Andy Lynes

Ristorante Il Battibecco in Impruneta?

I ate this dish last night, except I was in London. It was cooked by Andre Garrett, head chef at Galvin at Windows in Park Lane. The sous chef there Armand Sablon has recently returned from a 3 month stage at the Auberge as part of his prize for winning the Roux Scholarship chef competition and the restaruant has been running a "La Decouverte de L'Alsace" to celebrate the success. The dish I ate appears to be an exact replica of the original expect that it was served with a pastry straw. Simple, elegant, delicate, delicious. Timeless is right - it's obviously an "old school" dish yet doesn't seem to have aged. Its the perfect restaurant dish in that its more than just an assembly of ingredients (as so many dishes seem to be these days); there's real thought behind it and so its becomes more than the sum of its parts.

I don't think the two are incompatable at all, especially for an experienced, mature chef like Paul Kitching who I imagine won't be chasing his tail but has a pretty clear idea of how he wants to try and achieve the accolade. Chefs give so much of themselves to their trade that its not unreasonable for them to want something back in return.

From the people who bought you rattlesnake. They know how to grab a headline or two, but does it actually make anyone want to visit the restaurant?

Has anyone, in the history of catering ever actually been "amazed" by a pub?

You can avoid the grim shopping centre by using the restaurants dedicated entrance down. Don't go in the front entrance but walk down Porchester Gardens for about 100 yards and you'll find it. Far more civilised!

I dine alone quite a bit for various reasons and have given up the paper/book routine, mostly because if I'm going to write about the place I want to see as much of the service as possible. I've mostly gotten over feeling self conscious (the Steve Martin "Lonely Guy" syndrome) and can relax into the experience quite quickly - a beer usually helps. I rarely take a notebook as I think it changes the experience a bit and I usually leave note taking for the train or back in the hotel room. I find it much easier to concentrate on the food if I'm dining alone, which sounds a bit nerdy and sad in black and white, but I think you get a different appreciation of what your eating when its just you at the table. That certainly doesn't mean that I prefer to dine alone, but I do count it as one of life's great pleasures.

"You don't want this sort of little thin, tight sort of fisted slice of bread. Nice and thick chunky bread." It's like William Burroughs' cut up technique in speech form.

Raymond McCardle is still at the Nuremore as well though isn't he, or is their website out of date?

No, never had one as far as I'm aware.

That's a shame, I had a two star lunch there last week.

While we're all waiting, here's a rather good article giving the Scottish view click.

Glad to see from Jan Moir's article in the FT this weekend that Derek Bulmer still loves us - click; Mr Bulmer participated in an eGullet Q&A back in 2005 click. Results released tomorrow at midday!

They'll never guess, unless they visit the website of course - click.

Thanks for the explanation. I wonder what proportion of those businesses go on to fail a second time? I would imagine that the suppliers would be very wary about extending any credit at all and might demand payment on delivery, which could cause cash flow problems while punters might well wonder what was wrong with the place that it went under the first time and stay away - a recipe for disaster surely?

Its closed - click. Not a good time for TV-backed restaurants. Two Kitchen Nightmares have also recently made the news - Momma Cherries in Brighton went into adminstration before Xmas but has just re-opened with Momma's daughter in charge (how does that work?) and The Granary in Titchfield has been badly damaged in a fire which may be linked to an arson attack earlier in the year.

Some of the diner's reviews on toptable are a bit suspect - "Wedgwood, a relatively new Edinburgh restaurant which offers an interesting and provocative menu of sumptuous and delicate flavours." - oh, stop it! If I was the deeply cynical, suspicious type, I'd almost suspect a viral campaign by "friends and family" of the owners.

One less than executive head chef.

He's following a very tough act out "West" click.

Here, Mr Koffmann you have stuffed luxurious and expensive sweetbreads and morels into a pigs trotter, the epitome of peasent food. The three just can't go together...on the other hand, it might win you three Michelin stars and become a hugely influential and much copied dish.

Yes, I bet that was difficult. Go out the door, turn right and stop at the first school you come to. ← That's unfair and demonstrably untrue Andy. I trust your restaurant reviews are better informed, more accurate and show greater respect to the people who work in them. ← I have two children, aged 14 and 10, both at different schools in Brighton. Both take packed lunches. That's my experience, which seemed to be echoed in the Jamie's School Dinners series. I take it that your's is different. Do you, or someone you know, work in the industry?

Sorry to be snarky, but I think if you're going to start a new thread with a long review you need to be very clear in that review what your connection is to the restaurant : "vested interet etc etc" doesn't really do that job. In my opinion, a signature line with "Thom Hetherington, Managing Director, Moorfield Media" and a link to your website would help. There are a group of us old timers who know who you are and what you do, but it isn't necessarily clear to everyone. For the record, Thom is and remains the go-to-guy for all things Manchester and beyond. He's a lovely bloke, good company, hospitable and always very helpful. Oddly, my wife thinks he's good looking, but it should be noted that she met him before she increased the strength of her contact lens prescription. eGullet launched in August 2001.

How much are eGullet charging for advertorial these days?

I didn't see any of the series (I'm aware that intensive farming methods aren't very pleasant, in the same way that I know plastic surgery makes for pretty grim viewing) but, as the main effect on me of watching Supersize Me was to trigger a craving for a Big Mac and fries, I'm wondering if KFC have experienced a spike in sales. "Isn't it terrible what they do to our feathered friends?" "Oh absolutely... God, I could murder a bargin bucket right now."

Yes, I bet that was difficult. Go out the door, turn right and stop at the first school you come to.