Tonyfinch

Stephen. Bought it at my local Oddbins which does a range of Lustau sherries. Not sure if every Oddbins branch does them. They also stock sherries from Valdespino and I believe they do a Hidalgo Manzanilla. If your'e ever in Safeways the Babadillo Manza is lovely and fresh for about 6 quid. Waitrose do their own Solera range which is also brilliant value and which is always winning competition awards. Tio Pepe is getting a big promotional push at the moment,although I find it a little galumphing compared to some other (and cheaper) finos, but the Gonzalez Byass Matusalem is as good a dessert wine as you'll drink and although not cheap at about £20 is still good value compared to many competitors in its class.

In the interests of research I had a couple of glasses of Lustau's Dry Oloroso before dinner last night. What a lovely wine. Amber-gold,rich,nutty,complex,sweet hints but a lovely dry finish with a tang-about £7.99. I'm beginning to think that good sherry is probably just about the best value wine in the world.

All those comments are true but in addition people appear to believe that sherry and ports are like spirits in that they last forever. In fact once opened they deteriorate fairly rapidly so if granny serves you some from a bottle that's been opened from last Xmas it's gonna be OFF! Same goes for the majority of stuff that's served in pubs.

The characterisation of sherry and port as Winter drinks to keep out the cold is the sort of notion that has the sherry and port industries grinding their collective teeth in frustration. The sherry producers have long been trying to shake off this image and of course down in the Jerez region fino and manzanilla are drunk widely cold as an aperitif or throughout a meal of fritto misto or other fish and seafood dishes. Much of it is served straight from the barrel and is fantastically fresh and refreshing. Try a bottle of decent fino or manza in place of your sauvingnon blanc next time you have a fish dish-a revelation and half the price. In the Douro white and tawny ports are drunk as thirst quenchers all day,mixed with soda or lemonade. Port is drunk in massive quantities throughout France purely as an aperitif. It is virtually unknown there as an after dinner drink. I've drunk chilled tawny port with pates and terrines and with calves liver and duck dishes which have a sweet or fruit based sauce which clashes with dry wines. These wines are unfashionable but fantastic and relatively cheap with a whole range of brilliant uses. Go for it.

Cabrales,as Kikujiro says you are assuming that other diners approach restaurants with the same degree of interest and involvement as you,and probably most of us on this site. But it just ain't so. Last week we sat next to a group of four diners in The Trinity restaurant in Orford. They ordered three courses,three bottles of wine, coffee etc. At no point did any comment about the food or the drink or any aspect of the restaurant pass their lips. They were interested in talking about other things. To many people going to a restaurant is not a particularly interesting or special event and it is those people who would be surprised and angry if suddenly told at the end that this or that cost much more than they were expecting to pay. That is why it is as much in the restaurant's interest as the diner's to post all prices,including VAT,clearly,so that no-one can come back and accuse the restaurant of somehow misleading them. I cannot fathom a reason why a restaurant would NOT want to do this.

And where,pray,should old tramps wank if not in corners? Spitalfields is a fantastically historical and culturally fascinating area with more interest per square yard than many areas of London have per square mile. The Arkansa Cafe,while being basic and uncomfortable,does serve up the closest approximation of American BBQ that you can get in London. Steak,duck breast and pork ribs have all been excellent in my experience. Meson Los Barriles USED to be a wonderful Tapas bar with excellent fish main courses.I haven't been in a while but the word is that standards have slipped as the crowds have increased. That's about it for interesting food options,although there are lots of other outlets. For more comfort and luxury you're only a stone's throw from all those Conran restaurants in and around the GT Eastern Hotel.

I was looking at the new GFG in the lobby of The Trinity last week and noticed a very positive review of Basildog's place. Well done mate. I don't know about the numerical scores but of the restaurants I've been to I find the comments pretty accurate and I think it's by far the best all Britain guide.It's comments on New Tayyab were spot on. The Ramsey score must be confined to the cooking alone. No restaurant which tells you that you must eat either at 6.30 or 9.30 could conceivably be awarded a perfect 10 on the basis of the overall experience.

All this brining sounds like a faff. I roast a turkey every Xmas using Delia Smith's method and it always turns out perfect. Stuff the turkey with whatever then smother with salt,pepper and butter. Wrap it up in a foil parcel ensuring that it is airtight and that there is enough room above the breast for the air to circulate Roast on a high heat for 40 mins to get it all going then turn it down and leave it for approx 20 mins per lb. Pull away the foil from the breast and baste regularly with the buttery juices for the last 40 mins until the breast is golden brown. Leave to stand for 20-30 mins. Carve.

Jeremy-Madame wasn't present while we were there. According to the place's newsletter she was taking a sabbatical to "lose her fifth stone" and to write a book about how she lost it and the previous four in one year!! I can tell you she didn't manage it by eating too much of that mascarpone quiche. Maybe losing all that weight so quickly has affected her personality (it did mine when I lost two pounds the other week) and she's gone from being a cherubic happy-go-lucky type to a cavern faced harridan scolding her staff at every turn and prone to unpredictable tantrums and mood swings.

The methods varied only in details. We both cut our potatoes into chunks which would yield two or three good bites. We both parboiled and shook to rough up the edges. I scraped mine additionally with a fork. I added salt and pepper. Sam just salt. At times I grate some nutmeg on to mine but didn't this time. I got my oil smoking hot on top of the stove,so I needed a tin which could take a direct flame. You can't skimp on the initial amount of oil, even though its not all absorbed you need a goodly amount for basting. You could always recycle it if you wanted. Sam heated her goose fat in the oven. The obvious factor in successful roasties is to get the oil/fat smoking hot before adding the spuds. This ensured crispiness and crunchiness and no greasiness. They need about 45mins to an hours cooking medium-hot heat with a couple of bastes along the way. It's important to baste quickly and not give the temperature a chance to fall. A turn up blast of heat at the end for about 10 mins.crisps them up nicely. The olive oil potatoes had a darker finish and a thicker crunchier crust. The goose fat babies were more evenly golden with a thinner crust. Whereas the olive oil imparts a more or less neutral flavour at the end, the goose fat clearly adds its own taste dimension to the finished product,so which you prefer will depend on whether you like that taste or prefer them without it.

It was a privilege to partake of Sam's first apple crumble -lovely crunchy crumble topping suffused with almonds and soft not over sweetened local Kentish apples-with custard and washed down by Quinta De Noval's 10 Year Old Tawny, it was a fitting climax to an amazingly traditional Engish Sunday Lunch at its very best. You couldn't get better in a restaurant but Sam did put in a lot of hard work,whereas all I had to do was turn up,drink champagne and roast a few potatoes (which were brilliant by the way). I thought of you doing the washing up this morning Sam-and smiled.

It was half empty on a Thursday night and maybe the decor in the restaurant could do with cheering up a bit. It was a cold night but the fire in the restaurant remained unlit- it wasn't cold in the restaurant but a fire would have lifted the atmosphere.

I don't disagree with that. Where we appear to disagree is how many of these "certain people" there are, and whether they can be said to form some kind of culturally unified group-an "elite". But on the topic. I think the best restaurants leave the punter with the impression that they love what they are doing,and that they wish to communicate that love to you. They really appear to care about your experience in their establishment. Its really that simple.And it can be done in any eating place from a 3 star Michelin to a roadside caff. It is "service" in the broadest sense of the term and it can be assessed in a myriad of ways.

Does that mean you didn't score?

Once again you have distorted my argument. I didn't say it was all luck or vested interests. I said they "played a part". I didn't say that no-one had talent or that no-one was good at anything. My point was that this group is actually very large-too large to be considered an elite,which by its nature is self defining and exclusionary. Talent breaks through IN SPITE of elites,not because of them,and always has. There was a story in yesterday's paper about how novel that just won the Booker prize was rejected by dozens of major publishing houses before being given a whirl by some obscure one. Harry Potter and Bridget Jones were the same. Anyway I do know how to pick hits. My MOTHER knows how to pick hits. The minute she heard The Wombles of Wimbledon Common she said to me:"You know something,son. That's a HIT". So there!

Ate at The Trinity last night and despite a slightly dreary atmosphere found the food good to very good. Seared cod with pancetta and aioli on a bed of puy lentils, and fried skate wing with black pudding,lemon butter and peas both offerered spankingly fresh and flavoursome pieces of locally caught fish. I have a problem sometimes with fish and meat together and I wasn't convinced by the pancetta with the cod or the black pudding with the skate. Also the puy lentils,although described on the menu as "zippy" (ie spicy) were,in fact underseasoned,despite the saltiness of the pancetta.I reckon anyone who loves authentic Indian dahl would have found the same. The real stars of the meal was a starter of roast parsnip,sage,red onion and mascarpone quiche which was truly heavenly-the crunch of onion,the power of sage,mixed with the unctiousness of the mascarpone and featherlight pastry worked brilliantly- and a lovely cherry and almond frangipane tart served with vanilla custard which confirmed a brilliant pastry chef in the kitchen. This is a restaurant where no starter costs more than £7 and no main more than £14. The wine prices are also very reasonable. If I lived near enough I would eat here once a week. The night before we ate at The Crown in Southwold-an old favourite. This place,indeed the town it seems,is owned by Adnams and the wine list is brilliant, with most mark ups being less than 100% of the retail price at their Wine Store next door. The food in the restaurant,however,was very ordinary and the service bordering on the shambolic.People appeared to be having much more fun in the adjacent bar area where more or less the same food is available,but you can't book a table there so unless you're prepared to be ensconced at 6.15pm getting in is very hit and miss.

Only 10,000% wrong Mac. Not bad not bad. The people doing the initial "recognizing" do not form an elite because they are not the same people even within the field. The same people who recognized the potential of The Beatles are not the same as those who recognized that of The Stones are not the same as those who recognized The Who and so on. Col. Tom Parker perceived Elvis's "potential" What does that say about Col Tom Parker? Does it mean he has great taste in music which is more attuned to anyone else's? No. All it means is that he perceived Elvis's potential. Great. But he didn't perceive anybody else's potential. The "elite" is a myth in terms of it existing as an actual group of people. Good taste and discernment does play a part in discovering that which may subsequently become fashionable but it is spread so wide as to render the concept of a hierarchical elite meaningless. And other factors play a part too. Such as luck and and the abilty to manipulate markets to serve vestaed interests.

Wittgenstein was a beery swine Hobbes was fond of a dram And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart "I drink therefore I am". Monty Python 1668

The Great British Pub sends a message all right: "Don't Eat. DRINK"

Most restaurants in the UK are trying to give us a vicarious or faux experience of dining in the particular country of that particular cuisine.. Not only the food, but the ambience ,drinks waitstaff etc. If you read the Time Out Guide for example its notable how often they praise restaurants for "authenticity". This woukld appear to mean that those restaurants in the UK that can most approximate the experience of dining in France, Italy,India etc. will inevitably be adjudged the most successful restaurants within their respective cuisines. I'm interested in the idea of restaurants moving our souls, but on a more shallow level perhaps the message is -"hey you might not be on holiday in India right now but two hours down The Light of Bengal is the next best thing". Come and enjoy "The India Experience". After all,restaurants are just another branch of the entertainment business, are they not? Maybe that's why so many of us eschew fusion cooking. We like to know what country we're in and feel culinarily "lost" otherwise.

Since that mesage is clearly ignored by every Jewish member of this site(including myself)along with every Jew I know I think you must have got it wrong by one word. It should read:Don't talk,eat FIRST"

Adam, I hope I'm wrong but I suspect he will struggle to prevent it from morphing into a regular,formulaic tandoori/curry house. The well known popularity of Indian food in Britain means, as we all know, the popularity of the standard high st curry house and the familiarity that that implies. There IS a market for 'real' or 'geniune' (call it what you will) sub continental food but whether its big enough in the Cotswalds to enable such a restaurant to flourish is dubious. Having said that,someone will break the mould somewhere outside of London and I suspect that plenty of people round your way own Madhur Jaffrey cookbooks. so there might be the interest. Let us know how it goes.

Reading the reports of gastronomic restaurants by such as Cabrales and Lizzie one cannot help wondering what a perceptive poster asked a couple of pages back ie. what relevance does modern cutting edge haute cuisine have to ANY country's indigenous cuisine or indeed anything outside of its own terms of reference? At L'Astrance Lizzie describes a dish of fish and peanut butter. She hated it. Others might not but what are the culinary roots of such a dish? Are they French? We now have (maybe we always did) a number of restaurants where all the rules only exist to be thrown out of the window and where the chef's culinary pyrotechnics deliberately fly in the face of tradition. One might love it or hate it or be indifferent to it but it doesn't constitute the highest expression of a country's cuisine because it has no country. That,presumably, is its point. Therefore it is no good looking for Italy's relevance in the existence of these restaurants and claiming it has none because there currently aren't any. If an Italian El Bulli was to open tomorrow it would still shed no light on Italy' relevance because it would have little to do with Italy Italy's relevance lies elsewhere. Macrosan explained it clearly. One either accepts that or one doesn't. But maybe the next question should be What is the relevance of El Bulli, The Fat Duck, Astrance etc. to the cuisine of the country's in which they are located?

The only thing that's puzzling is why Steve insists that the situation is puzzling. As Robert said at least half a dozen excelent reasons have been put forward as to why it might be so viz: The innate conservatism of the Italian marketplace for things culinary (set stucture to meal, compulsory pasta etc.) The need for Italy to consolidate its unity rather than risk experimentation through cuisine The desire of Italy to find "Mamma" in their cooking and to see the restaurant as an extension of their home instead of a culinary laboratory Less of a market in Italy for "worked" food and a greater belief in allowing top class ingredients to express themselves more naturally A reflex resistance to adopting French cultural,including culinary practices OR Pure happenstance. Even as we speak the Italian Heston Blumenthal and Pierre Gagnaire's are washing dishes in their ncle's trattoria. And there are more possible reasons. Of one is still puzzled after that then it must be because one is just not listening.

Steve. JD said he has some issues with your style of argunent. I was agreeing with him.But you are right. Listing them out on the boards is not the way to go.If I'm bestirred enough again in the future to be bothered I'll PM you about it.