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Basildog

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Posts posted by Basildog

  1. That was a great response to the person that criticised the pigs trotter "Pigs trotter chicken and egg - that's just wierd". No sir, that is a classic dish, one which I'm pretty certain Marco used to credit Koffman with on his menu.

    Incidentally, I notice that somebody sold a copy of a menu from the oak room on ebay recently for £12.50.

    You can see that clip (as well as the whole show) here

    I have still got my Oak Room menu and would not give it away for love or money. It is printed on the heaviest hand-made paper my hands have ever touched and contains all those wonderful dishes. Yes, the pigs trotter has the name Koffman next to it. But the best thing is the Dali quote on the first page:

    "At the age of six I wanted to be a chef. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambitions have been growing steadily ever since."

    What I remember most about the Oak Room is not so much Marco's food though, I have to say. It is the unbelievably luxurious atmosphere and service. This was a haven of luxury without any compromise. The only comparison that comes to my mind is Ducasse's Louis XV in Monte Carlo.

    Agree, fantastic service, we were relatively young when we visited and I remember being looked after very well. Beautiful flowers as well, I seem to remember they cost something like £5000 a week?

    I have a vague recollection of the fact that the floor for the Oak Room cost more than i paid for a whole restaurant.Still loving the show. :biggrin:

  2. I don't know for sure, it's difficult to find a average Joe, especially here.But if you look at some of the celebs, they have been picked because of the people they will draw into the show.If you appeal to the foodies by having the biggest name possible, then the show has the best chance of pulling the figures it needs.Would there be any other chef you would prefer to see on the show?

  3. My personal fave was his discription of frying an egg ,"you poach it in butter", it had me cheering, as my good lady wife and i have been argueing about this for fecking years.She still won't take it, even from MPW, but i have a moral victory. :biggrin:

  4. and another thing, the guy that held a birthday party (his) and made a big deal of picking up the bill for everyone.His friends were very thankfull to him, but mentioned the idea of themselves leaving a tip."NO NO, it's fine, i've sorted that out, haven't i Adrian?"

    "Yes Sir" was all i could say, counting the £5 tip on a £450 bill. :angry:

  5. Strange..just been reading this at the end of the working day when a guy walks in off the street asking to buy a couple bottles of wine.For legal reason may i just say that i had to refuse him, as i am not licensed for off sales BUT :wink::wink: i could have charged him £11 a bottle for some Spy Valley SB that is on the wine list at £19.75. and he might have thought that fair, if he had bought them, which he didn't of course.

  6. I can't help thinking that we are focussing on too small an area, maybe we need to step back and look at the whole picture. Now if all restaurant owners were swanning around in chauffeur driven limousines because of their outrageous markups on wine there might be good reason for an outcry, but in truth restaurants fail on a regular basis, often costing their owners large amounts of money. Even St Gordon of Ramsay is not immune to failure, and you have to admit he does know a thing or two about running a successful restaurant. In catering ingredient costs are on average around 30% of selling price and to stay in profit (give or take a few percentage points) you have to get that return. Wine is just another ingredient, albeit one that you don't have to do a lot with, and therefore selling it for 3+ times its cost is no different to anything else you sell. The market seems to be a little distorted in the UK because of the high initial cost of the wine (punitive tax regime) and the reluctance of the good ol' British punter to pay a reasonable price for the food. The restaurateur has to turn a profit to stay in business and so he has to take his profit where he can find it, and sadly for us it is usually on the wine, after all putting, say, an extra £10 on a bottle will have less of a visible impact on the diner than will putting the same on the main course.

    Right on! Most sensible thing i've read all day

    I,m currently swanning around in a £600 Polo! :biggrin:

  7. Tresham Tech College 84-86 full time catering course

    86-96 Cheffing at hotels, golf clubs, restaurants, gentlemans club, pubs etc etc etc

    96 Chef at Margot's, 99 bought it.

    I first put on a chefs Jacket 23 years ago come September, and i still mop the floor last thing at night!

    Nice to see D and J back again.

    Edit..My kids are Cornish, i'm Welsh.

  8. "Jamie in 6 months"? i would be looking for someone with a little more ambition! :raz:

    The only thing that NVQs show is that you were prepared to stick a course for it's duration(not a bad thing), but if someone older approached me, it would be a matter of come for a day, if you like it, come for a week.Most kitchens are pretty open to new boys if they have the right attitude.The ones that close the door on you, without even letting you try it for a day, are probaly not the sort of kitchens you would want to work in.

    best of luck.

    PS Peeling spuds whilst watching the rest of the kitchen work will teach you a lot!

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