Charlene Leonard

how can an average meal be £450? I can understand someone spending £450pp if they opt for v.expensive wine but to give this as the average price? Are starters £50 and mains £100+ with no wine under £300? or is it a fixed price menu? and more importantly would you pay?

do you ever get caught out looking at egullet when someone comes to your desk? what do you do - quickly flick to that very important excel spreadsheet or keep it on the screen to arouse the least suspicion?

what are you lot talking about? getting up at 4am to buy some fish? good God, the Christmas spirit is getting to you, I challenge you to keep to this in the harsh reality of a miserable Jan morning....

i really hope not, all I'm going to do all day is read egullet and play mini Boule

yes, but do you have to work on 27th? I do

not that I imagine you will ever come to Willesden Green but Sushi Say is first rate (but expensive).

don't you think you would have lost all the weight on this regime alone without depriving yourself chip butties?

Orrery, Menu and Grill Room at The Connaught, Wagamamas?

La Brocca is definitely better than Bella Pasta, it is just that the room downstairs is dire - long and thin so everyone is on top of each other and kind of dingy looking. There is a great fish and chip shop called Rock and Sole Plaice down Fairfax Road, just up from Singapore Garden which gets great reviews but I found average. A new place called Slice in Clapham gets a decent review in Evening Standard but I am never likely to venture down there so will never know... review

I've not even heard of Monsieur Max - anyone been?

Dear Charlene I am terribly sorry but The Greenhouse misinformed you (it was a new member of staff that you spoke to and I have since updated them!) Our company policy is as Joe Levin said, we charge the same price as our house wine and house champagne as a corkage charge. Do come back to me if there is anything else you would like to know or indeed if you would like to speak to Joe Levin further on the subject. With best wishes Julie Millar looks like you can book that table now Tony!

this really annoys me; the MD is quoted as saying "yes, we think it's a fabulous idea, please come and spend your money at our restauant" yet front of house are saying the opposite. Have just written an email to Evening Standard about it but now thinking about it I will write one to Joe Levin as well. edit: letter duly written.

but it said so in the article I read! bloody journalists you can't trust them. link to article but I think it is subscription only so here is the relevant bit..."Joe Levin of the Capital Hotel and The Greenhouse is similarly welcoming; indeed of all the restaurants I contacted none said it would ever refuse a customer who wanted to bring his or her own wine (and especially not at lunch), provided they discuss this when booking" published in July 2002 on ThisisLondon.co.uk, outrageous...

just out of interest, why's that?

Thanks Magnolia, all great advice. We only have one bottle of each (wedding gifts) and are intending to drink them on our anniversary over the coming years, also have a few Pomerols, '98 and '94 I think?. Our anniversary coincides with the Ludlow Food Festival so I have just booked Hibiscus and Merchant House for next Sept so was thinking of taking the Cos D'Estournel with us. I was intending on opening the other two in the next 2-3 years but can hold on to them if it would be best...

now that's service!

thanks Bapi, just booked Hibiscus and Merchant House for next Sept.

A review I was reading recently bought to my attention the fact than many of London's top restaurants allow customers to bring their own wine. The Capital and The Greenhouse charge no corkage and places like Chez Bruce and Club Gascon charge £9. Nigel Platts-Martin is quoted as saying “Any sensible restaurant would encourage it” but it is reported that no more than a dozen guests request to bring their own wine. I don’t know a lot about wine but have got three decent bottles at the moment, a Cos D’Estournel 1985, Grand Vin de Leoville 97 and a Chateau Decru Beaucaillou 1989, which I would like to drink with some food far better than I can make myself. Has anyone taken their own bottle along to a restaurant, should I ring in advance to let them know, give them the bottle a day before so they can decant it or is that too risky?

have you got nothing better to do on a Friday afternoon, young man??

Are we talking about fondues or 1970's wife swapping here? I'd rather not know what you do with melted cheese behind closed doors Simon

right that's settled it, will definetly serve a fondue in the near future. P.S I think naff must be a British word which hasn't made it across the Atlantic!

Recently acquired a fondue as a wedding gift (I had asked for one as have fond memories of parents 'fondue parties' years ago). Does anyone have any recipes for them, I'm looking for a tasty cheese one but also stuff a little less heavy. Would you regard it the height of naffness if you went for dinner and a fondue was served or has it transcended into retro kitsch?

Sautéed some slivers of garlic in EVOO and lots of butter and added chopped parasol and cep mushrooms I picked in the New Forest at the weekend. Generous grinding of salt and pepper and lots of parsley served with some spaghetti I’ve never seen before called Chitarra All’Uovo (means guitar strings and is more square than normal spaghetti with a rougher surface and firmer texture). Washed down with the freshly squeezed juice of some clementines I needed to use up.

oohh, I really like the sound of that. I could pop into Basildog's deli on the way home and pick up some risotto and poached pears for dinner, shame it's a bit of a detour from London, it's not fair

De Cecco pasta Cirio tinned tomatoes Pate Extensive range of spices Good quality dark chocolate Proper bacon and pancetta Garners pickled onions Chutneys - I'm a sucker for homemade pickles Cheese Olive oil I'm hungry now...