alexw

true, the texture is different when tried for the first time, also the taste is very odd unless some roast flavour is incorporated. i usually finish my low temp meats very quickly (5 seconds max) in a red hot pan so there is a very slight change of colour, and you get 1/2 mm of greyness around the edge, add a little fleur de sel after carving and then quite bloody yummy. personally I don't like to use the blowtorch as can easily end up with the "oops I forgot the meat on the barbecue" flavour. also slow cooking varies on the meat used, I would recommend 60C for chicken, 52C prime beef cuts (54C for poorer cuts), and 58C for Lamb. in red meat at 60C is when the collagen tightens and starts to squeeze out the precious water and flavour so avoid above this at all costs, also cooking loow and sous vide demands that your suplier is of best quality, (do not try and do this with tesco value joints!!!!!), also your hygiene in your kitchen for this task needs to be impeccable Alex.

personally would swap the positions of the basil and the wasabi, as basil is a volitile flavour, would work to it's own flavour, but is short lived cleaning the pallate ready for the "dessert" course. very interesting idea though, will toy with a few things at home over the weekend and get back. Alex.

Having been (lucky?) enough to prepare both snails and copious amounts of parsley for the butter, The texture of the porrige is more like a risotto than a porridge and other flavours are clear. The fennel as far as I can make out is simply shaved and marinaded (could be wrong, didn't see that being made), and the ham is piled on top to lift colour and add a further balance to the dish (ham & parsley basically). might look like hard work, but at three star level it should be, don't you think. Alex.

Sounds fantastic for showmanship. Presumably the custard will need some slight structure (e.g. lightly aerated/mousse-like), in the absence of churning, to make the texture of the finished product work? Unless the speed of freezing renders the ordinary churning process simply unneccessary.. you're manifestly going to the right place to find out... ← Mrs Margaret Marshall (of the FD's Ice cream cone fame, currently), was the first lady to use "liquid air" to freeze ices, only some 15 years after they discovered how to liquify gas. As far as I am aware she used a simple rotating paddle in a bowl (same as todays domestic churning machines) to ensure texture. The van sounds great and having just again read about it in restaurant magazine, will try and pop and find you one day when I actually manage to get out between one of my split shifts look forward to it. Alex.

My only comment to this is, that the prescribed menu at any restarant is the practiced fayre, and unless it is quite quiet then you place (however small) pressure on kitchens to perform. we do enjoy the challenge but you do open yourself up to the possibility of an occasional mistake. this would then just bugger up your enjoyment of the meal. However I have heard that they have done it in the past, so if they can cope, why not. You could look green with envy at your companions course which sods law states that you would want it. Alex.

Shame to hear the last experience not too fantastic, I eat there on the 3rd and had one of the best meals of my life. WARNING - THIS COULD GO ON A BIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 had the tasting as follows 1. Poached oyster, plum juice, creme fraiche and shiso. good start, oyster brought a necessary texture to the dish, nothing blow-away but just good. 2. Foie Gras, candied olives, green peas and beet juice. I've mentioned this one before - OH MY GOD, one of the ultimate dishes of our time, the foie just a perfect torchon, piped into a mould, filled with beet juice (clear as a bell and cosistency of a light jus), candied olives which broke in the mouth like a fresh pistachio, and the pea soil, the most unusual combination of textures, hard to decsribe the pea soil without giving the entire recipe away but if you haven't tried it you must. starts dry and mud like (you don't say), but melts to the most fantastic flavoured puree I have had. 3.Hamachi, smoked banana,parsley,juniper this I felt was the wierd one, when I spoke to Wylie his view was that the taste of smoke and fish work well, so he decided to smoke the garnish instead, don't get me wrong it was nice but even tested my paletary boundaries. 4.Beef tongue, fried mayo, tomato molasses great flavour when put in the mouth together came together like a toasted sandwich, fried mayo - very clever 5. Shrimp canneloni, chorizo, thai basil wrapper was made from pure shrimp - clever, also the chorizo was an emulsion and worked the dish like a dream. 6.Slow poached egg, pamresan broth, tomato another just clever one, the egg is cooked for 1 hour at 114 degrees and served, parmesan broth and grated chickpeas which gave the dish a feeling of mini noodles 7.carrot confit, hibiscus sorbet, nasturtium, crispy lamb belly the only dish on the menu where the dish tastes as it reads, hibiscus sorbet was to die for though. 8.squab breast, mango ricotta, pumpkin seeds, shansho squab cooked sous-vide at low temperature very simple and nothing mind blowing just expertly produced 9.grapefruit in grapefruit fine sorbet in foam, small yet perfect, foam stable as anything, maybe using lecithin 10.Ice cold milk, cereal milk ice cream wrapped in little corn flakes, memories of childhood, the only thing I could say here is that I personally wouldn't follow a sorbet course with an ice cream, just being picky really 11.Milk chocolate-hazelnt parfait, orange reduction started out as a return to tradition dessert, until I crunched on their chocolate caramel tuille to find it tasted exactly like a chocolate brownie 12, and finally, curried chocolate almonds nice enough but seemed to be out to make a statement, went really well with the coffee though. I spoke with Dewey on the night who handed me a fabulous business card with "the dad" written on it, he informed me it was his job to pair the wines, so thanks "the dad" you did a fantastic job, also thanks for everything else and can't wait to return one day. then I tried to stand up and found that the wine pairing had truly taken effect, oops. A fabulous meal 2 years in the waiting - and definately living up to the hype. Bux asked me to compare (in my opinion) this and the Fat Duck. After a great amount of thought to this subject both are dedicated kitchens pushing the boundaries of expectation, both appropriately use science as a way forward, not for the fact that they can, but for the reasons to enhance (shrimp wrapper, transglutaminase anyone), I find little difference having spent a little time talking to both Wylie and Heston, both chefs are characteristically nice guys striving to produce perfect food with appropriate surprises for their guests. On one hand WD50 is probably a little more accesible to the more average diner that FD, but only maginally. As for working practices as some of you may know I have staged at the Fat Duck, but yet to do so at WD, I am hoping my company would love to fund a work placement for me next year as I will have to commit 5 days for Wylie and will be very excited to do so. here hoping. I will keep checking the thread, if anyone has questions, but please do not ask me to give recipes/techniques away for they are not mine to give and you should go for dinner and ask Wylie himself. small comment on the service, Its excellent, all staff I came accross were quickly knowlegeable, and my server brought me a menu and pen on 2nd course so I could make dooles/comments on each course so I wouldn't forget, great service and very worth the tip. and they were uniformed in jeans too quality. next stop, my friends mexican joint - Rosa Mexicano at Lincoln Centre.

Word. This is my favorite restaurant in NYC. I would not want them to change it. It is just about perfect as is. ← Am going to do a full report on this later but couldn't let the foie perparation on the tasting pass without immediate comment. Eat there on the 3rd then went back to talk to Wylie on the 5th. The foie with beet juice, pea soil and candied olives is a taste and texture adventure from the word go, it is one of those dishes that will stick in my memory on my death bed, and now I have the technique will probably ask someone to cook it for my final meal. As for the restaurant chnaging, Wylie showed no sign of wanting to change anything except general food evolution, cas I for one would not approve of formality in such a fun, well executed environment. I am not saying that you shouldn't look and feel the part when dining out, but if clean jeans and t-shirt are your thing that day then why not? "proper attire required" my AR**. sorry, a bit ranty there. will review the other 11 courses sometime in the next couple of days, providing a proffesional comparison to the fat duck as Bux has asked. good luck Alex.

I know, but as I work in a London hotel, our bar is quite a big part of our business and I wanted to see what was special about a bar I had heard took revenue of up to $500,000 a week, you cannot doubt the success of the place even if it is culinarily bland. Alex.

As mentioned in my coming to america thread, I am going to attempt to review the 8 or so restaurants I did in 5 days whilst in your sunny (& humid) neck of the woods. I thought I would get the short one out of the way first. Lets start with NY, most people had comments before I left, and I can only say with only a couple of exception I have never been to such a hospitable city, granted I have chef friends there who looked after us like kings, but everyone I came accross whom I needed assistance from did so outstandingly, so as a collective city I can only say "thanks". now Tao, we sat for beer waiting for a fried to finish work, (head chef of Rosa on lincoln centre), the staff are purely hired for their looks so the bar gets a big thumbs up from me, plus the prices were much more resonable than the upper east side where I was staying. we moved into the restaurant and left the ordering to our friend, I would love now to go into a rendition of the 8 or so plates my friend odered for us to share, but with the exception of a chilean seabass skewer thingy with asparagus (which was rather good), I am buggered if I can really remember anything else. Yeah, we had a tuna thing (bland) duck rice (sorry my local chinese does better egg fried rice) poulet noodle thing (tasty but I think they used a rubber chicken) erm........................erm. oh yes, the bill was $200 for 3, not bad for it's location but wish I had spent it somewhere else. Don't get me wrong, the food on the whole was ok, but after travveling a quarter of the planet was hoping for a little more than ok. next stops in my writin over the next couple of days will be (in no particular order), WD50, Balthazar, Aquavit (cafe and fine dining), Riingo, TGI ( i know but in comparison to the uk, better), Union square, and more. hope you don't get too bored of my stories but wait for the Wd one cos the journey just to get there was an adventure in itself. Alex.

let me guess, it wasn't the best meal in the world? ← You guys are depressing me. We've wanted to go to the Fat Duck since it first opened and never got there. Rather late to jump on the train, husband just booked a meal for my birthday, which took some doing since we waited until it was named "best in the world" to go and now after reading all of this I'm just not so excited any more. Maybe we should just save our money but after waiting so long.... ← personally I have not had better elsewhere, however one thing letting them down is the lack of change, (not a problem if you've not been before), granted it is expensive and I can only express my own opinion, but for me I look forward to each and every visit to the Duck. Alex.

I have used the butter poaching method for a couple of years now and have only ever found the lobster to be perfect each and every time, we serve it in salads and canape parties with nothing but compliments for it, as for internal temps I will double check next time I cook it as currently work on time and feel (not failed me yet), but will probe the next ones I cook and post it here, butter broth never goes above 75C. after use we continue to finish as for beurre clarifie then use it to sear our bream and snapper fillets. Alex

I just try & pull inspiration from one part of a dish, this can be the sauce (my avatar dish began life as michel bras bread jus and I built from there), this can come from one ingredient in the listing, either one I haven't heard of, or one from long ago I had merely forgotten from childhood. either way I try not to cook entire recipes as I don't have the patience to shop for the whole list and find myself wandering aimlesly into the pulses section and grabbing some quinoa instead of risotto rice and getting home and having to ad-lib. much more fun. Alex.

I do agree with refrigeration, but glad it couldn't be discovered until after humanity had figured other ways of preserving foods, as I don't beleive life would be worth living without confit. Personally though in my proffesional world it has to be vacuum packaging and the pacojet. Alex.

Bone it, skin it and score the fat. rub with coriander seed, garlic and a heap of crushed star anise and leave wrapped at room temp for about 8 hours. turn your oven way down low about 68C, cover with preferably duck fat, but alternative oil does work, cover with foil and cook for as long as your patience will allow, it is ready to eat from 12-14 hours but if you can last the full 60 hours you wont regret it. we allow it to cool and then lift from the fat, cut to shape and gently colour the fat side until really crisp, then the rest is melt in your mouth heaven. enjoy. Alex.

yes i am missing the word "way", however fish is being pan fried not grilled, any ideas.

very quick one, is there any particular you should score the skin on a snapper fillet to stop the blooming thing from curling into a fishy swiss roll. any help very much appreciated. Alex.

Firstly, try and prep the day before, or just keep a small stock of par cooked in the freezer. use the potatoes you are using because they should be fine, as for the fat I use sunflower oil but would avoid using lard as can be a bit short lived at the higher temperature. stage 1, cut chips to required size, not to thin. rinse off the starch under running water until clear. blanch these in water until literally just cooked, drain and place on paper towel to steam themselves dry and cool. stage 2, heat some oil to 130C (F - i don't know) blanch potatoes again for 5-6 minutes, remove from the oil an place on paper again until steamed and cool. now these can be stored for a couple of days in your fridge. 8 minutes before you need them (stage 3). heat oil to 180C (sorry again about not knowing the F), place chips in and cook until golden, they take a little longer this way but if done well and allowed to cool between blanchings then you should have the crispiest chips ever. Fat duck uses this and the only difference is that they have a vacuum dessicator to cool between blanching and it removes a little more moisture than the above method, but is a bit of an extreme purchase for the home kitchen. hope this helps. Alex.

It is only since they achieved their 3rd star that they have put a reservations department together, before that there was generally a couple of tables for each service nearly always available and the calls would be fielded by the FOH staff. I just booked a table for one of my Sous and had a complete nightmare getting through. sorted eventually though.

I haven't eaten there for a while though when I did it was absolutely fantastic, with the exception of a still cling filmed terrine, (which I have had frequently at many other michelin restaurants), not a problem I can peel my own off. the rest of the meal was first class. two things stood out on the prestige at the time, the pumpkin ravioli, which was the best pasta I have ever eaten and the pannacotta to finish. both were supremely executed and will be my reason to re-visit as soon as time permits. answer - YES BE EXITED. alex

So many are now asking that he uses seasonal produce to further enhance what he does as most of us are on the lookout for great produce when the land tells us to eat it, myself included for my restaurant. However when Ferran Adria was asked this question during his demo last year at the royal horseguards his answer was that "how come we can get fantastic seasonal produce from scotland with an 8 hour lorry journey and also recieve perfect produce from europe within merely 2-3 hours flying time, surely the european is actually fresher. I myself have eaten at the FD on a few occasions and whilst the surprise elements are pretty much gone, you will notice evolution of each recipe constantly both in flavour and presentation, also I have had many conversations with Ashley there who has numerous local market gardeners working for them, example the pumpkin for the ice cream has to travel a whole two miles to reach them, so when possible they are using local and seasonal produce. As I have mentioned before no restaurant can please everyone all the time and I know I couldn't stomach Hestons food every day of the week, sometimes I just hancker for a great greasy fish and chips from my local chippy, as I am sure is the same with everyone. not to mention of course that my wallet certainley couldn't handle it. And as I am aware the flavour combination thing was initiated by culinary history and knowledge and then backed up and further discovered by hestons work with Firmenich Flavour laboratories in Geneva. Alex.

Thanks Matthew, have had dealings with MSK in the past including this conversation and they said they would keep there eye out for it and let me know, will call them tomorrow. thanks again. Alex.

Not one restaurant on this planet can boast that it caters to everyones taste, nor will this ever be the case. as mentioned at nauseum this award is from a poll of 600 proffessionals, (or at least subscribers to restaurant magazine who could be bothered to respond to the e-mail), plus a few choice peers to the industry. (they might have more varied pollsters but of these I am not aware). The higher anyone gets in any industry the more people seem to crawl out of the woodwork wanting to see them fall, this is not a food industry issue it is simply human nature. Lucy cavendish asks what is wrong with mint choc chip ice cream and I have to say "nothing is wrong with it", but Heston is not in this market and similar to Jan Moirs rubbishing of the restaurant last year just after the three stars I have to ask one thing. "why did she agree to go there?", this is not and never will be a restaurant where mainstream food is cooked and critics merely go there to test their quality of cooking and how smooth and velvety they can get their mashed potato, this is the Fat duck and quite simply, just like marmite, you will either like it, or hate it. Lucy should have gone off to her local beefeater and enjoyed her meal finished off with her favourite mint choc chip. On a more positive note, she writes well and only does complain about the fact that she doesn't like it not the fact that it was badly done unlike the previous reviewer I mentioned. ah well enough ranting from me bye

anyone know where to get manageable quantities of Sodium alginate and Calcium chloride in the UK, I have found loads of places in the USA and heaps of Chinese pharmecutical suppliers more than happy to supply me with 250kg or more, but all I want is a kilo or two of each. struggled with this for a while so can someone put me out of my misery please? Alex.

I can see Heston in floods of tears over that.

adt, I have posted my kitchens technique where you asked. Origamicrane you are vey welcome, and no you didn't get in our way, well thats a lie but only because my kitchen is the size of your average shoe box. One point to note for other readers is he kindly omitted the small part during evening service where it nearly all went wrong and I did my hopping up and down shouting a few choice phrases to some of my boys, GR I am not but neither will I serve crap to my guests. Food went well for the 2nd day of my menu and the boys on the whole when they found their focus did a great job. It was very kind and I hope that you did truly get something out of the day, after all I got my spinach picked (as promised). Alex.