Andy Lynes

Re: Lespinasse. On page 228 of "Mastering Simplicity", Delouvrier says "Gray Kunz approached me in 1998 to replace him at the 4 star Lespinasse in Manhatten's St Regis Hotel...I met with the hotel's manager who expressed his confidence in my ability to not only retain the rating but also take the dining room to new heights" How you go beyond 4 star cooking, I've no idea however.

Jason, an awesome looking sandwich. Strangely enough, I made a salad with bresaola and Tom Colicchio's potato salad recipe last night which was pretty good as well.

Maybe not, but don't it taste so good?

Its the 1994 series that is showing in the UK at the moment, it was the Eggplant challenge with 70 year old Koichi Tabata against Chen Kinichi this evening, so we've got a hell of a lot of catching up to do. Can't wait.

I seem to have reached a plateau with my cooking over the last couple of years, so I'd like to generaly raise my game. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to do that, but I think it will have to do with getting more organised, having home made condiments to hand like preserved lemons for instance, and maybe using some ingredients that I have shyed away from in the past. I may also get into terrines in a big way.

I've never been to Castelnaudary but I did eat a fantastic cassoulet cooked for me some years ago now by chef Richard Guest at the Four Seasons Hotel Park Lane. Gargantuan was the word, I could hardly move for several hours after and wasn't hungry again for at least a day. They also made a terrific cassoulet terrine which was quite unusual and I have never seen anywhere since. Something tells me MobyP is trying to wind us up on this issue...

I thinnk arjays initial post was fine and that we can discuss all things Iron Chef on this thread. As to your question, I haven't seen enough shows yet to make a sensible comment, I'll let you know in a weeks time!

This is running on the Challenge cable channel in the UK at the moment 7.30 pm every night. I find it absolutely rivetting. The techniques and dishes produced are so unusual and its strange blend of high camp and intensity makes it unmissable. better than the US version I think.

$500 = £280 at the current rate. If you are staying for a week that works out at 10 per head for 7 lunches and 7 dinners! You are going to have to be really careful with your money, but I guess you knew that anyway. Extracting alcohol from the equation will save you quite a lot of money and going the ethnic and gastropub route should make your trip just about do-able. As a starter for 10 how about Ranoush on the Edgware Road or Mohsen in Warwick Road are good for kebabs and the India Club on the Strand or Mela on Shaftesbury Avenue for Indian. Any more ideas out there?

Howard, how does Number One compare to Martin Wishart, if you have been there?

There's a lovely pub almost next door to Putney Bridge overlooking the river if the bar is not your scene. Can't remeber the name however, sorry.

I've now typed and deleted three extremely unseemly jokes based on that statement (must remember I'm a site manager, must remember I'm a site manager,must remember I'm a site manager...)

The prime example of this must be Gordon Ramsay's £60,000 industrial grade Rorgue stove which he had crained into his new home and a kitchen built around it. According to Delicious magazine, his wife Tana does all the cooking at home, but Ramsay has promised to cook more "now he has his masterpiece kitchen". I can just imagine the scene 12 months down the line : Mrs Ramsay to Mr Ramsay "Sixty thousand bloody quid we paid for that and when was the last time you used it?" Mr to Mrs : "But I've been busy love, its not easy being a three star chef you know." Mrs to Mr : "3 stars blah, blah, blah...now get down there and cook the kids dinner!"

What did you think of the experience overall? I really like the look of the place from what I can see of it on the website, but it does seem slightly reminiscent of a Conran enormodome, in scale if nothing else.

That sounds fantastic. I don't think that was on the menu when I went as I would definately have ordered it if it was.

Oz Clarkes Wine Guide CD ROM lists 567 possible matches for lobster including "Meursault les Luchets, Roulot" "Puligny-Montrachet les Demoiselles, Guy Amiot" and "Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay Cutrer Vineyard".

That is pretty much the going hotel rate in London which is one of the reasons I never have breakfast if I have to stay over in the capital. The Cinnamon Club is located close to New Scotland Yard, Channel 4 TV and the Houses of Parliment and so I would guess there are plenty of overpaid Senior Police officials and TV execs and MPs willing to pay those prices.

Any chance of some more details...

Re-reading The Fourth Star by Leslie Brenner and Portale's Gotham Cookbook. I also have Colicchio's new book and "Mastering Simplicity:A Life in the Kitchen" by Christian Delouvrier on order as late Xmas presents for myself.

The Cinnamon Club restaurant in London are featuring regional Indian cuisine in a series of four month-long promotions in 2004. February: Chef Rakesh Nair present dishes of his native Kerala including Warm pickled beef with rice pancake, Dry spice crusted bream wrapped in banana leaf, raw mango chutney and vermicelli and Sweetened coconut in rice flour crepe. March: Chef Bhagwan Singh (formerly of the Rambagh Palace) offers food from Rajasthan such as Smoked rabbit escalopes, Venison and millet curry and Lotus seed flavoured rice pudding. April: Chef Abdul Yaseen cooks up kebabs. Diced goat marinated in garlic and chilli and Rabbit leg marinated in cashewnut paste and wrapped in a roomali bread are on the menu. May: Executive Chef Vivek Singh adds some Indian touches to his favourite Oriental dishes to include his renditions of Balinese chilli fried squid, Malaysian seafood laksa and Schezwan date pancake with vanilla coconut ice cream. New Breakfast Menu The Cinnamon Club is open for breakfast weekdays from 7.30 – 10am and the menu has both new ingredients and new dishes. The Indian menu now offers Uttapham – rice flour bread with toppings of onion, chillies, tomatoes or peppers, served with a coconut chutney and a vegetable broth, as well as Pao Bhaji – Bombay style spiced vegetable with a cumin bun. New producers are being used for the English breakfasts – Sillfield Farm for rare breed pork and leek sausages, Donald Russell in Scotland for oak smoked back bacon as well as black and white puddings and Martin Pitts organic eggs. Smoked salmon comes from Loch Fyne. The full breakfast menu can be viewed here. Information courtesy of Jori White PR

My second week in Edinburgh began with a poor meal at the Point Hotel. They were serving only a limited choice Christmas menu, from which I chose a game terrine, which included some smoked goose I think, but tasted of very little and was almost certainly bought in. A main course of beef fillet with fondant potato and red wine sauce was ho-hum in the extreme, with an almost inedible salty sauce. Service was disinterested to the point of indolence. I skipped dessert. Thankfully, Tuesday evening found my colleagues and I having a cracking time at Marque Central. Housed in the Lyceum theatre off the Lothian Road, the restaurant was originally opened a couple of years ago by Lara Kearney and John Rutter, ex-of Andrew Radford's famous Atrium restaurant, and I believe the pair are still running things. A group of 4, we dined in the main upstairs dining room. Comfortable enough and with bags of atmosphere, the interior could however really do with smartening up, as could some of the upholstery on the chairs which look water stained (the result of a leak perhaps?). We were each offered a choice of 3 badly photocopied menus fixed to a heavy metal (i.e. it was heavy and made of metal) clipboard: pre and post theatre dinner at £15.00 for 3 courses, table d'hote at £17.00 for 3 courses plus a reasonably priced a la carte. All contained attractive sounding dishes, mostly drawn, or adapted from the a la carte which was the optioned we plumped for. "Tuscan sausage, bacon and shallot beignet, tomato and haricot blanc" was a delicious and sophisticated variation on bangers and baked beans with a meaty, spicy sausage (actually made locally for the restaurant rather than imported), nicely cooked beans and a crispy, cheesy fritter. What could be better? A "broth of smoked haddock, new potatoes, spring onion and gruyere crumble" looked stunning, presented in a bowl that could easily double as a small child's paddling pool. Parfait of chicken livers appeared to be of high quality, but oddly presented as a slice sat on a tart flambe. Main courses of "beef fillet with shallot confit crust, smoked haggis fritter and roast parsnips" and "chicken, prosciutto, champ, creamed wild mushroom and savoy (cabbage)" were better received than my "baked seabass, baba ganoush, prawn wontons, roast potatoes, tomato and fine beans" which was fine, but entirely wrong for the time of the year. But maybe I should have guessed that from reading the menu. Desserts of crème brulee, chocolate fondant, bread and butter pudding and a chocolate and praline parfait were much enjoyed, as was some excellent coffee. The meal had begun well began with some powerfully flavoured vegetable mini-soups (exact details escape me) and very good home made breads. Wine was reasonably priced with much under £20.00 (alas my memory fails me as to what was actually drunk) and service was pretty much spot on the whole evening. Bill including service came to around the £40.00 a head mark. This turned out to be the best meal of my entire stay, although fishcakes, green curry and several beers at the Thai Orchid in Grindlay Street was not in the least unpleasant.

Rather earlier than expected, here is the promised statement from Morgan M : "I have been reading your feedback on Morgan M, my newly opened restaurant, with great interest and am extremely grateful for all your comments. To address the points raised about the service in various postings - I am aware that we have had problems and for this reason, we have recently employed a new restaurant manager, Yannick Chaloyard who is already addressing any difficulties. When I opened the restaurant I was not prepared for the enormous amount of attention and support that I received, especially not so early in the restaurant's life. This meant that we were unable to install a satisfactory system within the front of house team ­ something we have already addressed with the staff and will continue to work on in January. When I conceived the idea for Morgan M, it was to be a neighbourhood restaurant offering good food and value for money and good, but relaxed, service ­ which hopefully we will achieve by January. It is also worth stressing that often the waiting staff are working to the pace of the kitchen, and that myself and my Sous Chef, Sylvain Soulard, are dictating the speed of the meal. Obviously we have also experienced teething problems at times but we are looking at how we are going to address the diverse expectations of our diners! I hope that this offers some kind of explanation to your experiences and that, if and when you come back to the restaurant, you find the concerns raised in this forum resolved. I spend the majority of my time at the restaurant and welcome any feedback you may have at the time. We can only improve if people tell us the good and the bad. I would also like to take this opportunity to tell you about some of the other improvements we are planning from January. Obviously we will be introducing some new dishes. We will also be changing the structure and prices for the dinner menus. The à la carte menu will consist of 3-courses plus an amuse bouche and a pre-dessert, for £27 per person. The "Tasting" and "From the garden" menus will also include a pre-dessert and will be priced at £36 and £32 respectively. This is to reflect the changes in clientele we are attracting, who, like many of the commentators on this site, are coming to the restaurant with extremely high expectations, so we are aiming to make the meal even more of an experience. The lunchtime menus will not be changing and we will continue to offer 2-courses for £19.50, 3-courses for £23. Thanks again for all your support! Morgan Meunier" I have passed on my thanks and those of the eGullet membership to chef Meunier for his swift and very enlightening response.

My understanding is that the above menu is launched.

I have also heard excellent things about The Anchor and Hope from a chef friend who is very difficult to please. Not very close to where you are staying but it is right by Waterloo, so fairly easy to find.

I really enjoyed reading the interview, a very nice job Rachel. I'm a big fan of the show and its great to get some insight into its production and especially the thinking behind the food and drink side of things. Look forward to hearing more from Ted on eGullet in the future if he can squeeze us into his schedule. There will be a UK version of Queer Eye and the production company are on the look out for their Fab 5 right now. They can be contacted on 0208 600 6434 (ask for Richard) or by email at info@viadigital.tv