BertieWooster
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Posts posted by BertieWooster
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Some of you might have seen this. The headline story is that a York Councillor is calling for the banning of foie gras from the city. The real story is that an opposition councillor is getting some publicity. I can think of only one restaurant in York that serves the stuff, though Garry I'm sure knows more...
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2180789.ece
Incidentally, as a failed journo, these things always amuse me. Compare and contrast this morning's national story with yesterday's regional story in the York Press,
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/search/display....eaking_move.php
Now, is this a) plagiarism, b) lazy journalism or c) simple copying of a press release?
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yup, tis lovely, much much better than Piccolinos.
But a (good) surprise that the first Bib in the city centre didnt go to a Chinese
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(manchester, well Didsbury, already had a Bib in Jem & I)
And entertaining to see Anthony's at Flannels got a Bib, but the main place is still without a star.
J.Baker's in York too with a Bib.
Time for my annual 'how does the Box Tree keep theirs?'. Even smugger, less helpful, less interesting than last year. Third best restaurant in Ilkley.
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"food with cosmetic surgery special";
that would be Polly Vernon. She's in every month.
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Hmm, and wear black cloaks, top hats and twirly moustaches for the occasion I'll be bound.
Actually, quite looking forward to Beth Ditto on 'Fat'. Just to compare with Dawn French on fat. 'Fat's sexy...' 'nope, however many times you say it, however loud you say it, you know and we know that that's not true...'.
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All of you complaining about the celebrity-focus of OFM will of course be waiting with breath bated for next Sunday's issue. A food meets music special--
It features noted food writers Beth Ditto, Emma Bunton, McFly, Wynton Marsalis, John Eliot Gardner and Amy Winehouse. Guess the editors looked at the latter's name and said --'see, it's relevant...'
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Yup, went back there Sunday before last. It helped to get some complimentary champagne, but the service and attention to detail were all back to where they were eighteen months ago. A new set of staff, much more consistency, alongside the still excellent food.
Apparently they'll now only do 'special' weddings--ie. ones that pay a lot, rather than as a matter of course. I think the pressure of the big events told on the service at other times over the weekend (certainly the lunch team when we left post-nuptials were 3/4 the team that had been up till 4am partying with us the night before, so sloppiness at lunch would have been inevitable).
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Bertie, when you click on the box to select the level of resturant your looking for, it drops down with the scores and what they mean (1) Exceptional (2) Very Good etc.
Hmm, but that wasn't the way I went into it, so its not exactly intuitive that you have to look at a search form to the left to see what the figures in front of you on the main pane mean.
Hardens online guides, meet Jakob Nielsen
(oh and thanks Basildog and Ravelda for explaining it to me--Jeeves is off today)
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And the online version would be even more useful if there was ANY key to which numbers mean what. I suppose you're meant to buy the guides, but having it online in this state is just frustrating.
*wanders off muttering*
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Oh, and Betty's in Ilkley and Northallerton. Proper cakes, proper tea (and coffee should you drink the devil's brew), proper staff in proper uniforms. And they kill you if you use your mobile at the table. Tea tastes so much better when served by a nippy.
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ETA: You'll also note that both there and at amazon, the release date is listed as Jan 24th. Granted it says the 26th on the Michelin site.
Si
Surely that's so it lands on your mat on the release day. They do the same thing with Wisden, and new LPs come to that...
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The Witsend Cafe in Sandsend, just up the coast from Whitby. We only go the Yorkshire coast in winter, and after a 'bracing' walk at Staithes, its a ritual to stop off at the Witsend, great hot chocolate, warming basic food in huge portions, a lovely walled garden, and the crash of the waves outside.
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And having been again recently, the Market Restaurant in the Northern Quarter still strikes me as the best quality in town. Okay, its a bit seventies in style, but we all like a bit of nostalgia now and agin. Don't we?
Sad about T'Establishment. Better than the other big-hitters (above notwithstanding) certainly. Though I hear rumours The French is back on the up.
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I'll be the first to say this: surely Anthony's will be recognised this year?
Well there's a spare in Leeds now that Pool Court has closed (and will J Baker's in York get one?), but I doubt it. They'll wait till the standard drops.
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I can think of three or four redundant garages around here that have been converted into farmer's shops/market places. Ideal layout...
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I'm back in Manchester this weekend and craving a Chinese meal. I've been told the Yang Sing is a waste of time these days, and I've enjoyed Red Chilli a couple of times but beyond that I'm clueless. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Personally I'd disagree on the Yang Sing, still think its very good. Course it is rather full of suits all the time.
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A little bit off topic but I bet most of the service station and railway franchise operators really hate the M&S Simply food outlets - vaguely edible food with no price premiums (Not as far as I have noticed - appears to be the same prices as high street shops).
Though it seems to have forced other places to buck their ideas up. Leeds and Manc station newsagents (Menzies I think) both stock foogoo sarnies now, which include a lovely salmon and egg thing. Well, I think its lovely, but, as has been pointed out before, I have no taste.
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I would also recommend Black Sheep but my current favourite is Golden Pig from Country Life Brewery in Bideford, Devon, right on my doorstep.
Dunno why, but any beer with 'Golden' in it always gets my taste buds purring long before tasting. Its a very effective marketing tag! Wharfedale Breweries and COpper Dragon always seem to do something with the magic word in the title.
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Deuchars IPA
Waggledance
Tetley Strong Mild
Brooklyn
Oh, and Black Sheep. Cos if a pub serves Black Sheep you know its a place you're going to enjoy.
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Service of the year was at Matfen Hall Hotel in NOrthumbria--helpful, friendly, and with good memories. INteresting cooking too--the sort of young chef who Ramsay would spend an hour swearing at to simplify what he does, but who has some gorgeous local ingredients (mostly as it seemed to be, off their own estate).
Meal of the year was probably at Northcote Manor. But that were a private do. And the service and food for everything but the wedding was shocking.
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Where do you cook?
I had a star at a restaurant in surrey in 2005
then went to shanghai as head chef to opent jade on 36 in the shangri-la chef de cuisine was paul pairet, unfortunatly i had to come back to england last year and now have just opened a 45 cover restaurant and 25 cover brasserrie in surrey, opened in nov but unfortunatly my restaurant manager just took a f and b position in Dubai which he applied for middle last year so keeping low profile opening till get the right team in place out front
Drakes on the Pond one assumes (well, google tells me, but... )
I don't mind normal filling up of glasses, its either when they keep topping up until the wine is over-flowing or, as you say, when they hide the wine somewhere that's annoying. More irritating than wine somewhere across the room is in an ice bucket by the table but just out of reach, so you still have to get up (mind its a good excuse for a scene).
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I think it has rather more to do with the competition from McDs and Burger King on the one hand ('Mum, mum where can we stop for a meal?') and the expansion of what's offered in service station shops (all those 'microwave your own bacon butties'). And very little to do with the British being more food/health-conscious.
I did think of putting in an offer, but I didn't have a spare 10 mil lying around.
Yes, I considered that as well - but if that were the case, McD's and Burger King have been around for so long that Little Chef would have felt the effects of their competition a long time ago.
Re: the spare 10 mill - have you checked behind the sofa?
But Little Chef has been on the decline for the past fifteen years at least. Its only been the last decade that McDs and BK have really moved out to service stations and the roadside market, which certainly co-incides with the rotund chef fading.
If I could find the sofa, I'd look behind it.
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I think it has rather more to do with the competition from McDs and Burger King on the one hand ('Mum, mum where can we stop for a meal?') and the expansion of what's offered in service station shops (all those 'microwave your own bacon butties'). And very little to do with the British being more food/health-conscious.
I did think of putting in an offer, but I didn't have a spare 10 mil lying around.
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which reminds me--why are restaurant websites so badly designed? They mostly seem to ignore basic usability in favour of too much flash and slow animation.
Course, that's when there's any content at all, unlike that for Bacchus...; - )
York Foie Gras
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted · Edited by BertieWooster (log)
So am I, and I don't give a toss about the subject.
EDIT, well obviously I do, otherwise I wouldn't have posted the original piece.
Uhhr.
*disappears up own fundament*