tony h

I've just had lunch at the English Garden (I got hungry from reading Simon's Capital review but knew if I went there I'd blow a fortune). Superb. Substantial starter of guinea fowl ravioli with sage. Main of cod & potato dauphinoise which was more like a creamy rosti - wonderfully meaty & perfectly cooked. Desert of coconut panacotta & pineapple - lovely texture with hint of coconut on the finish. £19.50 The restaurant was slightly odd & quite empty (only 5 other tables occupied). I suspect it works better in the evening. It’s a Richard Corrigan establishment (I didn’t catch the chef's name). Worth a visit.

Simon - what was the breakdown between food & wine?

apologies

I am particularly fond of Capital, Basil Street just now. Eric Chavot is the chef - the flavours are sublime.

Last Friday I tried to make "risotto gewurtzamier" - simple plain risotto flavoured with raw white wine. Absolutley disgusting. Started "Room 101" post on the UK & now everyone's off to Cornwall. I've only just learned about the responsibilities about starting a post. Saturday - rushed to hospital with suspected appendicitis. False alarm but very very worried. Dinner cancelled. Sunday - is a blur Monday - had Saturday's beef joint to roast but instead diced it and cooked it in port & ginger. Served with yorkshire pud. Tuesday - partner cooked Wednesday - twice cooked souffle with pan roasted tuna & salad. Souffle was a dry run for weekend as have veggie for dinner. Tonight - eating at friends. This Weekend - veggie for dinner plus stock making (must rem to hide bones before guests arrive).

I think you misunderstand the role of Museum's and Galleries. Their primary roles are (amongst other things) to preserve their objects, increase awareness through education and to research/curate their collections. Large public Museums & Galleries don't reallly set trends but reflect what's going on now or enlighten us about the past. Smaller privately run galleries can set trends by finding new artists but rarely do major public galleries show untested or unknown artists. The media & critics (real critics, not just hacks) probably have more of an influence in deciding what's worthy of seeing or talking about. And if no one talks about you how do you get known?

Edzard's was my favourite place - particularly the oyster shooters. Also, the Adelphi Hotel (the one with the overhanging glass bottomed swimmingpool) is easily my favourite hotel in the whole world. Its a minimalist/memphis designed hotel - they have made an art out customer care & could easily write the book on it. (Hi Elly)

Rockpool, Banc, Est Est Est & BLT have made it to the UK. Of those I think that only Rockpool & BLT are worth a look. Tetsuya has also made it but I haven't managed to buy/borrow a copy yet. Bill's is also well know but it was one of the most dissapointing visits I made that I won't talk of it further.

Lakehouse, Daylesford. Pure s**t. On the plus side we did stop at Hanging Rock - our picnic was coffee & a ciggy.

It may help to blanch them first. I found the quality of whites is not consistent & ultimately not worth the bother as timing can be a problem.

I'm not sure I agree with this. If an artist says X is art then it is - doesn't matter if you agree with them or not. If also doesn't matter if you never want to see it again. However, with food the main criteria above all else is it it edible. Regardless of the effort put in - if you don't/won't eat it then is virtually a waste of time.

I have a slight problem with art & communication. Take poetry – unquestionably an art form but I have never learned how to untangle the mysteries of text. To some it’s easy – but I have to work really hard and often get now where. So what is the poem communicating – beats me. When I am told that X or Y is a great poem I often have to take it on trust. The same is true of much of modern art – which I love unreservedly – but all too often I just don’t get it. Understanding what’s in front isn’t always necessary. What of a musician and a composer? Art copyists are universally slammed because their work is not original & yet we afford great praise & adulation to the musician who is playing someone else’s work. Is this not true of chefs – they may tinker with this & that but all they are doing is mostly repeating what’s gone before. Isn’t this a form of performance art – I doubt if anyone here has ever eaten at Escoffier’s table but we can recreate it or rely on others do it for us. There is no sense of that admitedly over used term: originality.

My starter was a tasting of fresh water fish & included eel, trout & jabbies. All tasted rancid to me but the jabbies stood out as being the most unpleasant - a musty bitterness. I don't think I finished eating them.

There is artistry but is cooking an art form or just a craft? Is this distinction relevant? If a craft is there some point at which it can become an art – if so how & when? If an art form is there some universal truth to which cooking aspires – what does this mean, is it important? Will any chef now or in the past get their name in the history books or be known universally by a single name (e.g. Picasso, Wagner and so on) – if so who? It is commonplace to think of food in terms of geography & tradition but do movements exists e.g. classical, baroque or impressionist. Was the Futurist cookbook merely propaganda or where they onto something?

I have to disagree with you – strongly so. I’ve just come back from a 6 week holiday in Australia and sampled many of the fine restaurants including Rockpool, Salt, Banc & Edzard. These are all great places and extremely affordable but there was nothing that I would say distinguished them on an international level. Neil Perry is a fine, inventive cook – but he’s no Ducasse or Ramsay. He may get a modest following but he’ll never set the world on fire. What Australia has to offer is wonderful cheap dining from the bistro to more formal surroundings and on that level Sydney & Melbourne easily competes with anywhere worldwide. But I had no truly memorable meal when I was there (I did look hard). What did surprise me was the price of wine – it was no cheaper there than in London. There was a lot more oz wine to choose from but precious little from overseas – I do love oz wine but occasionally you need a bottle of French which was difficult to source. PS. I do remember having yabbies in a hotel in a spa town 1-2 hours north west of Melbourne (don’t remember the name but it wins lots of awards) – it was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever eaten.

Take whatever you want & tell them that's what you'd eat if you lived there.