Andy Lynes

We can always go to another quiz night if this is difficult for people.

Bruce doesn't really do signature dishes and as Jonathan says, the menu changes often and there aren't many dishes that stay in tact for a consistent period of time. Exceptions to that may include deep fried goujon of plaice with home made tartar sauce (Bruce's batter recipe is the best I have come across and this is a great starter at lunch time) assiette of charcuterie, roast cod with saffron mash and red pepper compote, tarte tatin and the cheese board. Bruce told me that he has recently completely revamped the menu with his head chef Matt Christmas and is very pleased with the results. Im going for lunch next week and I'll see if I can get him to fess up to the dishes he is most pround of at the moment and I'll report back next week.

The frankly technophobic Bruce Poole has been dragged kicking and screaming in to the 21st century and now has a rather spiffing website for his restaurant Chez Bruce which you can view here.

Not sure who is head chef at Montes now, sorry. Ist quiz is on 17 february and we have a table of six reserved. I'll check all the details re price and what have you but I think its just a bash in one of the bars. So we have BLH (?), Scott, Curlywurlyfi and me, anyone else?

none of which actually describe the experience, but rather the reviewer's attitude -- all these make this a less than insightful review. Although I think its true to a certain extent that Moir can be accused of phrase making and given the timing of the review, opportunism, that quote in particular I think rings very true. Although I wouldn't agree with the "crashing bores" part, there is an arguement that a proportion of what Blumenthal does is aimed at other chefs, industry people and devised to get the likes of you and me excited.

Interesting that she calls the place "The Fat Profit" and then points out that it takes 50 quail to produce 2 litres of stock for the "Quail Jelly, Pea Puree, Cream of Langoustine". In the Restaurant Magazine article, the figures they give are 90 quail for 4.5 litres and that when it is served with an oak flavoured truffle butter toast, as it soon will be, the dish would have to sell at £11.00 if it were to be individualy priced on the a la carte. Given that the tasting menu consists of 17 dishes, and given what it takes to produce them (although I'm sure not all of them are as expensive or labour intensive as the quail jelly), the £85 price tag doesn't seem all that bad or greedy, especially when you compare it to the 6 courses (including coffee and mignardises) for £79.50 at The Waterside Inn. I've had the champagne flutes she mentions, and although they are very thin, they are also very tall and I'm fairly sure hold the standard 125ml. £9.50 is the going rate for house champage in a 2 or 3 star establishment. Other than that, I thought it was a nicely written and entertaining article, and reported the Fat Duck experience accurately, its just that she didn't like it very much.

I like the sound of the pop quiz, anyone fancy getting an eGullet pop quiz team together?

The Atlantic is planning a series of events to celebrate its tenth anniversary : The Party On Friday 23 April 2004, Oliver Peyton’s throwing a party for his friends and best customers. “I want it to be the perfect evening at The Atlantic; great cocktails, delicious food, lots of laughter and no small amount of decadence. I’ll be damned if I’m throwing a party for London’s rent-a-crowd. These are going to be my friends, dropping in for a glass of champagne and a bite to eat; old mates catching up; everyone hanging out to see what surprises I’ve got in store for them, and forgetting that they ever have to get up the next morning.” he explains. The Atlantic’s Grayson Perry vase needs a new home Commissioned not long after the Atlantic first opened a vase by this year’s Turner Prize winner depicting famous customers of the restaurant and valued at £20,000, will be given away in a year’s time to the photographer of the wittiest image taken at The Atlantic. The closing date for entries is 7th January 2005. I’m in it for the long-haul Every business day, from Saturday 24 April 2004 until the end of the year, Oliver Peyton will be giving away 10 bottles of Taittinger champagne to the first 10 tables to clock-up 3 hours in the bar or restaurant. 10th Anniversary Cognac 250 bottles of a special edition 10th Anniversary Bisquit cognac, with label and box designed by Mark Farrow will be given to The Atlantic’s most loyal customers. “At Home” Hosts of all parties of 10 or more will be given a box of Atlantic “At Home” cards to send to their guests. The mottled silver cards come with classic white, tissue-lined envelopes. 10th Anniversary Menu Chef Ben O’Donoghue is creating a gourmet menu to run from 24 April until the end of the year. Comprising of 5 dishes, the menu will be priced at £55 per head. A gourmet wine menu, which includes 5 wines, will cost £75 per head. More parties Atlantic hosts Sheriden and Elton have scheduled more than two dozen nights special event nights including The Siren Suite presented by Mathew Glamour on the first Wednesday of every month; The Slick Wig Party; Sneaker Pimps; irreverent Pop Quizzes; and the burlesque shenanigans of The Whoopee Club. (Details of all the public events will be posted on the website) 19-21 Great Portland Street, London W1R 5RQ Telephone 020 7734 4888 Website Opening Hours Restaurant 6pm to 11.30pm Monday - Saturday Main Bar 12pm to 3am Monday - Friday 5pm to 3am Saturday Dick’s Bar 6pm to 3am Monday - Saturday

Heston is on the front cover of the current issue of Restaurant Magazine and there is a lengthy article about the current a la carte. No pictures of the food however!

A couple of comments to add to Gary's report: the white wine was "Riesling Crossroads Estate (Hawke's Bay New Zealand)" and was a delicious, mouthwatering and juicy sort of wine. The Pic St Loup was Domaine de l’Hortus and was another special bottle. Although 5 hours is a long time for a meal, we did spend as good hour of that just chatting to Denis at the end. We also had drinks in the bar before hand so there was no sense of the evening dragging or waiting for food or drinks to be topped up. I noticed a step-change in Martel Smiths food from my previous visit. Its seems more focused, more tightly concieved and executed. Although Denis and Martel appear to be in two minds about not getting a Michelin star this year (on the one hand it might be bad for business, on the other it would be nice to have the recognition) my personal opinion is that Tuesday nights meal was strong one star. As previously noted, service is some of the best I have encountered in the UK and the wine list is full of interesting bottles at very reasonable prices (a good example is the Pol Roger Cuvee Winston Churchill, on sale in Harvey Nichols in Leeds for £85.00, on the 3 York Place list for £95.00).

Please note : some of these links may require free or paid registration to view. This week's selection comes from: The Times The Independent The Guardian The Observer The Telegraph This is London Restaurant Magazine Restaurants Siobhan Murphy finds that Essence not so rare. Fay Maschler tries out chef Andrew Turner's new venture Peridot and Frontline staffed by some ex-Ivy/Le Caprice personnel. Belinda Richardson travels to The Bell at Skenfrith. Matthew Fort gives Latium a cautious thumbs up... ...but Terry Durack finds Latium lacking. Meanwhile... ..Tracey Macleod fails to give Patterson's a pat on the back. Ginny Dougary (in for Giles Coren) at Hibiscus. AA Gill is doing the Cheyne Walk. Jay Rayner knows his Alliums. Features Terry Durack on the future of The Fat Duck and Matthew Fort has his say as well. Chris Arnot on rhubarb. Sybil Kapoor meets NY chef Marcus Samuelsson. Food Mark Hix - Rice dishes. Gordon Ramsay Citrus Suppers. Jill Dupleix. Tamasin Day-Lewis - Cassoulet. Francesco Quirico on Italian home cooking. Rowley Leigh in The FT. Wine and Spirits Super plonk. Cellar notes #16: Why small is beautiful. Richard Ehrlich enjoys the winter wine sales. Andrew Catchpole on half bottles. Tim Atkin on Chilean reds. Jancis Robinson rounds up some wine courses.

I don't think we've had any first hand reports as yet but there are links to press reviews in the UK Media update on the Food Media and News board. I have spoken to several people who ate there just after it had opened and were less than thrilled by their experience, but its a hell of a team and things may well have improved by now. Interestingly however, restaurant managing director David Loewi has quit after just 3 months and returned to the Conran fold from whence he came : full story here.

They're actually increasing the covers from 55 - 85 which is quite surprising given the cost of a meal there. I wonder if they will fill the place on a regular basis.

I would ask that all contributions to this discussion be kept within the limits of the eGullet user Agreement, which if you haven't read recently, you might want to re-aquaint yourself with its terms which you can do by clicking here. Any further infractions will result in this thread being locked.

I haven't eaten there, but Hogarth's was featured in a Caterer magazine "year in the life" series a while back. The chef stated he was aiming to win a star, although he hasn't managed it yet. Haven't tried Clarks either but could be worth a punt. I have eaten at Bistro On the Beach albeit a couple of years ago. It was Ok but a little way out of town.

Kerala Food Festival - Press Lunch 13 January The Cinnamon Club is spotlighting the range of regional expertise in their kitchen over the next few months and first up is Rakesh Nair with the cuisine of Kerala. Here is the menu from the lunch: (NB the dishes will appear, individualy priced, across the restaurants menus in February) Travancore style crab rasam soup Reisling, Plantagenet Museum Release, Western Australia, 1998 Warm pickled beef with rice pancake Gruner Veltliner, Ate Reben, Brundlmayer, Austria 2001 Dry spice crusted breaqm wrapped in banana leaf, raw mango chutney and rice vermicelli Semillon, Brokenwood, ILR Reserve, Hunter Valley, Australia 1996 Malabar style chicken with dry roasted spices served with paratha Condrieu, Domaine du Monteillet, Rhone, 2002 Banana fritters with palm jaggery and Sweetened coconut in rice flour crepe Welsch Riesling, Hopler, Noble Reserve, Austria 1981 I'm no expert on Indian cooking and Kerala regional cuisine is new to me so I cannot attest to how authentic or otherwise the food was, or how it compares to other examples that may be available in London. However, Camellia Panjabi's 50 Great Curries of India tells me that Kerala is located on the South Western tip of India and that it's characteristic ingredients include coconut, cardamom, pineapple and red banana. Chef Nair told us that all the dishes presented included coconut and that the food was typical of the region. The soup came as a hot and spicy consomme with large chunks of claw meat. Delicious, with more chili heat than I had expected (but then, what do I know from kerala cooking) and pretty much killed the riesling, which was great by itself however. The pickled beef was presented as a mound of chunks on top of the rice pancake, topped with a tangle of probably-not-that-typical rocket leaves. The pickle flavour was quite pronounced, but I was assured by exec chef Vivek Singh this will mellow as the beef ages. It put me a little in mind of Malaysian rendang. Again, it was another hot dish and the Veltliner struggled. Malcom "Superplonk" Gluck felt that a Shiraz would have faired better, but commented that he loved Brudlmayer wines and thought them some of the best in the world. Next up was the first highlight of the meal for me, the bream. Steamed in the leaf, the flesh was cooked to perfection. The chutney was slightly reminicent of romesco sauce and the vermicelli noodles, apparently made in house, were served with curry leaves, shallots and chili. Being a milder dish, the semillon worked well. Malabar chicken was another winner, two very tender, braised drumsticks in a cocunt based sauce just perfect for mopping up in the many layers of the moreish paratha bread. The Condrieu was another fine wine, but at £64.00 it should be, and again held its own with the gentler, warming flavours. What can I say about bananas deep fried in a gram flour batter, served with jaggery sauce and ice cream and a stunning dessert wine? Heaven. The coconut rice crepe, served on the same plate was as the fritter, was put in the shade by the star turn, but fine for those that may not like banana fritters, poor misguided fools though they may be. I liked the room very much, the wood paneling and mezzannine level breaking up the large space giving it an intimate, clubby feel. Although populated mostly by hoardes of grey suits from the Palace of Westminster (and not forgetting the mayor of London) the restaurant was probably one of the few dining rooms in London to be rocking on a mid-January lunchtime.

My meal at McClements was in the late autumn of last year, I don't have a lunch menu to refer to and I didn't take any notes, so details are a little thin on the ground. I do recall however that Twickenham was sort of on my route home from a morning meeting near Watford and I intended to arrive around 1.00pm and give Ma Cuisine a try. As it turned out, my meeting ended later than expected and I got stuck in traffic so I didn't get there until 2.00pm, by which time Ma Cuisine had stopped serving (despite a chalk board set up outside which said they were open.) So I walked the 50 yards to McClements who agreed to serve me some lunch. It turned out that I was their only customer. I got chatting to the maitre'd (ex-LaTrompette) who explained that they are very quiet at lunch due to being located it a mainly residential area but that they do good business in the evenings. He also told me that owner John McClement no longer cooks at the restaurant, but spends his time at Ma Cuisine. Chef Barry Tonks had been recruited from Putney Bridge with the aim of winning the restaurant a Michelin star (mission accomplished!) The food was of a very high standard. From the set lunch menu which was around £19.50 for three courses if I recall correctly I ate a technically perfect foie gras parfait with mousserons and date puree and roast mallard with sour cherry sauce and squash puree. The dessert escapes me, but I remeber enjoying it. Very good bread, an amuse bouche and pre-dessert (both good, but alas no details) coffee, water, one glass of wine and service all came to approx. £30.00. Service was incredibly professional. I was the only person in the room, yet the maitre'd and waitress behaved as if they had a full dining room. They didn't chat or make preparations for the evening service, but focused their attention on serving me. The room was in desperate need of a refurb so I am pleased to hear that they have gone ahead with their plans to re-decorate. FT Article on Ma Cuisine and McClements

Pleased to see Ockenden Manor on the list as it's about 20 minutes away from where I live. Executive chef is Martin Hadden, ex-Gidleigh Park (Shaun Hill era) and Chez Nico. I had a really outstanding meal at his Priory House restaurant near Taunton and the award of the star seems to indicate he is doing equally good things virtually on my doorstep. I heard rumours a while back that he was looking to open a restaurant in Brighton, but that hasn't happend so far. Website

Nigella Lawson cooked ham in coke on her British TV series so at least there is some sort of precedent for the CIA.

Very nice press lunch at the Cinnamon Club on Tuesday which I'll write about later. For now, news that Iqbal Wahhab is attempting to open a Cinnamon Club in New York but is still looking for a site as the last one fell through, and that he has a second London venture on the cards, but not another Indian restaurant. More details when I have them.

I could have sworn I had, but it appears that I havent. I'll type it up over the weekend and I have some menus I can scan in.

I've mentioned them before, but I use Butlers Wine Cellar in Brighton. other than that, whichever Supermarket happen to be in or Majestic as they sometimes stock wines I have enjoyed in a restaurant which no one else has.

Here is a statement from Gordon Ramsay regarding the closure : "Gordon Ramsay Holdings and Citrus Restaurants have announced the closure of Amaryllis, Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant at One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow from Wednesday 14th January 2004. There are at present no plans to reopen. The decision to close Amaryllis was reluctantly taken by Gordon and Citrus Hotels at the end of 2003. Gordon Ramsay commented yesterday, "I am sad to be closing Amaryllis after nearly three years. It was my only UK restaurant outside London and was dear to my heart as Glasgow is my birth town. I am very proud of what I, together with the late David Dempsey, Colin Buchan and the rest of Amaryllis team have achieved there. I was particularly proud of David’s Michelin star which he won so soon after opening. It is never an easy decision to close a restaurant but we have been unable to adapt what we do in London to the market here in Glasgow and we can no longer carry the losses. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Scottish people for all the support the restaurant has enjoyed over the past three years. I am proud to be a Scot and will always be a great supporter of Scottish produce.” Gordon Ramsay Holdings can confirm that Michelin was informed that it would be unlikely that Amaryllis would maintain its present identity into 2004 and this explains the removal of Amaryllis from the 2004 Michelin Red Guide soon to be published.

McClemets has a star in the new Michelin Guide.

Amaryllis has closed.