Steve Martin

I did one of my multi-course dinner parties the other night, but no photos. The main course was breast of poulet de Bresse with mushrooms on a fondant potato, encircled by filo pastry. Chicken pie in kit form. This came with a rich gravy from the chicken stock and two purées. Pea and fried onion. Carrot and celeriac. Here are the joints and left-overs the next day.

Smoked haddock poached in milk and served on bashed new potatoes with rocket and spring onion. Topped with a rather traditional poached egg.

Some bitterness comes from the bones themselves. That's why fish stock (fumet) should be made at a very gentle, poaching simmer for about 20 mins only, 40 mins absolute max. Cut around the eyes and lever them out, cutting the joining nerve. Not pleasant. Whenever we had a sheep's head we would leave the eyes in, because it had to see us through the week.

You should certainly use the head, but the gills and eyes should first be removed. It would seem that they can cause a bitter taste.

Thought I would try the imagegullet service. Unusual spelling of succesful. I tried the low temperature method for leg of spring lamb. 6 hours at 65C, in a covered pot with carrots, onions, rosemary, thyme, star anise and water. The leg was browned a bit first with olive oil in the hot pan, with a blow torch helping. Then deglazed with white wine. It over cooked slightly, but it is still very good with this method. I'll try again with more use of my temperature probe. It looks a bit greyer than it was actually. The sauce was reduced down with a small fecule of arrowroot, balsamic and butter. That is a small quennelle of borlotti beans, dried tomato and lemon oil on top.

Hi Stigand, I tend to be a bit brief on egullet, so here's the full story. Give the chefclub a phone call on any foodie need (Michel Roux Jr. tells us so) They are hopeless at updating their website, being primarily a restaurant supply, shout your order down the phone, sort of place. 01275 475252 I'm not sure what he said for the St. Georges now, around £7 something for 250 gram.

I don't know these mushrooms, so I have ordered some for Friday. Where from, you say? http://www.chefclubdirect.co.uk/

To what extent are dinners another matter? Sorry Bux, I meant that my list of favourite dinners is another matter. Unlike my list of lunches, it might show sufficient 'experience' to be able to venture an opinion on Bocuse. So I agree with what you have written.

No veg in the entire meal, marcus. I wasn't expecting a little crescent plate with the veg of the day, but it shouldn't be beyond the ability of any chef to balance a meal with some. Any suggestions to broaden my experience? The list names my favourite lunches. Dinners are another matter.

The main room of the York 'outlet' of Betty's is a magnificent space inspired by the design of the Queen Mary. It would be a shame to avoid it. Anyway, here is a little review of Anthony's. I was offshore for my birthday, so a belated meal was planned. It was going to be 3 York Place, but I am already familiar with Martel Smith's brilliance, so I chose Anthony's instead. It sounded like the new 'experimental' cooking so close to my heart and my wife had already had a little tour of the premises. It seems that both father and son are called Anthony. The restaurant is very much a family affair, with the chef's sister serving at the bar as well. As I say, it was a birthday celebration and my wife first led me down a side alley to a door that said 'Room' I'm not sure how anybody would know it was there, but it was a trendy cocktail bar and restaurant. Reasonably busy for a Wednesday night and I can recommend it for lovers of unusual cocktails. It was here that we ensured our ultimate disgrace by sinking two weird, but nice, combinations of alcohols each. With these time bombs inside us, we walked the short distance to Anthony's. I had tried to book at 8.00, but had been offered 8.30. The restaurant didn't fill up, so I assume this was to spread the load on the kitchen. My wife had already been assured that they do not turn tables. The bar has a seating area with large leather armchairs and sofa that doesn't allow many to sit at a time. We could have had the two chairs, but they are too far apart. We enjoyed sitting at the bar anyway, but smaller chairs, more intimately arranged, might work here. The idea is of a lounge where cigars may be smoked, but I'm not sure how practical that's going to be. We sat at the bar and enjoyed the house champagne. A blanc de noirs of a little known house in Epernay. (if I took notes, I could tell you the name) It reminded me of a good Cava. Neither here, nor in Room, were there any nibbles. Come on Leeds! Drinking without eating is a vice the northern countries should be trying to rise above. I asked if there was a tasting menu, but the chef is settling in with a more limited menu first. I am not sure their description of 'a la carte' suits what is a menu of four choices for each course. Anyway, it is the type of menu we like to see and it has already been described in this thread. It was announced that the chef was ready for us and we were led downstairs to a very impressive space. Beautifully laid out with very comfortable leather chairs. The first amuse was a gentle palate cleanser of, I think, raspberry sorbet with an orange vodka sauce poured around. Now a small slice of terrine of confit duck with smoked oil. This was a wonderfully concentrated morsel that seemed to be essence of duck. Very good indeed. The smallest course got the biggest plate though. The service was perfect throughout and very friendly. The waitress commented on how interested we seemed in the terrine and I told her how much we had been looking forward to coming to this restaurant. I asked if she knew of eGullet and she informed us that the chef views it every day, to help him gauge opinion of his progress. Well at least that is a good reason for spending time on this nonsense. She mentioned Gary Marshall and I said I would write a few words as well. She even asked my name so the chef could look out for it. Next came the onion risotto with espresso, for my wife and the pigeon with jabugo ham for me. The risotto had a robust parmesan 'air' and was an excellent starter. The pigeon was perfectly cooked and the combination was magical. The main courses of rabbit saddle with beetroot sauce and breast of duck with chocolate bonbon were also perfectly cooked and very harmonious. The duck had some wilted little gem lettuce underneath that I felt was fighting the other flavours. The waitress said it was there to contrast the sweetness of the parsnip and chocolate. I told her, and the maitress d' later, that this chef had no need for such caution. The duck and chocolate combination was brilliant and any contrast should be presented on a separate plate. This brings me to a criticism of our meal. The courses were of the perfect nature and size to be part of a larger meal. We feel the chef should have surprised us with one or two extra courses. It is very good value, so I can heartily recommend that everyone has two starters before their mains. I suppose that the kitchen 'brigade' will expand to meet the demand. There was a pre-dessert but we can't remember it. Why should this be? Well, I had ordered our usual amount of wine for a night's fine dining, but the cocktails were kicking in. We had a fairly ordinary viognier and a half of a nice Beaujolais, with a glass of a very nice, amber, Monbazilliac with dessert. We were glassy eyed by now, but I remember the dessert was good. My wife had the deconstructed tatin, which was a rosti of caramelised apple. My chocolate fondant was made from excellent chocolate with a black sesame seed ice cream. This was very good but it melts to a less than attractive grey. Now, either the staff were trying, very wisely, to get as much coffee into us as possible, or this is one of the few restaurants that is generous with coffee. There are not many, are there? Restaurants have enthusiastically embraced the economy of serving espresso, but without the simple hospitality of offering a refill. So full marks to Anthony's on this... and nearly everything else. So after a chat with our Spanish hostess about our favorite chefs and how to pronounce El Bulli properly (Doh), we were poured out the door. I was so far gone, I signed my credit card slip and forgot to leave a tip. I'll be correcting this when I return and it won't be long.

Not that recently, but as far as I can know you from your posts, you won't enjoy it. http://www.eurosnaps.com/paul.htm

I suggest putting sugar in

They are both the sons of Richard Coutanceau. Grégory is at Restaurant Richard Coutanceau, Christopher at Les Flots. http://www.coutanceauonline.com

Time to drag up something I posted on RFC years ago. I assume they came from the sea in their shells I think it is best to pan fry them. Trim the membrane and hard bit off and use in fish stock. The pink coral can be used to make a sauce/stock or fried and served with the scallops. They should fry for a little longer than the white flesh (noisettes) Get a non-stick frying pan very hot and use a little butter (clarified would be good). Fry the scallops until browned (caramelised) on the first side. Need no more than a minute, depending on size. Turn over for 5 seconds and serve brown uppermost. Nico Ladenis uses a similar treatment, but slices the scallops to increase the caramelised area. The pink coral could be treated to a slower frying in butter in a separate pan, to be ready at the same time. It all sits well on a little lemony mashed potato and dotted with fresh pesto. Try grilling the pancetta with a flat weight on it, so it comes out perfectly flat. BTW. Really fresh scallops are also nice sliced raw. You can dress with lemon juice and serve on a warm plate, to cook slightly.

Now you have made me sad. It is a shame to break such a well loved habit and it is a lovely place. I liked the restaurant enough to give it a page on my site but I quit my amateur restaurant reviewing after that meal. Anyway, on a lighter note, if you want a superb meal with a truly memorable view, try La Pergola at the Rome Cavalieri Hilton. No, I know it's not the same

I'm not a fan of Bras. Our meal there was bland and mostly tasteless. I have seen his DVD, where he cooks the beef with slices of lard cut from a large slab, like lardo. On the DVD he served it with a shallot juice, thickened with butter. I haven't seen his froths, though I understand he was doing such things even before Adria made them famous. It sounds like a 'hard sauce' to me.

Bras cooks the beef on a vertical rotisserie, very close to an open grill at the base of a fire - hence embers. He has been pairing beef filet with pork fat (lard), so I would guess the butter, lard and garlic froth is a development of that. I'm not sure how he removes all the taste though.

Coulis works well from frozen fruit, if you can find frozen apricot. Use that as a base for your sorbet and serve it in a separate dish (shot or martini glass) alongside. For the compote, start with dried apricots well soaked in peach schnapps, with a cinnamon stick. Try the Michel Bras idea of slicing your prepared foie and freezing the slices, individually wrapped in film. When you give them a damn good searing from frozen, the inside will be just right. You can also briefly confit in fat, after the searing.

We didn't think much of the Crescent. I recommend Frank Putelat at La Barbacane restaurant, Hotel La Cité in Carcassonne. One star now, but massive potential. I seem to remember that it was a surprise menu, as well. The three star Jardin des Sens in Montpelier is good value for a great experience and will probably not need all that much notice. You might like a squint at the Languedoc pages on my website, www.eurosnaps.com - mostly photos though.

Left Madrid just before the cluster bomb. It was strange to watch it on the telly, knowing we had been there the day before. We were there for two weeks and didn't find the food to be great. Plenty of tapas around Plaza Major that were very enjoyable. We can heartily recommend La Botin, the world's oldest restaurant. Full of tourists, but still very, very good. Do not go to La Bola, another guidebook favourite. This was perhaps the worst meal we have had anywhere. I can't believe it still has a Bib in the Michelin. God only knows what the mostly Oriental clientele make of it.

It doesn't have a star, but let's hope Michelin are looking closely. The staff seemed a little stressed, but settled down later. It seemed both formal and friendly - star material. The presentation could have been too intricate for some, but it is so precise and painstaking that one can't help but be impressed. Where the finest craft becomes art. We felt he fell into the fish and mushroom trap and produced a dish that was far too rich from sea bass and shittake, with nuts and ham. This coming after a fabulous starter of frogs legs and gnocchi that was very mushroomy, was a mistake. Also a small creme brulee had been curdled somewhat and a vast, piled plate of beignets with coffee seemed gluttonous. We have twice tried to visit again, but he has been shut at the wrong times for us.

We have just been to Combarro, Ortega y Gasset, and we don't think Michelin have overlooked it. A star really requires a chef who knows what he is doing. Our meal featured some of the worst saucing we have experienced. The seafood ingredients were obviously of very high quality and nicely cooked, but every embellishment by the chef was to their detriment. The specials of monkfish with sea urchin sauce and grouper with an indiscriminant sauce were good fish spoiled with too much salty, floury sauce. The scallop gallega was a thick, partly incinerated, oniony sauce overpowering a slightly over-cooked scallop that deserved better. My seafood cocktail was excellent morsels of prawn, lobster et al, moulded up with raw onion and boiled egg bits, swimming in a watery lemon dressing. Far too much and massively overpowered by the onion. Dessert was a selection of quite good crepes and tarts with a very lacklustre kiwi sorbet for my wife (a bad choice - the sorbet, not the wife). Then the assinine trick of bringing the coffee before dessert was quite finished, despite me asking for it to be brought afterward. These days, when ordering dessert and being asked if I want coffee, I say 'let's wait and see', but I didn't feel up to this in a foreign tongue. I did stress I wanted it afterwards though. Quite good service though, particularly among the head staff. Do go, but be very sure to choose simple dishes where the chef's creations do not feature.

Well it's certainly relative. We were at Matelote last September and we detested it. The service was ungracious and incompetent. The food could not be described as one star quality. The fish was overcooked and poorly presented. The composition was poor, with plates looking a jumbled mess and combinations that did not work for us. We left angry. I can recommend the Auberge de la Grenouillere, near Montreuil instead. We call him the frogman. A few mistakes, but he is ready for a star.

By their flashguns shall ye know them. No, it was just a thread in another forum. Although the original post concerned ties, my comments are not centered on them. A denim tie, for instance, would be less than acceptable. I think panache has been sold to us very well. There is now a circlular argument that to be French is to be elegant. They have convinced us that they invented it. I won't be in France again until June, but I will take a photo of the tieless diners I see, with flash of course. Alas, the British are almost as scruffy as the Dutch, but my point was we do generally dress up for an occasion. Class thing, no doubt. I will be in Houston next week and Madrid after that. It will be a stark contrast. We find the Spanish do like to parade their wardobe, and why not.

compared to whom? Compared to me, the Italians, the Spanish and my British compatriots, in that order. I regard as inept, dressing for dinner as if you are going to watch, or even play, a tennis match. This is all very subjective and standards here are quite culturally subjective. The standards of dressing are subjective in terms of taste and propriety. Are we saying that the French wear clashing shirts and jackets, or that they don't wear a tie to dinner? I'm not sure, we here in America, understand that there's a proper tennis watching outfit and another suitable for dining under all circumstances. On the whole, we've abandoned the tie in a considerable number of circumstances. From what I can tell, so has everyone else. In any event, it's quite something to stereotype an entire nation. You're right Bux, it is subjective. Though no more so than the "honesty" of food. I don't mind slurring entire nations though; they don't notice and it is hardly 'quite something'. There seems to be a certain perversity in paying to dine at a 'formal' (Michelin) restaurant and not rising to the occasion. We don't like to see scruffy waiters, so perhaps customers should consider how their appearance will affect the ambience for their fellow customers. While there are many egulleters happy to set off flash guns in a restaurant, I suppose a tie is an insignificance. Anyway, as the French often look as if they have dressed in the dark, a tie is one less thing to get wrong. I hope I have reassured Mrs Woman that she has nothing to fear from the French in the sartorial department. A vivid pastel sweater draped over the shoulders of a striped shirt, with spectacles perched on top of his head, will see her boyfriend through any circumstance.