Gary Marshall

Raymond blanc over 20 years,still hasn't got his 3rd* ...maybe he should relocate?? ← maybe he shouldn't have thrown the michelin inspector out, or so the story goes....

i haven't heard of any new appointment so assume they are working with the exisiting team and the old 2nd chef is filling the position.

I missed this. I think Heathcote's new venture - Grado- had been mooted for the evening , but I am more than happy to dine back here. ← i thought grado for mid-afternoon snack.

best get a table booked for friday night then.... might save me from a station kebab on the way home.

saw the new red chilli site in york the other night, it's handily across the road from akbars on george hudson street, opening 'soon'

yes, but omit the a-c 's, the tv income the book royalties and you have a steady away decent business with consistency and the crucial potentially rolloutability that us market slaves love if he finds a format - you gotta have a format! pizza express/carluccios/restaurant group etc He could make some good money but only be involved on a consultancy/name basis. leave the day to day operation to guys who know how to run a roll-out, and keep the rest of the business PA. high end expense account dining isn't quite the flavour of the month with the market as even gaucho grill found . market not generally fond of high profile entrepreneurs, mike ashley anyone ? and everyone conveniently forgets that despite alan sugars promotion to entrepreneur du jour the market never rated amstrad and the bulk of his fortune was made in property not his higher profile consumer electronics biz. richard branson bought virgin back sharpish post its float etc. I would hope that chris hutchinson will guide him sensibly, if he wants a 'f*ck off fund' sell a chunk to the private equity boys and keep it simple, most of the upside with little of the downside that comes with being answerable to plc shareholders.

all sounds good apart from the sherry

it's a well worn path for rich chefs to buy the place they first started in paul bocuse, mark veyrat, does tante claire count? that's now RHR the basis of the empire. ok so i'm streching the point but having just read his latest book he does seem keen on ad hoc property purchases that form no part of the current empire, (he's in the camp that pensions are forever crap and property will fund everyone's retirement, yeah right.) From what i've read of the reviews the site sounds compromised in terms of layout & location. the only advantage being an old haunt of ramsays and next to RHR. If it is the first of a chain then i hope they pay careful to site selection for the further ones, the path to ruin as witnessed by the demise of the smaller quoted pub co's lies in a dash for growth. I think it would be hard to float the entire ramsay empire, too many flaky unpredictable income streams but a mid-market, standardised offer may have legs. Depends how far he is prepared to compromise in return for lucre.

I think this is a one-off. Chance to buy a site that has sentimental value.

Steady on Paul- we are only 23 days in to 2008. ← yes, but it feels longer

when is it published?

yes, not massive suprise since chef moved on.

nothing for ducasse

nathan outlaw has done v well, in with a star and a rising 2 * in his first year, bloody good work! winteringham has lost its star, as has gilpin lodge in the lakes - based on my stay there no great suprise. pipe and glass got a bib champany inn gets a star too, always fancied going there.

goose at britwell ? well done matt!

Star chasing whore ← i'm already booked in on saturday anyway but it would be a decent excuse for a swift lunch, as i have the last 3 years actually! edited to add, i remember last time ogla saying are you still coming even though we didn't get the star

not sure, this is the first time i can remember them publically setting a specific date and time for release. seeing as they are making a fuss about the mid-day launch i would hope it is up there quickly, especially as my lunch plans may change depending on the results

i can't believe it hasn't been leaked yet!

i think that's the key, they appear to compare pubs to pubs not to restaurants.

i wonder if michelin will have made it out to the sticks to the pipe and glass at south dalton nr beverley, chef/patron / foh james & kate will surely be known to them as they were long time members of the star at harome team indeed james was head chef. When they opened the food was quite simple but on recent visits it has certainly moved more into the star territory than a decent neighbourhood pub and it seems to be thriving, might be a bit too soon but it wouldn't be undeserved.

Thanks for the explanation. I wonder what proportion of those businesses go on to fail a second time? I would imagine that the suppliers would be very wary about extending any credit at all and might demand payment on delivery, which could cause cash flow problems while punters might well wonder what was wrong with the place that it went under the first time and stay away - a recipe for disaster surely? ← you'd think so, but there always seems to be another supplier out there who'll take the risk, places go under for plenty of reasons, can be things like overspend on re-fits etc rather than just poor trading/wrong concept. There's so much fixed cost in restaurants that a small decline in trading can swing them loss making very quickly indeed. And yet knowing all this i still did it

the suppliers get taken for a ride and don't get paid, but the administrators/recievers sell the assets back to whoever sticks a decent bid in quickly, often the only people able to do so quickly are the former owners hence they start again with exactly the same business without the debts. a banker said to me the other day they were lending as usual to decent businesses with one caveat, he was told not to lend to any pubs or restaurants too risky in the current climate.

it's my firewall at work that won't let me download it, i will have a look at home later.

do you know what thom, i have completely forgotten its existence. It is ever so slightly off pitch, Joking apart it's on the next corner up from all bar one but i rarely walk past ABO! Oddly enough none of my colleagues or clients really speak of it either, i should give it a go as the menu looks great, from memory the wine list wasn't on line. As for leeds greatest wine list who knows? anthony's is pretty comprehensive, No 3 was the best but since they went more brasserie it's not in the same league as before, sous lez nez used have a pretty good list too. I will investigate.

akbars in the old bibis site on greek street is a good curry, more spicy than aagrah. new bibis is v. buzzy but not a destination gastro haunt. la grillade, french steak/brasserie on wellington street reliable old favourite. anthonys / no3 the only spots for serious dining in the town centre