BertieWooster

I reviewed Gueller's for t'Big Ish when I was fairly strict veggie. Yon chef sayeth, 'problem with vegetarian is whatever you do to it, it's still just a mass of vegetables...', which I found a little unadventurous. Mrs. B. was (and is) red in tooth and claw though so we got the blood racked side of things. Don't know if G. has improved his supply for veggies now. Looking at the menu, there were a number of dishes that were straight lifts from his old menu--which is good or bad depending what you thgouht of it. Jeez, I'm sitting on the fence this am.

From their website, The Box Tree is now open again. We might be trying it for Sunday lunch this weekend. Pip pip

Much the same as you Gary...though Anthony's as best restaurant, staratharome as best SUnday lunch, LIshman's as best retailer. Couldn't come up with a best cheap eat, nothing really stands out...

any time now!

Perhaps he/she was working on the basis that one had to walk past a strip club to get there, and walking past strip clubs is something journos just can't imagine. And I speak as a hack of long standing...

Yup it is...I've only seen the local rag commenting, so it might well have been press for getting nominated. Have to admit I was more entranced by the piccie of Mr and Mrs G. trying to crowd previous sommellier (noted as 'former employee') out of the frame, and probably didn't take the whole article in. Anything longer than a paragraph will see me doz...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

And I've heard the 16th, so it's probably still a bit up in the air! Nice that Simon and his Mrs were happy to take the award for 'great champagne lists', even though that was the previous administration, and they've got rid of the old sommellier. Still, I guess at this stage any publicity that doesn't ask, 'Simon, you're a great cook, but you've completely failed to run the last place you were at, what gives you the confidence that you can make this one work?' is going to be taken.

aw, no fun!

Tend to do it by gut feeling, working from 10% (I'm not bright enough to work out 12.5%), and then rounding up or down, so any meal costing £120-£180 is basically going to end up with a £20 tip if the service has been good. What does slightly irritate me, and it's probably the Yorkshire stinginess coming out is including the cost of wine when working out the 10/12.5%. Surely it takes no more service to open a bottle of £60 wine rather than a bottle of £20 wine, yet it adds more to the bill and generates more in tips... *whinge whinge*

Who mentioned English Breakfast? It's a category mistake innit, just because the breakfast is IN London doesn't mean it has to be OF London... And you not heard of veggie sausages? We luuurve the taste of sawdust in the mornin.

Simpsons no good to us veggies--would feel totally wrong not eating proper English beef! Will try Charlotte STtreet...cool idea, ta!

Am looking for somewhere to have a relaxed breakfast/brunch, preferably with champagne (so, just to be difficult, I guess that means a late breakfast!), in t'smoke on Monday...we're staying Bloomsbury, but moving towards Tate Modern for late lunchtime, if that helps at all??

Going to Fischer's on Friday, might try this on the Thursday though! Especially as I'l be with my mum who loves doing the retired-headmistress 'what on earth is going on?' type scene--might be an interesting clash (god our family likes complaining).

Spent Saturday morning trailing round the sales with Mrs. W. and managed to get to Anthony's for 1-30. The idea was to have finished shopping and then relax for the afternoon. It didn't quite work out like that, as there was this suit I wanted and some shoes she wanted, but resting for two or so hours in the underground cool in delightful company was an excellent way of breaking up an otherwise mad day. Not at all busy, except for the Maitre D' of No. 3 at another table, who was checking out the competition in the nicest possible way (and taking bookings for that evening). Pina Colada to start, slush puppy style it says here on Olga's very helpful notes. Just what I needed after the heat of the sales. Wait a moment for it to de-freeze, then pineapple flavours tickling the throat. The beetroot sherbert afterwards I adored, Mrs. W. was less in love with--possibly she didn't spend her childhood sucking on sherbert dabs. And the amuse--Roast White Asparagus tips with mayonnaise and cassis vinagrette. Served on a very Japanese black slab, this was one of those 'make each spoonfull smaller' type of dishes, the four tips just didn't go on long enough (though, of course, any more would have ruined the perfection of the dish). Langoustines for Mrs. W., served in a bowl to which the consomme was added--obviously reminiscent of Oriental soup, the hiss of steam bringing out the flavours. Fresh crab for me with frozen yogurt. Beautifully presented on a long thin slate, the meat delicate as could be. On Mains, I had the Roast Monkfish, which managed to resonate with oaky flavours, the accompanying enoki woody and satisfyingly tough compared to the fish. Pickled radishes went zing around the mouth. This usually comes with a meat-based stock, but in deference to my non-proper meat eating ways, it had been swapped. My partner had the Duck, which you've all heard about before. Not being one usually for the meat and fruit thing, she was surprised to really enjoy. Helped no doubt by the perfect pinkness of the duck. Tatin and cheeses to finish. THe Tatin was something special, as has previously been noted. Just over £100 including a bottle of house bubbly and pre-lunch drinks. Chats with Olga and Holly (?--Anthony's sister who looks after the bar) confirmed that Saturday nights are now booking six weeks in advance, though there is a cancellation list. Things seem to have settled down a bit and they're all now getting used to the lifestyle, with a little bit more time to get some rest! The family feel of the place continues (and I hope it doesn't lose it), Anthony's sis was extolling the virtues, quite correctly, of working really hard for something that's shared between the family members. It was good to have a bit of time as the meal unfolded to find out how things were going. Oh, and Olga pointed out Gary's table. Soon, he'll have his nameplate on it. <g> Two final points on the food overall. One is the level of technical excellence to which many have made allusions. which allows the simple things (like the cooking of the duck, the presentation of the crab) to be done very well. There's a core of good cooking here that's not affected by the 'fancy' stuff on top. The second is the voluntarism implicit in the experimentation. The duck doesn't come with a chocolate sauce that can't be avoided. Rather, once the bon bon is cracked, one can choose exactly how much of this experiment one wants to engage with (same with the crab and the yogurt or whatever). At the heart of each dish is something that stands up to scrutiny for the basics. It's a democratic spirit that is very engaging, and allows more people to experiment than otherwise might. And we'll no doubt be back within the fortnight.

Mrs W. started ringing RHR at 8-30 on 2nd July. By the time she finally got through, at 9-40, they had one table for two left, which was 10pm (on August 2nd obviously). This suited us fine as they made clear no-one was after us...prfer to be late and relax rather than early and rushed... Lunch, I'm sure, is easier.

My first 'foodie' meal was a Vegetarian Pithivier (sp?) at Quag's back in the early 90s, and gorgeous it was too, though that's more a pastie than a pie. Tubby Wadlow's in Ilkley used to do Monfish Wellington that was very pie-ish. I have a real problem with the deconstruction thing when it comes to pies and their near neighbours crumbles. I don't want a rhubarb crumble where the crumble is sprinkled on the plate either side of the rhubarab. The hard bit, as in pies is cooking the thing together and getting it not too stodgy, not too crispy. Taking the ingredients apart and cooking them that way is easy. Well, easier... (edited cos I can't spell fish)

Uhhr, that would be The Yorke Arms in Ramsgill, not The Sportsman's. I never never never get that name right.

The Boar's Head is good, yes (especially their bread!). There's also the Scott's Arms in Sicklinghall which is a Chef & Brewer but is a lovely place (and the food is about as good as chains get) I didn't suggest Salvo's as I assumed a Leeds student would probably be sick of the place. Harry Ramsden's is bloody awful these days! Westfield Fisheries in Guiseley, now there's a different matter!

Yuck!! Before Gary gets here and pooh-poohs everything I'm about to say...obviously as a student, he'll be tired of Whitelocks, so... Nothing in Horsforth. Then moving out you have Otley which has a couple of nice cafes (one very good), but hardly the place for a celebration. Bramhope has the Fox n Hounds (? I think it's called that, there's only one pub there), which is good honest food. Ilkley has Bar T'at which is a Market Towns Tavern, and is very good--usual pub food but extremely well done and the beer is Belgian and six or so choices of real ale. Ilkley also has Farsyde and Tubby Wadlow's which are pretty good for lunch, but are definitely bistros/restaurants. Gastro-pub wise the nearest you're looking at is The Angel at Hetton, which is just outside Skipton, lovely country setting, good French-influenced food, great wine list, not too expensive. Or The Sportsman's Arms in Ramsgill near Pateley Bridge. Again, idyllic setting, got one star, very good fish, nt so great beer. On the way you've got the Devonshire Arms which features a £100 a head restaurant as well as a Bistro, the former has a star, the latter has better food (YMMV). And then the Devonshire Fell and The Red Lion in Burnsall, which I think used to have a star, very French, very odd, I don't like but lots of people do. Going north there's probably more choice...Leeds is only an hour away from The Star at Harome, and only ninety minutes from The Crab and Lobster and The White Swan at Pickering. HTH

that sounds lovely...well, the idea (the reality may have been less than lovely I guess). Last time I was in Phoenix (that's a song I believe), we took to drinking in a ribs place as they had great jazz on. They got used to me not eating and everyone else doing so. On the last night, they presented me with a specially flame grilled veg. kebab. Not haute cuisine, but the thought was lovely...

But what would we northerners do then? The problem is that it's getting too popular. Our regular Sunday late lunches there used to see us getting a table in the bar within forty minutes, now we're up to seventy or so, which is just a little too long when you're already starving! We were looking at getting married there, but thought we'd just spend all our time eating. And I've been told that's NOT what you're meant to do at your own wedding. The Deli over the road is great too.

Odd that for such a French-influenced place, Annie Schwab stood for UKIP in the Euro elections (don't know whether she got in...)

Hi, last time I was there I remembered to inform them beforehand of veggieness, and they were lovely. Unlike Mr Underhill's in Ludlow who were informed weeks in advance and still could only come up with grilled halloumi. Now, I've had halloumi and I've had shoe leather, and I know which I prefer.

Indeed, Anatole, who my Aunt Dahlia stole from the Littles, of course and who keeps Uncle Tom more than sweet. In the current issue of Medieval History magazine, there's an article on recipes from the 1557 A Proper Newe Booke of Cookerye, written by the Master of Corpus Christii, Cambridge. Alongside fried beans and dressed crab, ite features... To make a dyshe full of snow Take a pottell of swete thycke creame, and the whytes of eyghte eggs, and beate them altogether wyth a spone, then putte them in youre creame and a saucerfull of rose water, and a dyshefull of sugar wyth all, then take a stycke and make it cleane, and than cutte it in the ende foure square, and therewith beate all the aforesaid thynges together, and ever as it ryseth take it of and put it into a collaunder, this done, take one apple and set it in the myddes of it, and a thicke bushe of Rosemary, and set it in the myddes of the platter, then caste your snow upon the rosemarye, and fyll your platter therewith. And yf you haue wafers caste some in wyth all and thus serue them forthe. The writer adds 'Eatng the snow from a sprig of the rosemary is especially heavenly'. So the Brits were pioneering froth long before El bulli came along...

Indeed! Well, a bit of a pun...the first post to it (now long gone as I've moved host) was about Jimi Hendrix's abortive gig in the town in 1968..