Is it totally honest to say that you left some of the food because of a large meal the night before? Or did you dislike it and discuss that between yourselves in a jokey, perhaps even sarcastic manner? Unless you can provide further details of the discussion at the table which demonstrates that the Bosi's and their staff have no reason to feel the way that you describe they did, I think it would be the natural reaction of anyone reading your post to assume you are not telling the whole story. How the Bosi's dealt with the situation is of course a seperate matter and again we only have your account of that, but you are asking a sizable worldwide audience to judge the situation on limited and biased information. Its clear to me that the desired effect of this is to make you and your guests appear entirely in the right and to tarnish the Bosi's reputation. Your post poses more questions than it answers. Its my firm opinion that egullet.org is not the place to air personal grievances. Your words would have been better put down on paper and sent directly to the Bosi's. Even better, put down on paper and then put in the bin. You would have got the whole thing off your chest and avoided having a question mark put over your motives. The bottom line is that only you and the Bosi's really know the full facts of what occured on the day and that is why this matter would have been best kept between yourselves. eGullet is not a mediation service for restaurants and their customers. We are not a consumer organisation. We are more than happy for members to post about specific meals, good and bad, but the simple venting of ill feeling in public ultimately does no one any good - neither the customer, restaurateur or eGullet.org.