sped98

Im booked in for the 24th , looks like im in for a very pleasant experience. Any tasting tips would be appreciated. Photos to follow soon. Cheers ;-)

Blame the photographer guys , its my fault trying to get to grips with a new Canon 7D and a very shallow focus lens that throws fore and backgrounds out of focus.Really not happy with it at all after the Linthwaite pics so ive got a different one today and will try again next week at Sharrow Bay. The roast was wonderful by the way and the beef was perfect,was one hell of a sunday luch, WOW.

My god ...how slow am i ???? Ive only found out that Hillbark closed...Tragic , was one of lifes memorable meals. So onwards and upwards i suppose....Collingwood , any pics ??? any menus ??? Would be interesting to see what Aiden`s doing.

Hey , cmon guys , i didnt wanna start a war here.Of course its not going to be a cheap night if you end up staying over but Im sure it`ll stay in your memory banks for a long time.Great food , 2 top flight chefs , well selected wines , a couple of books and a treat for the journey home...Sticky toffee pudding shop and Cartmel village cheese shop, life really is far too short so just enjoy the experience.

Ill look forward very much to that David , enjoy your meal and be snap happy.

Would be interested in having a look at a menu as soon as one becomes available.Please post here...pics would be a bonus also.Thanks.

Oh and BTW , Its £199 for 14 courses plus all drinks. They`re also including a Good food guide recipe book ...Signed by the chefs. and a copy of the 2011 Good food guide. Plenty of availability as they only started advertising yesterday. Hope this helps , should be a decent night.

The Good food guide is having a 50th anniversary celebration dinner on Sunday 13th february and it`s being held at Lenclume in Cartmel.Chefs Simon Rogan and special guest chef Jason Atherton will be cooking a fabulous dinner consisting of 14 courses. The night will also involve a Q&A session with Liz Carter , Simon and Jason and all attendees will get a copy of the new Good food guide cookbook.Sounding like a good night people.

Same same @ Lenclume ...Beggars belief ;-(

Thanks gents , Im spending the day at Novellis cookery place at Tea green doing photos n that so need somewhere nice to eat and stay over the night before.Cheers.

Im heading from Cumbria to Herts area on a course on 29th Jan.Im planning on driving down the night before to eat somewhere good.Would be very grateful for any suggestions within a small radius please.Cheers.

Try Teza mate , quite a modern Indian , well priced , city centre , stay at the Ibis hotel , loads bars etc. Other than that.....Nothing of worth.

A wonderful nights accommodation and stay over at Rockliffe Hall.The menu prestige cooked by Kenny was one of the highlights of my culinary year, well balanced by many glasses of matched wine. ( Think it was about 10 )Needless to say i was talking rubbish by the end of the night.Full run of the menu with photos on my flickr account ( sped98 ) p.s Apologies for the grainy dark pics but the lighting was very poor so will make a better job when i return during daylight hours.

Here`s a few pics from my stay over at the Witchery last week, shame we weren`t snowed in.Full gallery of pics on flickr under my user name - sped98

I Love looking at Menus and restaurant websites myself David ...lunch break browsing.Aiden is no doubt running around like a madman managing 2 places at once but i understand that there`s a website on the way, Im more than sure it`ll be good for business. As for the camera , Im thinking point n shoots are definitely the way forward for "food on plate " shots , they just dont seem to fail.Ive just bought into the Canon EOS market and also purchased 4 different lenses hoping to "up my game" and get better quality pics but so far im on a loser and have put the camera under my seat and used my fuji, the pics were a total disaster and unusable.I was at Fraiche a few weeks ago and the lighting was coloured and not good for pics but the fuji saved the day ( see Fraiche pics on flickr) Im not giving up on the EOS just yet though as ive been getting good outdoor pics from it for my blog ( cumbriafoodie.wordpress ) Next spring the new Fuji finepix hits the market so thats D-Day for the decision. If you want to see what a Canon can do for restaurant pics then look at Londoneater blog , some awesome pics on there. Cheers Alan

Photoshop only enhances what the camera sees David. My fuji finepix camera has a setting that replicates the old fujichrome slide film , full of wonderful vibrant colours.I have to admit , every one of my photos gets put through photoshop , Brightness and contrast tweaks and cropping if required.Sometimes if theres something in the background that`s distracting then a little Gaussian blur can be applied. All in all photoshop does make a a wonderful job of tweaking pics for the better but at the end of the day having an eye for a photo helps...plus what`s on the plate. You`ll find that lunch at lenclume doesnt differ in quantitiy or quality from the main menus at dinner service and if i remember correctly its under £30 for the set lunch which is around 4 courses.Then there`s the 15 course menu which is also available at lunchtime too.Check out my pics on flickr and you`ll see what you can get for your money. cheers Alan

Some beautiful pics there , but all too big to view. Guess I`m one of the lucky ones that only have to drive an hour ;-) Could be a nice xmas party idea.

Unfortunately it looks like ive reached my photo upload limit on here as i cannot upload any pics from my visit to HH....Probably best just view them on flickr.

Was the Bespoke menu , and as i said in my previous message the pics are on flickr if you wanna peep, just go and have a count up , great value for £60.

Great meal at Fraiche last friday.I got a slap on the hand for putting the link on here so just go to Flickr and type in " Fraiche Liverpool " to see the photos.....21 courses cooked by one chef.

Managed to get a few nice snaps at Hipping Hall last saturday.Three course lunch in beautiful surroundings at a reasonable £30 pp inc appetiser and coffee/petit fours.

Oh i never actually thought about "menu black" Harters...Now there`s a thought....think i`m just gonna go for the "Inspire me" option ,i dont care what i get and just eat what im given...Sound like a plan ? As far as the "Oddities at Lenclume" go ...Im thinking you definitely to get over to "My place"....Its all very natural these days, home grown , locally sourced and locally foraged so make that reservation and go for it....Im hitting your local so you gotta give mine a shot. My girlfriend offered to take me to Noma the other day after watching Masterchef, i told her not to bother , i have no desire to go there and eat , not when Cartmel is an hour away and never failing to please me every time i eat there. Cheers Alan

Harters , im finally heading there on friday....with cameras.Check out my witchery pics on the uk forums from saturday , nice meal in nice surroundings......and a whole world apart from the totally different cuisine of Fraiche.Marc contacted me about menus so im thinking "Bespoke" ( you may advise otherwise ) Anyways , im very excited and cant wait , ill post pics next week and let you know how it all went. Cheers Alan

I didnt go expecting Michelin standard food , i would have headed to the Kitchin or Martin Wishart etc etc if i wanted that.I actually went for the ambience and a taste of Scotland.Its a very haunting and gothic place and to top it off the food was very enjoyable also, the staff were well informed and very good at doing their thing and the whole experience was thoroughly memorable.I will return.