Gary Marshall

I think some chefs have realised that while it might be nice to win, you've a week of prime time to promote your restaurant (how many times has AM mentioned he's in Reading?) and you might as well showcase your own style rather than compromise to try and match the supposed criteria. ← Bingo, it's reservations book viagra

well think yourself lucky, they charged us full a la carte prices for 3 set lunch dishes that we added to our lunch! ( a starter and 2 desserts from memory) and we'd already racked up the bill by taking ALC plus extra starter each, plus 2 fish courses to share (between 4). didn't notice at the time we paid the bill, the small matter of £235 a head (though we had more than our fair share of wine) i emailed them after to point it out, got a swift response from mrs wareing saying she'd look into it, then nothing. so i have no reason whatsoever to return. execution was admirable, the rest blah.

we did the other way round, weekend in brighton, then ockenden on way home. we were going to see matt but he'd only just got started at the montague so wasn't quite ready, he recommended ockenden and they certainly looked after us. i especially liked the little oak panelled bar, and the dining room itself is also very convivial.

they do a good sunday value night offer too. lovely place, excellent cooking, nice rooms too.

clifford was robbed!

Isn't that a tad rich coming from you? Just remind me who was attempting to get me to pay for the champagne this weekend? ← it's our birthday's, them's the rules, i don't make 'em....

every time we order the hot pot they warn us. i obviously look like a chilli wimp, correctly.

hmm... i though he came over as a bit of an arsehole ← I think similar acusations were levelled against a certain leeds chef of my acquaintance last year. I see similar characteristics in both, neither are out to win friends and influence people but can cook the socks of most chefs and they demand perfection. I also think there's bound to be a bit of needle with clifford being viewed as the underdog - he's the one with 2*'s BTW - if you want a room and dinner at sat bains, according to their website, there's one available this saturday night - if i wasn't at anthony's already i'd have gone for that myself.

yes, they're bound to it, does demean it somewhat. Tony flinn said last year they kept pushing him to criticise nigel's dishes - which he wouldn't, if it was good he said so.

his motto is 'will travel for free drinks'

i would describe the service in red chilli's generally as idiosyncratic, they can be friendly, interested, competent, ignorant, rude, almost threatening across the different staff on the same night, but the food overcomes it. They are generally more the former than the latter, but you never know what you're going to get.

Really enjoying what daniel clifford is turning out, modern food but with a firm classical base to it. I'm pretty sure he's a protege of simon gueller so i can see where he gets that from. I appreciate his perfectionism and it's no suprise on seeing these snapshots that he got his second star. I thought prior to this the food was a little more experimental at midsummer but if his tv cooking is representative of his menus then it looks like somewhere i should be heading to (once the tv fuss dies down ).

i'm sure you mean well but that description makes you sound like a restaurateurs' worst nightmare sure the modern will tick the boxes for you.

brief - schmief, was tony flinn's cooking more modern than nigel hawarths last year? but see who won. I'd go for shock and awe and forget the brief, the judges don't seem to take heed of it half the time. thought daniel clifford came across very well, assured, despite a ton of mise to get through.

i thought gennaro c. had been out and about opening 'jamies italians' for him for some time now, so maybe it's out of choice not recession.

brunning and price is now owned by restaurant group plc

thermomix eh? very cheffy

going in a couple of weeks myself.

star's new venture the pheasant opens 'april 09' according to an email that's just arrived. Chef apparently peter neville an ex-star chef who's been working at hibiscus. www.thepheasanthotel.com

credit where it's due, and it pains me to say, the pork and beans were a bapi rec originally

i'd only take exception with the bread ordering at the start, that's just wierd i've had the dan dan noodles it's like a super hot spaghetti bolgonese, especially so when you take it home as a doggy bag and the heat really intensifies. It was too much chilli with the lamb hot pot also.

just seen that the long awaited leeds mumtaz opens on sunday, now that is good news. mumtaz bradford is usually pretty brilliant so it might even make the trek to clarence dock worthwhile, given we used to drive to bradford for lunch. (and you've got to love a restaurant that has quotes on their website on the food from as diverse a range of characters as the queen, amir khan, shilpa shetty, dawn french & david cameron!)

think we'll have to get that snail dish on adrian's special board david! (apols for private conv on public board)

£2.5m for an Italian restaurant in Leeds? In LEEDS? ← yes, was called @larocca, they tried to copy bibis, which despite it's location is/was according to restaurant mag one of the busiest and most profitable restaurants in the country, iirc they also compared it to the ivy which bibis beat on all metrics.

yes it has, it got a blinding review in the yorkshire post so i said at work we should try this at which point my colleague piped up that she had and said it 'wasn't all that' (she had of course already told me this at length oops) Other problem is that it is on what is rapidly becoming the wrong side of town in a new build flat development that is dying on its arse a recent £2.5m italian closed its doors as have others Despite that thought about going but when push came to shove easier to roll out of all bar one to the usually excellent akbars (though york branch edges it in the lamb chop stakes)