Basildog

Tommy...i am normally very genuine when i thank people for cancelling...i can always sell the table...but if they don't call i can''t As we are so small, and Padstow very popular , people book along time in advance.But the diary is always in a state of flux.Cancelling (within a reasonable time) is all part of that process for us

Try a 20 COVER Bistro?! One table of 2 not showing at my place is 10%

We run a normal menu, at the normal price.We do not normally turn tables, but i have some regulars that have booked knowing that they have a time slot.We will still only do 20 people.The ladies might get a rose if i'm feeling romantic. The only cloud on the horizon is my right hand man has not returned from his holiday, so my good lady might have to come out of retirement for the night.The silver lining to this particular cloud is that i'm enjoying being back on the stove full time edit...oops i'm not in NJ

Sounds great Andy.When you coming down to work with us??????

HA HA! I had to have that for my signature, but it won't all fit.

I worked with a dishwasher dude who threw away a big pot of fish stock, because in his words," i thought it was water that had gone off"

Yes..its a bit tomato heavy. Leaves with the Black Pudding...Lollo rosso, curly endive and oakleaf lettuce

DINNER MENU Pan Fried Cornish Sardines with Cherry Tomato Salsa Roast Aubergine with Feta Cheese and Sun Blush Tomato Grilled Goat’s Cheese with Roasted Peppers Seared Scallops with Chorizo and Herb Oil Dressing Warm Salad of Black Pudding ,Smoked Bacon and a Poached Egg ------------------------------------------ Fillet of Cod Baked with Tomatoes, Garlic and Parsley with Herb Mash Confit of Duck Leg with Mustard Cream Sauce and Sauté Potatoes Hot Pot of Monkfish and Mussels with Chive Butter Sauce and New Potatoes Rack Of Lamb with Herb Crust, Spring Onion Mash and Rosemary Jus Fillet of Sea Bass Grilled with Rock Salt and Lemon with New Potatoes ------------------------------------------------- Cappuccino Ice Cream in a Brandy Snap Basket Caramelised Lemon Tart with Clotted Cream Sticky Toffee Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce Saffron Poached Pear with Shortbread and Jelly Selection of British Cheeses 2 courses £19.95 3 courses £24.95 edit for spacing Tonight we re open after a month off. This is what we will be serving

....and there you have it.You can only pay the big bucks if your taking big bucks.My Sous chef Dave could earn more elsewhere, and i would like to pay him more, but we are limited by the numbers we do.

Downselling rules.We could push after dinner drinks, more expesive wines, food to take away with you, shirts, books..anything...but thats no fun. I know i'm in a different postion from most.I have no ambition to make as much money as possible from my restaurant.I need it to make enough so that everyone gets paid, and we get the lifestyle that we have now.I'm here for the long haul...and i want to look back knowing that i gave value all the way down the line.Call me Mr Strange!

And i told you so...ner ner ner Click Good to see Paul Ripley get a star at Ripley's in St Merryn, top bloke and my fave restaurant.Well done! I think thats the only star in Cornwall EDIT...no, theres another one somewhere...help?

Interest in food in itself is not elitist, but plenty of people in this country are elitist about the restaurants they eat at, the produce they use, the equipment they use.

You fly in as i fly out...strange

i'm working on adding the webcam to the website. Also maybe adding video clips Wish me luck, as i,m self taught at this !

Reminds me of an old Scottish Pastry Lecturer who would cut my wiity replies down to size with "Aye Adrian, ya should be on the stage....sweeping it!"

Personally, i think if they dished out stickers/plates or something, it would not do them any harm.(yes i love stickers for my window) Edit IGNORE quote.. i read cabby wrong.If you miss the comma, it makes all the difference

Yes, Basildog. We will be thinking of you. In fact, in order to properly honour the occasion, I have even fashioned an actual Basil Dog - a dog of basil - in much the same manner and appearance as a Chia Pet, although to be sure, a particularly lush, classy and aromatic Chia Pet. And, we plan to celebrate the stroke of midnight twice. The first will be at Zulu, or Greenwich Mean Time, when we assume you will also be celebrating. We will hoist high our glasses of pale amber sparkling bubbly, at the exact time you will also be hoisting, in order to demonstrate the intermingling of our hearts, minds, souls and spirits across the cosmos. At which point, I will disassemble the Basil Dog and, along with some EVOO, pepper, pine nuts, cheese, etc., will whip up a Basildog Pesto, which we will consume in your honour, in further symbolism of our communion with you at this portentous moment in the universe. And then, when the clock strikes midnight Texas Time, we will celebrate again, with our own tradition of black-eyed peas and cornbread and greens and pot likker, and twelve grapes fed to our beloved, one with each chime of the clock. But, Sweet BasilD, you will not be forgotten during this second celebration. Because it will have been approximately six hours since the ingestion of the symbolic Basil Dog, we will now each be able to offer up yet another basil-laden gift, although discretion (and local ordinances) demands we produce this in the privacy of our own bathrooms, rather than in the more common dog fashion - out on the lawn. Your Fucking Nuts! I just got home after 17 hours on my feet.Fantastic night, happy guests, food worked a dream.Best bit was my wife and daughter turning up and Becky was just an angel.Sooooo well behaved, charming all our regulars(little did they know she was a horror during the day) I have left the restaurant a total mess.Very unprofessional, but i was beat......so fire me

He he Macrosan you silly old sod This year, inspired by Chez Bruce, we are not offering a choice, but there will be alternatives if guest have a problem with any course.Also paring wines is not something we have done before. Our Guests tonight are all regulars, and most of them have done the last 3 or 4 NYEs at my place. Happy New Year to all!!!!!! PS..we shut down after tonight , for yet another holiday....re-open 30th Jan.Will be thinking of you all at work, as i'm sure you will be thinking of me working tonight!

NEW YEAR’S EVE 2002 DINNER MENU Elegante Dry Fino Sherry ----------------------------------------------- Salad of Roast Quail with Pistachio Stuffing Domaine Catherine Goeuil 2001 Cote Du Rhone France ----------------------------------------------- Deep Fried Crab Cake with Spinach and Chive Butter Sauce Boschendal Sauvignon Blanc/Semillion 2000 South Africa -------------------------------------------------- Saddle of Lamb with Rosemary Jus and Roast New Potatoes Wrattonbully Smith and Hooper 2000 Cabernet/Merlot Australia -------------------------------------------------------- Chocolate and Orange Torte Blandy’s Duke of Clarence Rich Madeira ---------------------------------------------------- Coffee/Tea with Homemade Petit Fours ------------------------------- Champagne at Midnight ----------- £50.00 per Person

Trouser Press Toasted Sandwhich anyone?

Bar Humbug!

Customers who see egullet on my laptop seem to thinks its a list of bookings

I visited Billingsgate on the morning of the Chez Bruce Lunch.I got there a bit late for the main action, but was surprised by the amount of frozen exotic fish on offer.My mate John had me eating oysters at 7.30am...fantastico The Cafe there is full of "characters"

and at least we have a sensible reason for doing so!

Technique is surely just the way of getting the best out of ingredients? Surely