Andy Lynes

My interview with Paul Rankin Group Executive Chef Andy Rea will appear in the 27 October edition of Restaurant magazine. A report of meals at Roscoff Brasserie and Cayenne will appear here soon.

That section is actually called "Hotels and Haute Cuisine." As The Boxwood is located in the Berkeley Hotel I don't think the inference is that it serves haute cuisine because it most certainly does not. Its not without it pretentions however. The roast chicken is bought the table and shown to each diner before its taken away to be carved, which I found hilarious.

No, 8 are dead, the rest still alive although not all are still cooking. I enjoed reading the article and learnt a bit from it, although I would recommend "The Story of Haute Cuisine" from Anthony Blake and Quentin Crewe's "Great Chefs of France" for a more in depth although still potted history of the subject. I think its a reasonable stab at an all time top 20, albeit one designed to provoke and entertain as educate. Although I can provide no names, surely there must be some Asian chefs worthy of inclusion, it seems a gaping hole, if only that Japan was such a big influence on Nouvelle cuisine.

Yes, but if you hire a big brigade and keep them in the kitchen for 10 or more hours a day, you've got to keep them busy doing something haven't you.

Sounds more like ribeye than fillet. Was the meat marbled or was the fat around the meat?

The Belvedere might suit you well. Its a lovely room and the new chef Billy Reid is highly regarded and got a good review in this yesterdays Evening Standard. Plus its in Holland Park, handy for the kids to have a run around in when they get bored. There's 360 views of the main restaurant and private dining areas here.

I'm very glad you enjoyed the meal, especially as it was a special occasion.

Enough to know that I'd like to be back waddling the streets again sometime soon, getting in the way of native Vancouverites at Granville Market and being told off for taking photos in Urban Fare. Hell, I might even bring my family along and chill out on Kitsilano Beach for a day or two. I'll be the very pale one shouting at my badly behaved kids in a Southern-English accent. Maybe you can buy me a beer if you happen to passing.

Blumenthal would probably have replaced the caviar with white chocolate, dried the bread out in a desicator before toasting it at a ultra low temperature for three days, smoked the salmon in liquorice and then got the waiter to perform a tap dance from an old Morcambe and Wise show as he served it in order to evoke childhood memories of Shiphams Paste sarnies in front of the tele. Ramsay and Blumenthal are the alpha and omega of modern haute cuisine and can't be successfully compared on any level other than the most obvious - they are both chefs and they both have 3 stars. Fron there on in, its a whole different ball game. The Boxwood is just great at what it does. In comparison with The Fat Duck, its ambitions are of course limited, but then you shouldn't be comparing it to the Fat Duck in the first place. There still aren't enough restaurants that get the basics of a great room with great atmosphere, service and food. On Saturday night, that was what I was looking for and that was what I got.

Ramsay is away filming the US version of Hell's Kitchen at the moment, but he wouldn't be in the kitchen anyway. The head chef is Stuart Gillies formerly of Daniel in NY.

I had a simply marvellous experience at the Boxwood on Saturday night. Whatever you think about Ramsay's recent media assault, not forgetting those crisp adverts, there is no question that he continues to be a consumate restaurateur. Despite sitting at the worst table in the room, a four top situated right by the entrance to the kitchen, I had one of the most enjoyable couple of hours of dining I can recall in quite a while. Service is friendly, efficient and full of character and good humour. The elegant gold and silver wallpapered room buzzes with the sheer pleasure of it all but never becomes unpleasantly noisey. From the one page menu, I chose a smoked salmon and caviar croque monsuier with walnut salad to start. Eating a toasted sandwhich is an odd way to start a three course meal I suppose, but I just loved it and it went rather well with a bottle of Qupe Chardonnay/Viognnier. A main of roast suckling pig with cocotte potatoes with grain mustard sauce came to the table in a cast iron dish (just for show, and had obviously never been used to cook in) and was just wonderful, tender flavourful meat with perfect crackling, rich fondant-like potatoes and the creamy mustard sauce lending just the right amount of punch. Sides of spinach and onion rings were just OK. Coffee and donuts to finish were served on another piece of cast iron ware, this time a wooden handled griddle on which sat a rather granular coffee sorbet served in a little steel milk urn and four mini donuts held in a linen napkin folded into a basket. Ramsay may not be the most original thinker in the world, but his execution is faultless and the Boxwood proves there is an awful lot more to him than simply fine dining. I'd love to see him tackle something even more casual than the Boxwood. If Adria can do fast food, why not Ramsay?

Isn't it a bit mean spirited to say " we got voted number 1 but we don't care because the magazine that ran the poll sucks"? I think this is fantastic news. Even if you think the magazine is a dumb ass publication and its readers no better (which I don't by the way) the very least you can say is "well, at least they got something right."

Despite its all round wonderfulness, I wouldn't recommend St John as the place for a romantic meal for two, its way too noisey and far more appropriate for tables of 4 or 6. Sunday can limit your options a bit in London - Le Gavroche and Gordon Ramsay are not open for example. If you are talking high end then The Capital, The Square and Foliage are all open and have at least a sporting chance of being considered great. Vineet Bhatia is closed unfortunately.

Moby - in all seriousness I suggest you book now for whatever tables remain before they shut the doors. The Merchant House is a special restaurant and its highly unlikely that there will ever be anything quite like it in the UK again. The vast majority of gifted chefs in this country are desperately trying to figure out ways of not cooking for a living, or are promoted to positions where cooking is a long way down the list of their priorities. Shaun is singular in his determination to keep firmly at stove-side and that personal touch comes through loud and clear. If I don't manage to get back before next spring, I can at least reflect on the numerous meals I enjoyed at The Merchant House over the last 8 years or so that I have been going there. But if I can get a seat at one of the final suppers, then so much the better.

any opinions as to service, ambience, taste of food etc should be clearly stated as the reviewer's personal opinions and his only ←

...which has finally reached our screens. Will his next book be titled "A Passion For Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding Flavoured Crisps" I wonder?

Couple of additions to the list: Starters by Pied a Terre chef Shane Osbourne due out in October (not on Amazon at the moment), more detiails to follow. Les Halles Cook Book by Anthony Bourdain I'm keen to get a look at the Mark Hix book, if only because I attended a mornings shooting for it at photographer Jason Lowe's studio.

I'm not sure if the Greenhouse qualifies as hot, but they are certainly doing something a bit different from the mainstream there and is worth investigating as long as you are feeling flush.

Hot tickets would have to include Reiner Becker's Roka and the new stupidly expensive Umu. I'm not saying they are any good as I haven't been to either, but they are "hot" for what that is worth. A further vote for Vineet Bhatia. I think it would be a shame to cancel Cinnimon Club as its such an impressive space, but no question that the food is on a lower level than that of RVB, but then its a much bigger operation. Chalk and cheese actually.

I think the use of the description "Pub and Dining Room" is very deliberate. Of course its factually true, but also points it out as being something different from the run of the mill gastropubs. Its a subtle, but to me, important difference. You can get a genuine restaurant experience at The White Swan; the space is right, the linen, crockery, cutlery and stemware are of very good quality and the people are qualified to do the job. That doesn't sound like the gastropubs I've had the misfortune to dine in.

You may be aware that I am not a fan of “gastropubs” (if you want to read my views on them click here). So why, you might ask yourself, did I volunteer to meet an ex-BT colleague for dinner at The White Swan Pub in Fetter Lane, just off Holborn Circus? One reason is that chef Jason Schrimshaw has previously worked at both Chez Bruce and Bibendum, fine establishments the pair of them and home to some of the most honest and satisfying food in the capital. Another is that brothers Tom and Ed Martin, who also run The Well in Clerkenwell, have done a great job of gutting and restoring the place, installing ship loads of wood and leather, giving it the sort of masculine elegance that is perfect for its City location. The most important reason however is that, no matter what the reviews might say, this is decidedly not a gastropub. Rather, this is a damn good boozer where you can get some decent grub over the bar and which just happens to have a restaurant on its first floor. Separated by a mezzanine level, neither operation detracts from the other. The busy bar doesn’t infringe on the comfort of the diners, and the restaurant doesn’t take up valuable drinking space in the pub. Each successfully retains its identity and is not forced into an unhappy compromise that for me characterises the term gastropub. The daily changing menu is short but packed with good things to eat: saffron, mozzarella and pimento risotto; half a dozen oysters with shallot vinegar; smoked eel with mash and bacon; wild rabbit with papperdelle; prune and brandy delice; home made waffles with coconut ice cream and maple syrup. After much thought, I chose grilled marinated quail served with hummus, preserved lemon and spring onion dressing followed by grey mullet with braised fennel and fish cream, while ex-colleague Stuart went for game terrine with onion jam and toasted sourdough and roast rump of lamb with twice baked pudding soufflé. The food was virtually faultless. The spatchcocked quail had been marinated in a variety of spices including cumin and star anise which formed a crunchy crust on the grilled bird. This was served on a bed of waxy and delicious hummus with the pleasantly astringent chopped lemon and onion dressing scattered around, pointing up the aromatic flavours of the dish. Grey mullet is a woefully underused fish, with far more texture and flavour than the ubiquitous and often bland sea bass that it resembles. Here, the skin had been nicely seasoned with sea salt and fried until crisp, accompanied by some gently braised fennel and a stock based fish cream sauce. Sides of top notch mash and accurately cooked spinach made this a winning dish. I didn’t get to try the game terrine but this got unreserved thumbs up, as did the lamb, although the black pudding appeared to be more of a loaf than a soufflé. Once upon a time this sort of food would have been described as Modern British. Now only the likes of Heston Blumenthal and Anthony Flynn can claim to be truly modern, so I suppose this is simply British. Whatever you want to call it, it’s very good. And at 28 pounds for three courses of accomplished cooking (we both finished with an exemplary bread and butter pudding with amaretti ice cream), represents the sort of value pub dining rooms should strive to offer. From the intelligently compiled list we chose a Coudoulet De Beaucastel, Pierre Perrin 1999 which at 29 pounds was a lot of wine for the money. My Yorkshire based companion was not quite so convinced at the value however, pointing out that a Côtes Du Rhône, Guigal at 24 pounds was available from Majestic for less than 6 quid. Service from restaurant manager Susi Boesner was both informed and informal, responsive and efficient. The White Swan is a real gem and a handy place to know about if you are in need of a beer and a Lancashire cheese and onion burger in the pub, or a blowout with fine wines in the dining room. The Martin Brothers have just opened The Gun in Docklands which is I hear a stunning room and has a great riverside location. I can’t wait to try it. Restaurant website.

Its seems like a long time since I sat opposite a strict vegetarian BT collegue in Rascasse, Leeds and tucked into Gueller's signature pigeon and foie wrapped in cabbage cooked very pink and served with the legs, feet intact. Hopefully, my cunning plan to get up to Ilkley in the near future will come to fruition and it won't be too long before I get a chance to sample the great man's food once more. All I need now is a willing vegetarian.

Does a restaurant have a soul? More importantly, does it need one? That was the question I was hoping to answer by dining at youthful entrepreneur Marlon Abela's re-imagining of The Greenhouse, one of London's best loved and longest standing restaurants. If you are unfamiliar with Abela's name, you are unlikely to remain in that state of blissful ignorance for long. The 29 year old (who's father owned the global contract catering company Albert Abela Corporation) is Dysoning up properties across the globe in an attempt to become a world class restaurateur. The Greenhouse is a Marlon Abela Restaurant Corporation (MARC) "concept A" establishment. Abela is set to open at least five of these fine-dining restaurants in London within five years. Paris and New York will follow. Each will have an average spend of £80 a head including wine and are intended to be the organisation’s two or three Michelin star flagships. Besides The Greenhouse, Abela already has Morton's private club and ultra-expensive Japanese restaurant Umu up and running. Where there is a concept "A" you might assume there is a "B" and "C". In Abela's world, B equals casual fine dining, 60-200 covers, £45.00 a head average spend and "C" stands for a "suburban branded rollout concept" bringing urban sophistication to residential America at $40 a head. So far, so off-puttingly clinical and calculating. Or maybe it's just a smart business plan. Does the fact that Abela so overtly wants (and arguably needs) multiple Michelin stars for his “concept A” establishments make any difference to the dining experience? Can a proprietor with bottomless pockets full of cash to throw at a 2,000 bin wine list stuffed full of rare vintages, a world class chef in the form of Bjorn van der Horst and an oak, walnut and draped fabric dining room filled with gorgeous Art Nouveau object d'art have enough taste and passion to create something "real", or does a creeping sense of cynicism pervade? Is it Aretha Franklin or Whitney Houston; Public Enemy or Vanilla Ice; Janis Joplin or Joss Stone? The room is certainly very elegant with its burgundy and beige colour scheme, etched glass enclosed salon privee and recessed ceramic displays. It put me in mind of Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road, although when full, it has an agreeable buzz and energy that Ramsay’s more restrained operation resists. Van der Horst is an A team chef for an A concept restaurant; apprenticed at L’Auberge de I’ill, a year and half with Robuchon, 4 years with Ducasse and then Chef de Cuisine at Picholine in New York, it would be difficult to find a much more impressive CV. But resumes can be misleading. Just because a chef has worked for the best doesn’t necessarily mean the magic has rubbed off. Luckily, van der Horst was born to pull rabbits out of hats. Take for example the Jerusalem artichoke soup (soup mind you, there’s not a veloute to be had anywhere on the menu) with black trumpets and foie gras that kicked off the portentously titled “Prelude To Autumn” 7 course 75 pounds a head tasting menu. This was truly great cooking of kind that fully engaged all the senses. The earthy flavours were overwhelming, a mantra that cleared the mind of all but one thought: this is fantastic. The cheese and mushroom soldier (sorry, truffle and mascarpone mille fuille) was made with the most delicate of buttery puff pastry and almost tipped me over the edge of pleasure. “If I wasn’t in a posh restaurant, I’d dip it in the soup”, I remarked to my dining companion, then did it anyway. Pan seared foie gras with espresso syrup and amaretto foam reached similar heights. The adroitly seared liver was gooey inside, contrasting nicely with the almond crusted exterior. Bitter syrup and sweet foam were impeccably balanced. Not all dishes were as successful however. A bowl of Scottish lobster with caramelised endives came to the table smelling exactly like a tarte tatin and was overly sweet. The accompanying vanilla brown butter was not brown at all and swamped the dish, making the beautifully cooked lobster meat difficult to enjoy. Poached Atlantic halibut was partnered with a lemon sabayon and dates that might have been better served with a steamed sponge pudding. The chef might also be accused of gilding his lilies. A technically impressive amuse of frogs legs with the meat scraped back from the bone, crumbed and deep fried was served with a spicy coriander puree and a shot glass of virgin mary and tomato consommé. There appeared to be little obvious relationship between the various elements on the plate. Similarly, a sensational “pur caraible” and praline tart was unnecessarily embellished with a shot of raspberry and cocoa liqueur which served only to lessen the impact of the dish. In contrast, a Blumenthal-esque pre-dessert of white chocolate mousse with black olive toffee sounded awful but worked brilliantly. The selection of over 60 cheeses were in perfect condition and generously served and constituted a highlight of the meal. Wines by the glass were imaginatively chosen by ex-The Square sommelier James Payne and although mostly spot on matches for the food, were often served too cold. A 2000 Meursault Tessons Michel Bouzereau was a particular casualty, only beginning to open up as we finished the halibut it was paired with. Service is polished yet affable, although restaurant manager Jean-Marie Miorada is yet to stamp his personality on the room. But what about the question I posed at the beginning of this report. Although I approached the restaurant with some trepidation, I left if not wholly convinced, then at least re-assured. Abela might well be the Roman Abramovich of the London restaurant scene, but he appears to be more than just a fat wallet. The Greenhouse is a young business that has aimed its sights very high from the get-go. It has achieved a very good standard in a short space of time and may well continue to improve. It's more than the sums of its parts, a real restaurant and not just some rich kid's identikit idea of what one might be like. Has it got soul? Well, that's too big a question to be asking just at the moment. In five years time we'll know for sure. PRELUDE TO AUTUMN Apértiif : 1988 Henriot, Cuvée des Enchanteleurs TASTING MENU Jerusalem artichoke soup black trumpets and foie gras Lustau Manzanilla Amontillada Spain • Scottish lobster caramelized endives and vanilla brown butter 2001 Verdejo Belondrade y Lurton Rueda Spain • Pan seared foie gras espresso syrup and amaretto foam 2001 Cauhapé Jurançon Symphonie de Novembre • Poached Atlantic halibut lemon sabayon, dates and pistachio-truffle vinaigrette 2000 Meursault Tessons Michel Bouzereau • Roasted loin of Scottish venison croustillant, endives and chestnut späetzle 2002 Cederberg Shiraz South Africa • White chocolate mousse black olive toffee 2003 MR Moscatel Mountain Wine Málaga Spain • ‘Pur caraibe’ and praline tart raspberry and cocoa liqueur shot 1999 Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos Oremus Hungary £75 per person Selection of cheeses Warres Otima 20 Year Old Tawny Port

Some more details and background to what was the fourth Ramsay Scholarship. Twenty four chefs competed at one of four Regional Heats held over the last five weeks for a place in Tuesday's final. Jane Mulholland from Tallaght Institute of Technology in Dublin won the college section of the competition receiving a £1,000 cash prize, a stage at one of Ramsay’s restaurants and a place in the final joining nine professional chefs: Mark Sycamore from New Zealand; Jamie Raftery of Dower House; Graham Walker of The George Hotel, Yarmouth; Anna Haugh of Pied a Terre, London; Alan Irwin Chapter One, Kent; Nathan Green of Thyme, London; James Barber of The New Angel, Dartmouth; Trevor Cunningham of Nuremore Hotel and Country Club, Co. Monaghan, Ireland and Marcus Eaves of Hibiscus, Ludlow. The ten cooks competed to create a three-course meal from a mystery ‘black box’ of ingredients in 3 hours. All contestants had to make a mushroom risotto and filled artichoke to accompany a Poulet Anglasie prepared in their own style and a Crème caramel. In addition, they had to create an amuse featuring mackeral. An impressive panel of Judges assisted Ramsay including last year’s Scholar winner Tristan Welch, David Pitchford of Read’s, Faversham; Richard Corrigan of Lindsay House; Steven Doherty of The Punchbowl Inn, Crosthwaite, Cumbria; Angela Hartnett of Angela Hartnett at the Connaught; Marcus Wareing of Pétrus and Josh Emett of the Savoy Grill. The competitors were initially surprised by the choice of chicken as the main ingredient but still managed to impress the judges with their quality of cooking, appreciation of flavours and use of the ingredients. After a tense two hour wait, the day culminated with a glittering ceremony at Claridge’s hosted by Davina McCall where Marcus Eaves was announced as the winner. Among other prizes, Marcus received a car donated by Hyundai, £3,000 cash, stage at the world renowned Gordon Ramsay, Royal Hospital Road and Petrus and 2 placements abroad. He has also won a trophy, an all expenses paid trip two-day to the Villeroy & Boch factory to collect six signature plates, a year’s subscription to Caterer and Hotelkeeper and a magnum of wine, a commemorative plate and 2 Bragard jackets. (Apparently Marcus does not drive, but Hyundai are looking into organising driving lessons for him). (eGullet.org thank Sauce Communications for information and picture.)

Thanks for the info and congratulations to Steve Love. This is a pretty big deal, Ramsay I understand is a former National Chef of The year and it appears to have done him no harm whatsoever.