Andy Lynes

Whatever you thought of Matthew Fort (that he reviewed too many pubs close to his front door, that he spent far too many words of his allocated space reproducing vast swathes of the menu, that his reviews had become formulaic and that he used the word "bosky" about 100 times to many), he took the idea of restaurants seriously and wrote about them with some authority. With the notable exceptions of Terry Durack, Fay Maschler (but with a growing number of reservations. I mean, how many more times do we need to be told that dear old Reg hates ratatouille?) and maybe one or two others, the British press seems terrified of the idea of printing 1000 words about a restaurant unless they are punctuated by bad puns, sneering jokes or personal anecdote. The most disappointing thing about the appointment of VLS is that we now have yet another "humorist" reviewing restaurants. The theatre gets Michael Billington, the cinema Phillip French and Derek Malcom, opera has Anthony Holden. What do we get? A bunch of fucking comedians.

You have to understand that not everyone can navigate as easily as you can around the sprawling metropolis that is Leeds. I mean, it would have taken at least 7 minutes to walk from Anthony's to 3 York Place. And there's that very busy road to cross as well. No, its just too much to ask of a journalist. Perhaps if someone could arrange for a sedan chair to be on hand for the next critic that ventures up North.

They left out 3 York Place - bizarre.

From the Harden's newsletter 10 September 2004: ""The world's most respected dining guide" We were very pleased with how the Evening Standard decided to bill Harden's. Remarkably some people on the eGullet newsgroup have taken issue with this description, but sadly failed to say who they'd prefer to apply it to."

The UK guide goes to press October. As L'ortolan has been closed for a good part of the year so far, I can't imagine they will be able to retain their star. Daniel Galmiche ran a very reduced menu for an introductory period and then the place closed for the refurb a few months after he had got going. Not much for the guide to assess the restaurant's consistancy by is it?

The publication of Harden's guide this year has been met with a storm of publicity over the very low scores for Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant (the eGullet thread is here). A camera crew for the London evening news had recently left Chez Bruce when my wife and I arrived at the restaurant last night. Voted London's second favourite restaurant behind the Ivy and second top gastronomic experience behind Gordon Ramsay, sommelier Jason McCauliffe joked that "the news was only here because the other two refused to do it. If we had said no they would have been in the Indian Ocean round the corner". Bruce popped out to say hello and I warned him that we were expecting a meal second only to one at Royal Hospital Road. Surprisingly, he didn't throw me out on the street, but returned to the kitchen and prepared: Cep soup with sauted ceps (Larmandier-Bernier Blanc de Blanc 1er cru NV vertus) Baby shepherds pie with lambs tongues, meat juices, olives and basil (me) Smoked haddock and leek tart with poached egg and hollandaise sauce (her) (Hermitage Blanc 2000, Domaine Habard Pere et Fils, Rhone) Daube of pork with polenta, raddicchio, crisp pancetta and parmesan (me) Confit and magret of duck with salad paysanne and pomme sarladaise (her) (Brunello Di Motalcino "Le Potazizine" 1999, Giuseppe Gorelli, Tuscanny) Cheese Feuillantine of blackberry and apple with calvados sabayon (me) Glazed raspberry creme chiboust (her) (Kiralyudvar Tokaji Cuvee "Ilona 1999, Hungary) Coffe, calvados, "the best palmiers in Bellvue Road" (© Bruce Poole) and chocolate truffles.

Playing devils advocate - I think its reasonable to assume that if you are getting a tasting menu at a restaurant of the quality of 1880 for £22.50, you can expect the menu to be somewhat amended from the usual offering. But maybe the menu should have been published online or made clear at the time of booking. When I was in New York last year, it was restaurant week and many places were offering a set menu for around $20. I spoke to Danny Meyer (clang! - name dropping ahoy) who said (and I'm paraphrasing wildly here) that it can be a difficult time for the trade with people who rarely eat out wanting to get every last penny's worth of value , demanding glasses of wine for free when its not part of the offer for example. His approach however was not to change the food or severly limit the customer's choice, but to show off the restaurant at its best in order to bag the one or two customers who really appreciate the place, will keep coming back and tell their friends what a wonderful restaurant it is.

Small

Asparagus - in September? Otherwise, quite a nice sounding menu, if a little on the safe side. If you lived in Brighton, you'd understand why I am rooting for this place to be good.

This overnight deal in Leeds looks on the face of it like a genuine bargain: VIP Weekender. Admittedly The Room (venue for the inclusive dinner) would not be my first choice, but you could always fit in a visit to Anthony's or 3 York Place at lunchtime.

Draft menu for The Gingerman at Drakes which opens on 20 September: Colchester Oysters on the Half Shell, Condiments £6.95 ___________________ Wild Mushroom Ravioli with Mushroom Cream and Chervil White Onion Soup with Smoked Bacon Dumplings Marinated Organic Salmon with Potato Blinis and Herb Cream Foie Gras Poached in Sauternes with Beetroot and Apple Chutney Cornish Crab Salad with Avacado and Sauce Maltaise Asparagus Feuillete with Warm Poached egg and Chive Butter _____________________ Buchan Beef Fillet with Gratin Potatoes, Onion Rings and Red Wine Rack of Downs Lamb with Garlic Puree and Pistou Slow Roasted Pork Belly with Fondant Potatoes and Creamed Leeks Fresh Fish From Local Boats Monkfish and Sweet Potato Red Curry with Jasmine Rice Veggie (to be confirmed) ________________________ Hot Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla and Mascarpone Ice Cream Hot Raspberry Souffle with Raspberry Sauce White Chocolate and Strawberry Trifle Iced Cream Sundae Port and Stilton Toast with Walnut Oil Selection of English Or Irish Cheeses (1 more dessert to be decided) 2 Courses £25 3 Courses £30 I'll report on the restaurant and hotel in late September, early October. Hotel website.

In the article AA Gill claims that he has nothing to do with restaurant PR's. It must be pure coincidence that he ends up at all the places that I get press releases about, and reviews the same restaurants as everybody else.

The cover story on the current issue of Restaurant magazine is "The Critics: How to get them into your restaurant". It features all the "major" writers, except for one... (my guess is that, as the piece is about getting a critic to review small independent restaurants in the sticks that, Marina would be excluded as she only goes to places in London. That, or she refused to have a caricature done of her.)

Can I ask that any further discussion of French restaurants takes place in the france forum. Thanks.

:gary: I'll see if I can get it added to the database, I'm sure it will come in handy in the future.

Having met Scott several times, I can confirm that he knows a hell of a lot more about wine than I do, but I would stand by my comment on the Maury and foie. I seem to recall it was producing an involuntary "wow that's great" reaction from me and stopped me from blathering on about whatever the hell I was boring Moby with for a moment or so.

I was thinking more Ray Davis than Barry Manilow. But then I usually do.

Perhaps her name is Lola.

I noted that Simon Hopkinson accompanied Maschler on her visit and said that the pistou soup was the best he could remember. I can't imagine a higher compliment.

Have a look at her picture on the website and make your own mind up.

I have removed several of the posts from this thread as there appears to have been some confusion caused by a post that was edited soon after it was made. I will contact those involved by PM to clarify the situation.

He was a she.

An enjoyable lunch today at Brasserie St Quentin in the Brompton Road. Its a lovely room in the manner of a classic French brasserie - red leather banquettes, wooden chairs and stripped oak flooring enlivened by mirrors, prints and two beautiful flower displays. It has a nicely lived in feeling, and so it should after nearly 25 years in business. Although I believe the room has been refurbished fairly recently, it certainly hasn't been updated which is sure to have come as something of a relief to its regular 50 and 60 something customer base. The menu reads well and for the most part succeeds on the plate. A well judged salad of Lough Neagh eels from Northern Ireland with horseradish dressing was nicely done. A crunchy crust provided a welcome contrast to the delicate flesh and had been formed by soaking the fish in milk, dusting it in flour then sauteing it in butter before finishing it off in the oven. It was served coiled into mache salad with the punchy horseradish dressing drizzled around. Grouse was served whole on the bone with game crumbs and watercress with game sauce, bead sauce gaufrette potatoes and spinach on the side. I asked for the bird to be cooked "as the chef wanted" which turned out to be more well done than I expected. My fault for trying to be clever I suppose. For £29.00, it was pretty good value and the sauces in particular were excellent (apparently they bake their own white loaves purely to make the bread sauce). A crisp apple tart was piled high with fruit and served with a delicious calvados and raisin ice cream. Efficient service in the less than packed dining room was headed up by the too-posh-for-words Edward Arthur (formerly of Launceston Place) and his glamorous blonde assistant manager who's name I didn't catch. Smiles, eye contact and conversation from other members of staff however were all very thin on the ground. Restaurant website .

Jay, I think the review was crystal clear and that everyone understood where you were coming from. In trying to isolate one small and fairly unimportant issue from it, we seem to have been hugely successful in making a mountain out of a molehill - so much so that its almost like the old days. I think we can summise the following: some expensive restaurants make life harder for themselves and their customers than they should most people might like to dine at quarter past or quarter to the hour at some point in their lives, whereas a small minority of one probably wont internet discussion sites - phew! nobody knows anything ( © William Goldman)

Thanks for the report Yin. Despite Heathcote's expanding empire, we hear little of him these days. I'll always be grateful that he opened a restaurant in Preston. I was stuck there for two weeks a few years ago, and it was the only thing that kept me sane.