Andy Lynes

Sorry to hear you won't be continuing at the hotel, despite its success. Anything else up your sleeve for next season?

Don't be ridiculous, what's that got to do with gross profit margins and rolling out concepts? But how can you judge the cooking of a chef from the early 19th Century? You've only got his recipes and his achievements to go on, so success, influence and innovation must come into it, surely.

What criteria would you have used for a "greatest chef" list?

I know that Jennifer Sharpe writes the whole of the Harpers guide apart from restaurants in Scotland and that she eats out a lot. My guess is that each establishment would be visited just the once, especially those out of London. I'm not sure why you would say that she hasn't got a clue, my impression of her is quite the opposite.

Chefs are awarded points out of 5 for influence, innovation, success and longevity giving a maximum possible of 20.

Its a panel of judges headed up by Jennifer Sharpe who edits the Harpers Restaurant guide. I don't know who served on the panel however.

The winners of the Harpers and Moet restaurant awards were announced last night at a glamerous do at Claridges Ballroom. The shortlists and winners included several egullet favourites and were as follows: RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR (IN LONDON) The Wolseley, Piccadilly shortlisted: Daphne's; The Greenhouse; Petrus; Tom Aikens RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR (OUTSIDE LONDON) The Fat Duck, Bray shortlisted: Anthony's, Leeds;The Black Pig, Rock; Fawsley Hall, Northamptonshire;Thackery's, Tunbridge Wells. NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR Yauatcha shortlisted: Le Cercle; Inn The Park;Rasoi Vineet Bhatia, Le Vacherin CHEF OF THE YEAR Rainer Becker (for both Zuma and Roka) shortlisted: Bjorn an der Horst; Jeremy Lee; Christine Manfield; Morgan Meunier. SOMMELIER OF THE YEAR Philippe Messy at L'Etranger, Kensington shortlisted: Christopher Delalonde (The Square); Nuria Frau-Trullen (Langham Hotel); Frederic Grappe (Orrery); Steve Kirkham (The Connaught). PREMIER CREW AWARD FOR BEST FRONT-OFHOUSE TEAM Thierry Tomasin and team at Aubergine, Chelsea shortlisted: Giacomo Puntel (The Conaught); Brendon Murdock (Cru); Bertrand Pierson (Plateau); Rajesh Suri (Tamarind) BEST SCENE Cipriani, Mayfair shortlisted: The Gallery at Sketch; Nobu; San Lorenzo; Sumosan. VINTAGE YEAR Tom Aikens, Chelsea No shortlist for this catagory Belfast comedian Partick Kielty hosted the show in some style. He did however drop a clanger early on in the evening. In a reference to Gordon Ramsay's "Hell's Kitchen" TV show, he said that only Ramsay could have turned Abby Titmus into Fanny Craddock in just two weeks, although he added that she was more Fanny than Craddock. He also said that Ramsay wasn't able to attend the ceremony as he was "having his arse sued off in America" to which someone in the crowd shouted out "he's here!" which indeed he was. Kielty looked genuinely taken aback for a moment then replied that Ramsay could "fuck off". A brave man indeed. For myself, I was very restrained and only had one glass of free Moet all night. True, it was continually topped up by the waiters, but I only had to break into a jog once or twice to catch up with them. A decent turn out included "our own" Jay Rayner (who refused to pass comment on the results and wandered off as quickly as he could saying that he had to "go and see someone" ), Sir Terence Conran, Mark Hix, Fergus Henderson, a happy looking Trevor Gulliver, Angela Hartnett, Fay Maschler and many others.

But many of the critics seem to agree that the food at Fifteen is excellent, its just the service and the prices that people complain about. I'm not in a position to say whether or not Olivers style has influenced other chefs or if dishes that originated at Fifteen have started popping up on other menus, but I wouldn't be suprised if either or both of those things was already happening. I'm not saying that's a particularly good or bad thing, just that he is so well known that there's a degree of inevitability about it.

I honestly can't remember if there were any petit fours served, I was a bit the worse for wear by that time. I definately didn't eat any, which may have been a blessing if your experience is anything to go by.

I'm a 39 year old who has recently moved from corporate finance (as an auditor) to writing and spending 1 day a week as a chef in a local high quality hotel. I have dreamed of being a professional chef for the last 10 years or so, and have now reached a compromise that works for me and my young family. As as been said above, working just one day a week does not really gve me a proper insight into the life of a full timer, but I know that I come away from a split shift that runs from 9.30 in the morning to 11.30 at night with a break in the middle of the afternoon, I'm very glad that I don't have to go back in the next day. I would seriously consider if you need to attend culinary school. Ask around the best kitchens in your area to see if they would take you on as an apprentice/commis with no qualifications. You may be suprised. At 44, you don't have a moment to lose and the sooner you can gain professional experience the better. If I had a six figure income, I would plan to spend no more than a year learning the business from the best chefs in the country and then open my own place. That said, reconciling being a musician with the life of a chef/restauratuer is going to be very tough. I've worked in a number of kitchens over the years and without exception, all the really interesting stuff happens during dinner service. That's the gauntlet of the professional kitchen and I can't see how you can progress in the industry if you tell employers that you will only be available during the day. If you have your own business and you want the satisfaction of being hands on, you've got another set of problems. Working as a personal chef will demand that you are available to cook dinner. That said, if you can find a way to make it work for you, I just know that you will find the satisfaction you are looking for from your professional life. I can't agree more that quality of life is more important than money. That 80% (or more in your case!) pay cut doesn't have to be long term if you play it right, mixing your obvious business skills with your drive to cook. It sounds like a winning formula to me. Best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

My life changed for the better when I accepted the invitation to become one of egullet's founding affiliates. Everyday since then I've been active on these boards in one capacity or another and that alone has had an impact on how I spend my time. eGullet has given me direct access to the worldwide family of those that love food and drink or make there livlihood from it. Its an amazing feeling to be able to arrive in New York or Vancouver or wherever and know that you can hook up with like minded people. The greatest change though has been my decision to become a full time writer and its my association with egullet and the help and assitance of Steven Shaw in particular that has enabled me to so dramatically reduce my annual income. Thanks guys!

Jack is being rather modest here and not mentioning that several of his own loaves are pictured on pages 160-161 of the book, is quoted on page 162 and is acknowledged by Dan on page 190 (along with my good self and eGullet) so congratulations to him. I have only just got the book and have not had the chance to read it properly, but flicking through, it certainly looks like one of the nicest food books I have seen this year. It includes interesting articles about his travels in Europe as well as step by step instructions and recipes that cover everything from natural leaven to Chelsea buns. If that wasn't enough, Dan even took the excellent photos himself. No one loves a smart arse do they? Amazon.co.uk link (not yet listed on Amazon.com).

Its too early to say if Oliver has influenced anyone of note. Give it 5 years or so and I'd bet that we'll see a string of young chefs who say they got into cooking because of him. Does he do enough hours in the kitchen to still be considered a chef - I've really no idea.

And I thought Heston Blumenthal was at the cutting edge of experimental cuisine in this country. Pork pie and Coleman's first thing in the morning however is really out there.

Thanks for the explanation. During Aikens demo at the recent Restaurant show, he said something like "I don't have any method when it comes to plating, I just chuck it all on." Who could have guessed?

Aikens is of the classical school because, although his food is highly technical, its all based on established methods. The avant garde chefs are investigating and employing methods of preperation and presentation outside of the classical canon e.g. Ferran Adria, Grant Achatz and Heston Blumenthal.

Of course you meant to say "my fellow eGullet members who happen to disagree with my assessment of this particular restaurant but for whom I have the utmost respect." What do you by mean by Aikens sense of "surface tension"? I'm not familiar with that term in a culinary context.

I'm not sure I see that there is any intrinsic value in suprise in this particular context. Its a diffrent matter of you are talking about the avant garde chefs, but Aikens is fundamentaly of the classical school. However, I'm all for brief menu descriptions that don't list every element of a dish and its always nice when your expectations exceeded.

Closed on a Sunday. Possibly a bit nicer than your back street boozer, but the difference is marginal.

I nearly choked on my champagne breakfast when I read that. I'm so mad that, as soon as I get back from luncheon at my club (which should be about 5.00pm this afternoon) I'm going to get my PA to draft a personal rebuff. Snob indeed. I wonder if there are any more blinis and caviar...

If food is the new rock and roll (does it have to be? How bloody boring) Oliver is the lead singer of the Leyton Buzzards.

Jamie, you'll recall that although I loved Feenies duck dish, I did point out that it might be better called "quackers and mash" as a Shepherd's Pie really demands to be made with lamb. As to the butchery questions: Chump of lamb as far as I can tell is what you would call the sirloin, although I am not familiar with the term "baseball" in this context. You would generally only ever see it for sale in UK butchers as "chump chops" sold on the bone, whereas the chump, also commonly referred to as menus as rump, is supplied to restaurant kitchens off the bone in single portion sizes, around 6-8oz. They are usually roasted but, even though its a lean meat, it braises wonderfully well. Its late and I maybe confused, but I believe "best end" is only applied to lamb and is a loin joint from the back of the animal near to the neck end.

That's the first time in my life that I've ever been described as a "hard", I suppose I ought to be flattered. The place was full with a very middle class wedding party when I popped in so I wasn't in fear of my life or anything, but the thought of trudging all the way to Waterloo to spend the evening in those surroundings is a bit depressing.

I have yet to eat at Anchor and Hope but I dropped in recently whilst showing a restaurateur from Vancouver around London's hot spots. I have to say that I was amazed quite how basic the place was, it reminded me of the sort of "estate" pubs I used to avoid going to in Portsmouth for fear of getting beaten up. I am no snob, but I can't seriously see myself going back there in a hurry, no matter how good the grub is.

Given that Gualtiero Marchesi scores just 8 points to make the 20th spot, I don't see how you could exclude Jamie Oliver from the list. As one of the richest chefs on the planet, you'd have to give him 5 for success, at least 2 for influence, 1 for innovation (Cheeky Chops charity) and a 1 for longevity (the boy is already well established at a very young age and is no doubt going to be around for some time). So not only have they excluded Oliver from their list, but where is Swedish Chef from the Muppets and Tako the Octopus? It just doesn't bear close scrutiny.