YKL

Anthony Flint? There's a guidebook somewhere that says Anthony Quinn ... (wanders off muttering .....)

Party of ten ... so is this the final confirmation that Anthony's is really a private dining club for you Gary?!? just kidding .. Sounds like it could be fun to meet some of the people who post on EG - although not having any luck getting through at the moment - phone's been engaged for 10 mins. Hmmmm .. If I get to go ... I'll be the quiet one in the corner with a paper, demolishing entire loaves of bread by myself, without having to share it with nine other people on the table. Friends are important ... but sometimes you have to prioritise ....

If Sat night bookings are now taken till July then six monthly may be all that's available! Are Saturday lunchtimes still booked up? If not, I might try and venture in this weekend - the lemon / cucumber dessert alluded to above sounded quite interesting. cheers Yin

will the jacketless potato feature again on the menu? I never got to try (despite my best efforts to keep going back) ... and feel as though I have missed out!! Did note that they had the homage to the pina colada amuse when I was there a few weeks ago ... Yin

I grew up in Brum and still go back regularly since my Mum lives there. Admittedly when we go out and eat we tend to stick to Chinese, but we did have a reasonable meal at Bank a couple of weekends ago, with very good service so it's not quite all doom and gloom. Also have tentative plans to try lunch at Paris next month so that will be interesting. By contrast, I spend a good deal of my working week in Worcester - and on the rare occasions when I venture out from my hotel, have not yet found anything more than mediocrity (Nando's excepted!). Actually - to be honest - what I want is better food along the motorways of the Midlands since I spend so much time on the M42 - but suspect that is another thread so I'll pootle off ....

would rococo or Pierre Marcolini work - or were you looking for something more OTT?

You should have made it a surpise contest... because now I'm going to wait until you hit about 999,900 before I post my books ← what kind of prize is there for the first person to get 100,000 books all by themselves? DIY shelves? or a library card?!

I got some helpful suggestions when I started this thread last month - so hope that's useful. My friends ended up at Smollensky's for the main meal - which she said suited them fine - but admittedly the kids were a little younger than your niece / nephews. She did tell me that she and her husband did look wistfully towards the Wolseley as they passed by, but their kids wanted something different. Would Inn the Park work? perhaps if you've been in the parks that day? Cheers Yin

Sorry Andy Turns out the Dough Bistro is in fact a full time bistro ... with only the name as a link to its former use - so no dual split at all. However - the food was very good, reasonably wide choices on the menu and it's a nice atmosphere there as well so it's likely I'll go back. I should try and find time to do a short write up. cheers Yin

Andy Are you still looking for more examples for your article? If so - am going to the Dough Bakery bistro in Leeds tomorrow evening - seems to be well regarded so will try and remember to do a write up if it lives up to its promise. Think chef is Wayne Newsome who used be be at Marcels in Leeds? cheers Yin

Speaking as someone's whose New Year Resolution last year was to visit more and different restaurants, this turned out to be very little hardship at all!! In Leeds, there seem to be a couple of monthly (I think?) listings magazines who often have reviews - think they're called Absolute Leeds and Leedslife. Or something like that. On the rare occasions when I buy them, I usually glance at them to see what's new rather than using them as a bible of gastronomic reference. But I suspect that's because I'm not trendy enough to be their target audience And it's Oliver who does the reviews in the Yorkshire Evening Post. Not sure if that's his real name, or just a cover but I've often been to restaurants who frame favourable reviews from him so it would seem he has a strong local following. Think there's also some web-based sites - one called sugarvine for Leeds? Not used it much myself - my list of places to visit is already quite long! Cheers Yin Whoops - extra edit to say I forgot about Yorkshire Life - a grand old magazine that actually has restaurant / hotel awards each year so that's probably worth a mention.

See, posts like that will keep the rest of us up till 2am thinking of the food! My next booking is not till March - that seems an awfully long time away Yin

gaaaahhh!! have another six to confess to - how did that happen?!? Of course I am secretly very pleased with all my purchases but felt it was good form to at least pretend that I am appalled at my lack of self discipline: So we have .... Harold McGee - on Food and Cooking. Well, couldn't not have it really could I? The only thing is, I tend to read my cookbooks in bed - but I fear falling asleep in the small hours of the morning, only to wake - gasping for breath as the weight of the book crushes the air from my lungs! Tessa Kiros - Falling Cloudberries - had resisted for a long time but it is in fact a lovely lovely book. It's basically a collection of family recipes, but given the author's exotic and well travelled roots (born in London to a Finnish mother and a Greek-Cypriot father. Spent much of childhood in South Africa before travels through Asia and Europe and cooking in London, Sydney, Athens and Mexico. She then married an Italian and now lives in Tuscany!) - it's a pretty big spread. Then - some bargains in the recent sales - such as Chantal Coady (of Rococco) - chocolate - for bargain price of £3.50. That's just under $7 at current exchange rates, but under normal rates of £1=$1.5 - taht would be $5!! Usula Ferrigno - Bringing Italy Home - only £5 Henrietta Green et al - fast food for friends - £3 Nick Nairn - 100 salmon recipes - £5 or so? The last two were purchased from a remainders store in York - and so it's amazing I only left with two books!! All in all - not a bad haul. Need to start doing some more cooking don't I?!? Cheers Yin

Yep, living and (mostly!) working in Leeds ... although I grew up in Birmingham - so maybe that's why you thought I was from somewhere else. cheers Yin

and you know what? I most certainly did enjoy my journey into chocolate!! I don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone who may be visiting soon so SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING THE CHOCOLATE DESSERT ... but it was delicious. All four parts of it. From memory there was a homage to the ferrero rocher chocolates which was a light and frothy chocolate mouse with some hazelnut (?) base at the botttom, a perfect morsel of coffee and chocolate cake, a glorious chocolate fondant which just melted in your mouth (seemed to be similar to the chocolate fondant they used to have?) and then my favourite - an ickle ice lolly stick of chocolate icecream, with a thick covering of chocolate and nibs of hazelnuts .. reminded me of Big Feast ice-creams although that's probably more revealing about my childhood. Holly had said that it was a journey into four countries - but I couldn't figure out what that was. There was so much richness on the plate that I had to enlist the help of my friend to finish it. Which may explain why she managed to leave her mobile behind - but marvellous people that they are - they figured out that this is what happened, and rang me the next day so that I could arrange collection on Tuesday. Which was actually another excuse to stay for dinner because they had a last minute cancellation - hurrah! Superlative black pudding starter and delicious venison for my main, and the pineapple and olive tatin was remarkably successful. So if you haven't been yet - why not?! Cheers Yin

I'm not a fully qualified chocoholic but in the interests of research - will do my best to save room for dessert when I go there for lunch tomorrow! Cheers Yin

Does the Michelin guide and / or inspectors pay any heed to other guides e.g. Good Food Guide in Britain? Or do you see some clear distinction between what each guide is looking for? My question is prompted by recent discussion on this board re: some restaurants in the UK - well regarded and rated by the eG community, and which seem to garner a host of awards elsewhere and yet have been unsuccessful in gaining michelin star(s) this year. thank you Yin

sorry - hadn't actually followed the link!!

There was an article in today's Independent which suggested that the lack of interest was forcing Mr Hill to apply for permission to turn the building back to a private dwelling to facilitate the sale .... can anyone confirm this? Yin

just spoke to Anthony Sr at Anthony's (was making a booking for March!), and he reckoned that the press release for Michelin was due out around 21st Jan .....

I feel (and fear) that I am coming rather late to this thread, but have definitely enjoyed catching up! I also love soup - and only yesterday had a very fine lunch from the final portion of Hot Butternut squash soup from my freezer. MMMMM - central heating from the inside! Anyway, it looks like you already have plenty of recipes for the carrot and butternut squash soups - but if anyone's interested - here's a very quick summary of how I make these soups: Carrot and Coriander (cilantro in US?) - from Covent Garden book heat oil and butter in large saucepan, and fry a finely chopped onion with some ground cumin and coriander until soft and aromatic. Add 1lb of peeled and chopped carrots, enough stock to cover (probably about 1.5L from memory) ... and season. Bring to the boil and then cover and simmer until carrots are tender. (I also throw in the stalks from the fresh coriander I'm using). Let it cool slightly and then blend until smooth with stick blender. Stir in 4oz of grated carrots, fresjly chopped coriander, and a touch of cream (although I tend to leave this out - result is creamy and sweet enough for my taste without). Hot Butternut Squash Roast chunks of butternut squash until soft. In meantime, soften a chopped onion in butter / oil with spices such as cumin, coriander, chilli powder and ginger. Peel the squash, and then blend the flesh with the spicy onions, a tin of plum tomatoes and some stock. Season to taste, with some chill sauce if you like (e.g. tabasco or Jamaican hot sauce), serve garnished with some creme fraiche and freshly ground chilli flakes Errm ... think that's it. They are very simple and easy to make, but very nice - honestly. Am also very keen on curried parsnip soup (a la Jane Grigson) ... and wun tun soup .... Yin

well our non traditional xmas dinner was parma wrapped monkfish, with braised red cabbage, charlotte potatoes, green beans, tomato sauce ... think there were some sprouts and some bacon wrapped scallops on the table as well! and have just had improvised trfile with soft ratafia biscuits soaked in cointrea, toped with fresh raspberry coulis, custard and fresh cream. all delicious ... but probably good that xmas only comes once a year!

turns out it was a set of novelty rings to make interesting shaped fried eggs! Also got a beautiful stripey breakfast set with a very cool egg cup, breakfast bowl and plate. plus a few boxes of chocolate and some christmas shortbread ...

mmm ... medium spicing at Nando's is about as hot as I dare go - and I used to think I was quite good with hot and spicy food. Have never gone for the extra hot one - don't want to risk crying in public or having my tongue swell up to a point where I risk choking to death!

think it was reviewed in the Independent (on a Sat) a few weeks back .... think this is the link here cheers Yin