Conor

he talked in glowing terms about you Andy!!!

I was having coffee with Anton Mosimann the other day and he was telling me that they are putting a lot of effort into his chef's school. Apparently they have courses for all levels and it has recieved a lot of positive feedback. I'm afraid i do not know much about the course price and contents, but there is more info on his website: Mosimann.com.

How many is the party for? At 1880, I have a private dining room for 12 next to the restaurant and I think the grazing menus lend themselves particularly well to larger groups because it is far easier to cook 12 cutlets of lamb than 12 racks of lamb. I'm sure we could come to an arrangement on the price too!!!

You can't go wrong for Sunday lunch in Almeida, especially with the charcuterie trolley.

Happy fudging!

Hi Moby, sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I took a rare long weekend off for an engagement party! In answer to your questions,I opened the restaurant back in October and sadly missed yopurself and Andy when you came in. Andrew and I do work closely together, he is very keen to hear feedback and we have changed dishes accordingly every so often. The brigade here is smaller than many other restaurants with and without michelin stars, and who are also responsible for the banqueting, room service and brasserie cooking in the hotel. Andrew's staff turnover is very low and indeed virtually all the team here came from Brown's with him. They are mostly English, with some Europeans and he tends to train them himself, instead of hiring positions he would rather train then promote. Jon, I'm afraid i wasn't associated with Brown's or the Gousse D'Ail. Hope that answers all the questions!!

We had already identified the halibut as a dish that was not at the level of other dishes on the menu, but i am suprised at the "rubbery" taste.

Jimbob, it would indeed be great to match menus with wines like this, but I do not think it would be as succesful as it needed to be to prevent the wine "turning to vinegar" Prices are already high in London, and while I feel our food and service is comparable to most of the very top places in London, Troisgros has had 3 michelin stars for 30 years and has become a destination for people wanting to sample the best. 1880 is not at that level.....yet!

Hi Gavin, I'm the Restaurant Manager at 1880. We have a sommelier's menu which is a suprise 8 course menu with wines to match for £100. But we can also match wines with any of our grazing menus which range from 5 courses up to 10 courses with prices starting at £40 for 5 courses.

Good to see you enjoyed your meal last night, I hope you enjoyed the Gavi and Bourgogne Pinot Noir as well. The confit lamb breast is not a beignet but is indeed coated in breadcrumbs. It is to provide a contrast both in texture and flavour to the lamb cutlet, but I will certainly pass on to Andrew your indifference. While the decor will not be to everyones taste, I would recommend all e gulleteers to visit 1880, and to get the full experience opt for wines to match. Please let me know if any of you are visiting in the future.

My brother is taking my parents for lunch in Leeds following his graduation at the end of July, and knows the standard places. Is there anywhere just outside Leeds, ideally on the Horsforth side where there is a nice gastro pub or similar that he might not of heard of?

I'm afraid I'm just like Hallie, a short term memory problem which is not caused by the frequency of my dining out, but more the frequency at which I order wine when dining out. However, one dish does stand out. It was at Zuma, a restaurant not right at the top of its game but close enough with a good atmosphere to make up it's shortcomings. Seabass sashimi with truffle oil and salmon roe. Made truly great by the quality of the fish. Oh, another "dish" is the charcuterie trolley at Almeida, admittedly not one dish but many different, but it only takes one line on the menu! Various terrines, parfaits, pates and meats, none perfect but given the amount of choice, close to a perfect starter.

I know this is a food website, but I this kind of fits! I had a great afternoon yesterday in the garden of The Windsor Castle in Kensington/Notting Hill at the top of Campden Hill. Few bottles of white wine with some friends and a plate of nachos! The menu looked like basic gastro-pub food, special sausages with mash and gravy, greek salad etc. Its served all day and did not seem too expensive. But the garden is great, especially as it can be hard to find pub gardens in central London.

Kirsten, I'll forgive the plug, thanks for some great info, and I had a look at the site, it looks very interesting. Who knows we might take you up on a tour while we're there, it look fun. Conor

Thanks a lot Amy, Cal Pep sounds just the thing i'm after. Hopefully i'll have as good a time as you!

I'm visiting Barcelona in June for the first time in June and am looking for a little bit of advice on where to eat. I would like some alternatives in different price catagories, but all well located near the center of the city. I run a haute cuisine restaurant in London, so i do appreciate good food, but i do not want to pay the earth while i am there. I would be grateful if anyone could recommend some good "cafes" and also some better restaurants for me to visit while i am there. I arrive on the 22 june and leave on the 27. I believe there is also a festival or bank holiday during this time. So all advice is greatly appreciated!

should we create a new link called restaurant fashion? with all this talk about "pants" turtle-necks," and "button-ups" I'm feeling a hell of a lot of sympathy for you cloying, you must feel like your seven years old again with your mum dressing you. (was seven too old for my mum to be dressing me, if yes change to five!) Why don't we realise that as long as you look decent enough to walk down the street, then that is decent enough to wear to any restaurant. I'm a manager of a fine dining restaurant in London, and the one rule is if you feel good then you look good. You are giving your money to the restaurant remeber, so if they cannot accept what you are wearing then it is their problem.

sorry for my ignorance, i've been following these threads but who is "cockcroft"? And also who is "Robert" Maybe i'm being stupid but i seem to have missed a trick!

Having been the subject of reviews both good and bad by many critics (some of whom are members of this illustrious website) i can see both sides of the argument. The problem for me is when reviews become personnally driven rather than an accurate description of facts. It is true that some restaurants are better than others and the "public" reading those reviews want to know who is good and who is not. This, therefore, is the job of the critic to tell the public this. It is how they do it that can cause offence. If a meal was bad, why was it bad, but tell us honestly and without prejudice. Too many reviewers see themselves as lifestyle journalists rather than restaurant critics and this is when the problem starts. They are not lifestyle journos and when people read a restaurant review the should read a full review of a restaurant not what the critic did on holiday with an emu! Critics should also remember that there are a lot of people working very hard for little reward other than satisfaction in the restaurants that they so readily slag off. How will those people feel if their food/service is described as a "wet weekend" or "dog muck." Qualify "dog muck" and the other loose descriptions that are regularly used, but also praise the parts that were good. Chefs/Managers/Owners would accept the criticism if it was balanced with praise but its often far easier to slag off to get headlines and soundbites. If it is any consolation, however, to those aggrieved by critics, I do think a good review does wonders for business, a bad one is forgotten quickly and soon becomes chip paper!

I never wear a suit nowadays in London when i eat at fine restaurants, you shouldn't have to dress up just to eat good food. the fact that you are paying should be good enough! I tried 1880 at the Bentley the other day, the hotel is quite OTT but the dining room is suprisingly relaxed. The food is great, good grazing menu idea where you try lots of different courses and a good wine list.

Wagamama has already been mentioned, but in Kensington High Street opposite it is a place called "Stick and Bowl", great chinese food, and lets just say they save the expense on the decor and service! Churchill Arms in Kensington, Thai food for a fiver in a nice pub. And there is an Italian place in Soho(off Dean Street??) that does "all you can eat buffets", i know they are normally crap but this one is quite good. I will try to find out the name but if anyone else knows....

Many thanks, its a great site!

that's the one and by the end of dinner you're a smoked sardine! But they've also got the craziest landlord in london, a guy called Gerry O'Brien who is worth a visit on his own.

Two places spring to mind for good food in a pub though not necessarily "gastropubs". The first is the Ladbroke Arms in Notting Hill/Holland Park. Generally good food, and not too pricey, and the other is the Churchill Arms in Kensington. Not really a gastropub, but pretty good Thai food and very cheap prices. Both however can be difficult to get a good table at the busy times.