howardlong

JPS went with Gordon as others have mentioned. The menu from a month or so is back at home right now, but the basis of the tasting menu seemed to be similar with some minor changes predominently for seasonality. IMHO I don't think there was any need to change anything - I was so delighted that MW had moved away from the GR formula food of old and was now so clearly his own man that that was enough wow factor for me. Regarding Giles Coren, I am sure that there was plenty of fawning when he walked in the door. You only need to look at what happened in his own article on a previous occasion with MW. I wonder if Giles adhered to their dress policy ("smart with jacket preferred, no jeans and no sportswear"). Not that Giles would ever wear a shell suit, you understand. I really related to your comment about plonking the grub down, with a rapid unintelligible gibberish in some foreign tongue/accent accompanied with an immediate turn of the back, the escape route already planned. This is not unique to Pétrus. Many so-called high end establishments have this obnoxious trait. By the time the table has looked at each other with blank faces all indicating "Eh?" the perpetrator is long gone. It's not uncommon for me to make a stand to ask again what the individual ingredients are, and as often as not, the gobbledegook is because they don't actually know. 3* no. Not until the service becomes less standoffish and rather more welcoming particularly if you're fairly regular. Now that presumeably he has his own crew and doesn't have to fish them from a pool, MW might just be able to pull it off in January 2010. H

I have to be honest, I've never gone to Petrus/MW@tB for outstanding service, although when sommelier Mathieu Gaignon was there the spirits on that side were lifted. I can't ever remember the maitre d' ever coming over to the table, ever. Just a hello and goodbye as I passed the door. It's not that it's bad, it's just not good either. Come to think of it, other than the sommelier and JPS, I also can't ever remember seeing any of the front of house there more than once. H

FWIW the table behind me at lunch today had pre-oreder the tasting menu. H

It's bog standard Indian in a dated setting, though. ← I thought they were doing it up? Biggest PITA is the way they play on all the zelebs turning up there. Unfortunately it's true. Woody Allen was there last time I went for Sunday Lunch with his nanny or wife or daughter or something. H

Hi Jon, I agree with you that the chef is very capable. My concern is that if you look at the menu, it's definitely not even attempting to be anywhere near M*. Nice enough, for sure, but more like gastropub grub than haute cuisine cooking. Nothing wrong in that for sure, but I can't see myself jumping on the pushbike anytime soon for that special trip. Cheers, Howard Starters Game mosaic, toasted sourdough 8.00 Salad of deep-fried lamb’s tongue and mâche lettuce 7.00 Grilled mackerel with apple and celeriac remoulade, pickled beetroot 8.00 Autumn vegetable soup, cheese on toast 6.00 Smoked duck salad with charred leeks and grated hazelnut 9.00 Pumpkin risotto with 18-month matured gorgonzola 8.00 Fried duck’s egg with field mushrooms, Jerusalem artichoke and parmesan 8.00 Swordfish carpaccio with chilli and pickled fennel 9.00 Main courses Dover sole with minted new potatoes, creamed spinach and nutmeg 22.00 Roasted red snapper with confit lemons and couscous salad 14.00 Oven-baked halibut with chorizo and white beans 15.00 Fish stew with piperade and fennel, flat leaf parsley 14.00 Roasted corn-fed chicken with bread sauce and seasonal root vegetables (for two) 28.00 Casterbridge rib-eye with red onions, wilted watercress and gratinated bone marrow 18.00 Red-leg partridge with curly kale and truffle chips 18.00 Braised neck of lamb with garlic potato purée,carrots and parsnips 14.00 Desserts Steamed treacle sponge pudding with vanilla custard (for two) 11.00 Rice pudding with roasted figs 6.00 Prune and Armagnac tart with clotted cream 6.00 Selection of fruits with lychee and grappa granité 6.00 Manzanilla sherry trifle 6.00 Chocolate parfait with hazelnut ice cream, roasted William pear 6.00 Selection of cheeses 8.00

LOL! Crikey, I think I'm allowed to indicate my axioms without fear of too much retribuition aren't I? Glad I did now, or I could have been accused of an awful misdirection!

Assuming you don't mean on the same plate : Etranger, Gloucester Road sprang to mind first. The Charolais is great, and they'll do you a Wagyu too. H

LOL! Everything's relative. For me, the search for the ultimate food and wine match is as important as the food itself. My favourite meals are those where the wine is chosen first and then the food to match the wine. Hand me a 20 quid bottle of Alta Catena chardonnay and some lumps of aged Gouda, aged Gruyere plus some Brie de Meaux and Epoisses and I'm like a pig in do do's. I am no expert, it's a hobby and a passion. Some people sink their hard earned discretionary expenditure into boats for example. I just love me grub and me booze. If the government has it's way it'll all be illegal soon, so get on with it before it's too late! H

My first time at HD@C was last night. After weeks of trying, I finally made it in on the day. I booked at 6pm for a 7pm table. Coincidentally, I was recognised and greeted at the entrance to the Connaught by head Sommelier and long time acquaintance Mathieu Gaignon (formerly of Pétrus, the Capital, and the Connaught under Ramsay's reign) but he wasn't expecting me. After consulting his list, "No problem Monsieur Long" he assured me. A different story prevailed at the Maitre d's desk where I had indeed been handwritten on the bottom of the list of today's diners. My rapid escort through to the lounge did little to indicate at this stage that much has changed at the Connaught despite its long closure. Definitely the main dining room has been redecorated, but it remains largely the same panelled room it's been for years. Very visible in the centre of the dining room was a meat slicer with a ham leg ready to go, and four large cheeses. I ordered a glass of the house Blanc de Blancs and some water to get me started. For my amuse bouches along came some of said ham, very thinly sliced, with a couple of warm cheese choux pastries and a beetroot carpaccio. The ham was beautiful and sweet, the remainder being OK but not spectacular. I took the tasting menu, which tonight was: Le Caviar D'Aquitaine in black jelly, Gillardeau oyster tartare, velouté of haricots mais from Bearn poured over the top Le Foie Gras De Canard Des Landes "au torchon" with mild spices, melon chutney, toasted rustic bread Les Chipirons de Ligne cooked with chorizo and confit tomatoes, black and creamy "2006 vintage" Carnaroli Acquarello rice, Reggiano parmesan foam La Saint-Jacques d'Ecosse roasted wtih cepes and parmesan crust, pumpkin mousseline, Piedmont hazelnut infused chicken stock La Grouse spit roasted and flabéed "au capucin", grilled duck foie gras, Brussels sprouts, "reinette" apples, and "chasselas do Moissac" grapes simmered in a jus of yellow wine from Arbois Les Fromages Affines par Maitre Bernard Anthony La Figue de Sollies compote with a 10 years old Maury caramel, Greek yoghurt sorbet, crispy fruit and not bread Le Chocolat Manjari de Madagascar ganache perfumed with raspberries, raspbery sorbet, galangal creme brulée Wines were: Ch Smith Haut Laffite Blanc, Pessac-Léognan 2001 Ch Rieussec, Sauternes 1er cru classé 1996 (1/2btl) Corton Clos du Roi, Baron Thenard, Burgundy 2001 (glass) Glass of Banyuls-like French fortified wine Even though I say so myself, the choice of a dry Bordeaux blanc with courses 1, 3 and 4 was good. The Rieussec was for the foie course and dessert. After some deliberation on something for the Grouse, the sommelier cracked open a bottle specially and served it by the glass. The Banyuls-like fortified wine was for the chocolate - sorry I didn't get the name. Rather than bore you with all the indiviual details of each course, I'll take the highlights, and the lowlights. The only disappointment was the scallops which I just didn't get. Far too much going on the plate, the pumpkin wasn't necessary and the hazelnut infused chicken stock had a really bitter taste. The real highlight was the Grouse, where I have to say it was the best piece of Grouse I've had for a very long time. It was especially gamey and earthy for this early in the season: it must've been hung for some time. The sommelier's Burgundy selection was a great match too, opening up really nicely as the course progressed. By the third course I was starting to worry about the rate I was filling up. By the time the grouse came, the pan fried foie gras accompaniment was rather too much. The foie was cut in the shape of a heart, rather ironic I thought as half a pound of butter oozed out of it. Cheese was limited to four, and as I didn't have quite the right wines or the appetite, I left that course for another day. Achieving an unexpected second wind, the desserts started to arrive. Both were also good, and that Rieussec '96 is really ready now. Its deep and honeyed apricot, typical of fuller aged Sauternes, was dispensed by the bucket load. I had a tour of the kitchens, and they're largely quite similar to before, with the pass and main ovens still the same and in the same place, although there's been a significant bit of redecoration. The pastry section has been moved along and the chef's table is no longer, it's boarded up. The cellar has moved further in towards the pass, and it is totally new stock. The hotel is apparently still only half open, although you wouldn't know it was still under renovation, with other sections gradually being opened up as they are completed. Hélene was nowhere to be seen. The bill arrived with a nicely prepared menu and the nice touch of a handwritten note worthy of brief mention. In conclusion, I liked it, but I'm not convinced by it quite yet. But there is no table turning that I witnessed, so I'd be happy to give it another shot. Cheers, Howard

I am just glad that a serious contender is re-opening Manchester. Cheers, Howard

Some very interesting comments. I can certainly see where you're coming from. I have never got on with the Square for example. I think that after two dinings and two failures, that's generally enough for me. I am sure one of the reasons I like the Capital is that I do enjoy having a relationship with the crew there enough to be able to have chats and chuckles about all manner of things. The same applies to Le Gavroche, incidentally. In particular, your comment "my perception of Le Gavroche is of a restaurant that holds to itself a loyal band of customers without ever really becoming an ‘A-list type’ destination place" led me to think that we have different concepts of a good night out. Personally, the last thing I want is to be going somewhere where the reputation is on who goes there rather than what it has to offer in a pleasureable evening. I like a place where I can get in at the drop of a hat without being a celebrity and my custom is appreciated. I am too much of a grumpy old man to be fawning after A-listers I'm afraid! I have had one bad meal at the Capital. Well, it was just a bad main really. A very bland fish dish that did nothing for me at all. Other than that (and the couscous!) everything has been uniformly good. I am sure you can have popcorn at the cinema, like you can get rabbit from a pet shop or lobster from a pot. It's what you do with it that counts. As another poster an I have already mentioned, understatement has much to commend it. Sometimes less really is more. Cheers, Howard

Reading the Times at the weekend and subsequently looking at the website, I must say I wasn't immediately impressed at all I'm afraid. The menu reads more like Plane Food than Petrus. Cheers, Howard

Oh, one more thing: if, when you come towards the end of the meal and you don't feel you can absorb the superb chocolates that come with the coffees, ask for a selection in a box to take home.

Personally speaking, if I've never been to a given restaurant before I like to try the tasting menu unless something else on the a la carte particularly takes my fancy, or they don't do matching wines. The only thing that's regularly on the tasting menu at the Capital that I don't get on with is the lamb and couscous. The lamb is great, but I just don't get couscous, but that's probably just me! Luddite that I am, I'd prefer a bit of pomme purée. The good news about the tasting menu is that they will do matching wines, so you can control your booze spend rather more easily. I wouldn't feel embarrassed at all about asking in advance for the possibility of the tasting menu for lunch (and maybe swapping the couscous for pomme purée!) because I was in there for dinner a couple of weeks back and a table of six had asked in advance for the (cheaper) lunch menu. H

Regarding the low profile nature of the Capital, and no celeb chef appearances, I like it that way! Understatement is one of the Capital's greatest assets. It's a regular of mine: typically I go about once a fortnight, mostly for dinner, often enough to feel like I'm treated like family. The lunch menu isn't as haute cuisine as the dinner menu, but the lunch menu is quite a bit cheaper. There is no tasting menu at lunch, although if you wanted it you could try calling them up beforehand. The dining room has space for only about 35 covers, so you are pretty much guaranteed good service. Some don't like the dining room. I've never had any complaints myself. Perhaps the only table I like very slightly less than any of the others is the one between the windows with no outside view, where one could feel a bit boxed in and the subject of all the other diners' view. It's still not really a bad table - in fact you are very likely not going to be overlooked there. The wine list can be a bit of a shocker, but there's an OK selection by the glass. The cheese board can be a bit hit and miss: it's never bad, but sometimes there's just nothing that takes my fancy. Save room for deserts - they have a bit of a nutty pastry chef. The banana and popcorn desert is a favourite of mine, but they give it a much more poncy name than I just did. I've not been for lunch there for about six weeks so I'm not sure what's on right now - they do change it fairly frequently. For the sake completeness the dinner favourites are the Assiette Landaise starter (Two Foie Gras, one pan fried and one a terrine, with various bits of duck) and the main Saddle of Rabbit with grilled squid, bacon wrapped wrapped risotto and spicy baked beans - again, I'm sure on the menu it doesn't say "spicy baked beans" but that's what they are! Cheers, Howard

That's quite a call. I like Bonds. A lot. But I've never thought it as an M* place. The service level certainly isn't up to it, but it's pleasant enough. The food is usually good, although sometimes I make a wrong selection. The dining room itself is spectacularly pleasing, I would say it's the best in the City. I certainly much prefer Bonds over, for example, Coq d'Argent in oh-so-many ways. Still not sure about a * though. Cheers, H

An interesting location, a couple of doors down from an office I set up ten years ago. And ironically it's but a few yards from the old Bronx Diner, arguably the worst eating establishment I've ever had the displeasure of being in, thankfully now closed. It will be most welcome for residents of the Glasshouse hotel, where there is nowhere to dine in the evening, except in chain restaurant such as Pizza Hut of the adjacent Omni Centre cinema multiplex. Cheers, Howard

On that basis, there are a gazillion places that deserve a star if one compares them with the likes of Hakkasan. Just my opinion, of course! But I would disagree - Hakkasan serves Chinese food. I so promised myself that I wouldn't bite, but... I don't have a problem with the food so much as everything else. Take the service - or the lack of it – both inside and out. From being deluged by the multitude of wannabe IT girls who want to hang your coats up, to the obscene lack of attention at the tables, that’s bad enough. But I absolutely, so totally, abhor a place that has bouncers on the door, especially those with the temerity to tell me I can't chain my push bike to a lamppost on a public footpath, but are delighted to allow the limos to park on the pavement in the very same place. And the music – any place that needs the music turned up so loud that you can’t enjoy a conversation without shouting deserves no respect in my book. I think that says it all. If your clientele have so little to say that you have to rely on the music to make the atmosphere, then good luck to you. For these reasons, Hakkasan is on my no-fly list unless I am taken under duress by a well meaning host. Cheers, Howard

I can only deduce that it must be an acquired taste. I can't actually ever remember going to a restaurant of this calibre and ever having something that was so vile, to the extent of being almost literally stomach churning. OK, sea urchins inside are a bit like oysters. But then to be stirred up in a (sea) watery scrambled egg, well I'll leave that to your own imaginations. Cheers, Howard

i'm at a loss for words...that dish is horrendous. maybe you're right, it goes with the carpet. ← Crikey, I could make a dish look like that without even trying. H

On that basis, there are a gazillion places that deserve a star if one compares them with the likes of Hakkasan. Just my opinion, of course! Cheers, Howard

And he still works the kitchen. Had a nice chat with him in Le Gav last night. By the way, I still have a couple of seats available for a Pichon Lalande night at Le Gav this Thursday 25 Sept, menu below. PM me if you're interested. Cheers, Howard L E M E N U CANAPES ***** SAUMON ET JAMBON ‘PATA-NEGRA’ EN GELEE, JUS DE TRUFFES ***** FILET DE ROUGET GRILLE ET TOAST A LA MOELLE ***** RIS ET LANGUE DE VEAU, CEPES ET JUS AU RAIFORT ***** FILET DE BŒUF A L’OS, ECHALOTES CONFITES ET MORILLES A LA CREME PETIT ***** SOUFFLE SUISSESSE ***** CAFE ET PETITS FOURS L E S V I N S ROEDERER BRUT VINTAGE 2000 Magnum RESERVE DE LA COMTESSE 2004 & 1999 en Magnum CHATEAU PICHON LONGUEVILLE COMTESSE DE LALANDE 2003 RESERVE DE LA COMTESSE 2001 CHATEAU PICHON LONGUEVILLE COMTESSE DE LALANDE 2004 & 2001 CHATEAU PICHON LONGUEVILLE COMTESSE DE LALANDE 1983 & 1995 CHATEAU PICHON LONGUEVILLE COMTESSE DE LALANDE 1995 & 1975

Do we?

Went there for dinner yesterday - I called at 6:30pm and secured a table at 7pm. I was glad to be met by at least one person I really did know who commented that they were glad to have prised me away from Eric Chavot, so no prizes for guessing where they'd worked before. As I sat down, immediately I realised I was at the wrong height - too low! I was presented with an enormous menu - A2 sized when open I'd say. Luckily the choices were rather more limited than the size of the menu suggested. A difficult read especially when you can barely see over the table anyway. They say on the menu that it chanes every month. I decided to go a la carte, predominently because there was no matching wine option directly presented with the five or the seven course dégustation options. I had a glass of Ruinard Blanc de Blancs (£18) as an aperitif to go with the signature tempora'd basil and veggie crisps. It was a tiny glass of Champagne too. I'd guess that they squeeze 8 or 9 glasses out of a bottle there. It was a toss up between the Meille Feuille of crab with mustard sabyon (£25) and the sea urchin with scrambled egg (£26) for starter. In the end chef sent a tasting portion of the Meille Feuille and a full sized sea urchin. I wish it had been the other way around. The Meille Feuille was gorgeous - you could taste every ingredient, it was so superbly balanced. The only negative was the thin biscuit on top that I thought wasn't quite right - it was too crisp, so as you dig into the course everything fell apart around it. The sea urchin was nasty. I just didn't like it. I tried, but no, the only thing in this dish was not at all to my taste. I ate the whole thing just to check I hadn't missed anything. Yuck. For middle course I had a super lobster on linguine with a fairly spicy Thai soup (£39). Also in there were sweetly marinated baby tomatoes. Really tasty, but you need to be careful with the wine selection. For all the above courses I had a L'Esprit de Chevalier 2001 white Bordeaux (£60). About this time chef came round to introduce himself, an effort that is to be applauded I feel. It is confirming that there really is someone in there that cares. My main was grouse (£36). Another great dish, which I paired with a Beaune Grèves Vigne De L'Enfant Jesus 1999 red Burgundy (£135), which was perhaps a little too fruity for the grouse, but it was my choice. I also had a small cheese selection (£20): there are about 30 cheeses in all brought over on three tall trollies that always looked like they were a bit rickety and might fall over at any time. Indeed a Beaufort and another hard did end up hitting the floor at one stage as they were wheeled around in the deep shag pile. For dessert I had a soufflé supported inside an apple called "Pomme confite 'd'un autre temps'" (£19). Nicely done, but not greatly memorable. I finished off with a fresh mint tea (£5). A nice touch was that there was a choice between Badoit and Hildon for sparkling water. The loos - well I guess I have to talk about the loos, well the gents anyway. What is this fetish about poncy loo decor? As I walked in the sink started up with a small fountain that, even if you didn't really need to go as you entered, would have psschologically ensured you'd need to now. The problem was that the only thinng that was lit was the fountain, and it was now a game of stick the tail on the donkey in an effort to relieve myself. The wine list was shockingly expensive, almost up to Ducasse at the Dorchester standards. Taking a typical example, Vin de Constance, for any one of half a dozen recent vintages, were all at £190/btl: I make that a seven to eight times gouge!!! For the first hour I had to suffer the mid atlantic twang of a self important, but seemingly out of work, trader trying to impress a pair of French bankers three tables distant. If the poor suffering Frenchmen have any sense, they would leave him to suffer by himself without allowing him to indulge his arrogance on their own financial organisation. The table next to me commented, "who was interviewing who?" which I found very apt under the circumstances. Apart from the insufferable ex-trader and the sea urchin, I really rather enjoyed it. That was, until the bill arrived. I am sure that there are other places providing better value in town to spend one's zero bonus this year. Clearly the ex-trader didn't know where these were either. Cheers, Howard

Spooky, that was exactly what I noticed too! Coincidentally, I was lucky enough to spend last weekend in Jersey with M jr, Albert and Silvano with their respective other halves from Le Gav, starting with a dinner hosted by them at the Grand Hotel on Friday night where they had been doing some consultancy work. Then I bumped into them at lunch on Saturday at the Oyster Box in St Brelade's. On Sunday morning as I entered the BA lounge at Jersey airport, who were there but Albert, Silvano and their partners. On board BA8042 we had breakfast. Albert was sitting directly behind me and really did tuck into that BA breakfast... I don't know who was stalking who. Cheers, Howard