Gary Marshall

you'll need a bloody good camera to get flavour, temperature and texture

there are more photo's on the website www.anthonysrestaurant.co.uk

have you remebered to take the vouchers out of your restaurant copy basil?

atelier in london has been rumoured many times, ramsay's atelier-a-like maze is in the last site he looked at i believe. it's round the corner from the Ivy there isn't it? can't say i've ever seen the site though.

at the 3 star level you would of course expect them to have back up generators, perhaps powered by the staff on treadmills? i expect the padstow response would be to get more wine sent over from slacker?

if we're talking about the same thing here i did two wset courses, which i classed as beginners and advanced, if i did the next stage it would be the diploma which takes 2 years and is the stepping stone to master of wine. the advanced course is good, it pretty much works in the same style as the beginners course but goes into more detail. if you liked the first one, then you should like the second. It is a bit more difficult to pass the exam but it's not too hard.

before simon got involved there were plenty of horror stories emanating from the box tree, they might as well have fittted a revolving door for staff given the speed at which they came and went so i think we can draw our own conclusions. however following lunch today, i am pleased to report that the box tree is thriving under their ownership, more to follow....

On the positive side, if you feel you are not alone in wanting the standards you expect, as a chef at least it presents an opportunity - you are in a position to do something about it, you could work towards opening your own place for example? There is nothing wrong in being demanding of restuarants, you pay your money and you are entitled to certain expectations, but i wonder if there is something about the way you present your issues to restaurants? Demanding to see the owner, contentious internet reports, writing to guides and trading standards are imo not the way to improve anything but will just cause aggravation and upset. There is complaining and complaining, if you encounter something you don't like, the most constructive way imo is to let them politely know of the problem and offer a solution. with constructive dialogue from both restaurant and punter, eventually hopefully your dining experience will improve.

i always bow to jon's considerable knowledge of restaurants outside the M25 and his in depth reports on them, when he's not pulling his tongue out of his cheek

Saturday rolled around and yet another weekend started with the thought 'must go to bed before 2am, am too old for such activities'. Said activities being of course sat on mate's sofa post pub, scoffing doritto's (amazing how hungry one can get after a 3 course dinner) and drinking beer. anyway we* survived the car journey to York station and the transpennine express to leeds just in time for a swift bloody mary in ABO with Scott and Yin before heading down to Anthony's to meet Bapi, Rosie and Hugo. * yes sarah came along too, Although the current Anthony's visits score lies something like 20-3 to me, i did do the decent thing and invite her along, and it wasn't a birthday/anniversary! (which would account for the previous 3 visits). Whilst waiting for hugo to direct bapi around the Leeds one-way system (he's got as good a chance as anyone, despite only being 9 months old) we busied ourselves with a bottle of house champagne and waited for the call downstairs. Once seated, the wine list was a priority, Slacker's previous excellent choice of Gavi di Gavi was going to be our choice as it did match tony's cooking very well, however there was only one bottle left and so not wanting to mix our drinks ( ) we opted instead for the usual riesling of which i was assured there was sufficient! Bapi by this point was very concerned about his stomach, he hadn't seen a menu and was fretting, 'calm down bapi' came the soothing voice of the regulars, if you see a menu that means no tasting menu! (although there is now a tasting menu on the menu), we're always happy to let the kitchen feed us what they think is appropriate! First up: Shot glass of Sugar cane lime, rum and elderflower, good and refreshing Secondly: beetroot frappe, fresh peas, mangosteen. This looked a picture, the bright purple of the beetroot contrasting with the bright green of the peas (with butter mmm) and mangosteens on top. Thirdly: parmesan air risotto, the original and the best, you can't get sick of eating this, as winter draws in it is an exceptionally good dish. Bapi obviously forgetting the million mentions of this dish already - 'what's the brown stuff in the bottom?' rest of the table in unison 'espresso' ! fourthly: A kidney shaped dish, with at the bottom, a chestnut pannacotta, with brown shrimps & razor clams atop, finished at the table with a malt cream (i think there was also a malt 'watermark' around the dish too) very unctous, creamy, autumnal, just mmmm really. Fifthly: Poached Quail (in milk) croissant veloute, boned thigh, rest of leg and breast of quail in a well, croissanty sauce with crunchy bits too. The exact description of which escapes me, despite me eating it on saturday and watching tony cook it in a demo on monday. Sorry it's been a long week! Sixthly: Lemon Sole, ham hock ravioli, caviar. Nice bit of lemon sole, but star was the ravioli, i think made from beaten pork belly, excellent ham hock, slices of white peach underneath and topped with caviar- a rare excursion into luxury produce for the kitchen. We switched to their very nice '99 santenay for the following , it's not really lunch without red wine is it? Seventhly: Roast squab, artichoke and peanut the squab being a rare cooked breast and the artichoke and peanut a millefeuille-esque chunk of the two, lovley fresh peas and some interesting brush strokes of chocolate that looked like they had been baked on the plate prior to service. Eigthly: Cheese two lots of seven with the picked sliced celery, mini loaves and home made crackers. and a chilean desert wine helped the following on their way ..... Ninethly: Butter caramel, beurre noisette ice cream and pop corn, a small amuse portion but very more-ish. Caramel, butter, shards of popcorn- what's not to like? Tenthly: Anise egg custard with tranquility tea (lime flower, hawthorn berry, yarrow, fennel, scullcap). Looked like a rectangular, shallow lemon tart, playing with some new crockery to our advantage a clean, refreshing dish, in the mold of a tarte au citron. Eleventhly: Fruit bowl, some fresh berries and quenelles of fruit a nice cleansing finish, before the raspberry beers The boys then ventured into the kitchen for a look at the new toys fitted, whilst the girls had coffee. New kitchen is very smart, made to measure and as is to be expected, idiosyncratic - with big anthony's logos on it, marco had his name on his bonnets (the cookers, not his range rover), so tony's taken it a step further!) A plancha for the fish 'n meat, no frying pans. A brat (sp?) pan for making stocks and solid top stove (but silver, not your usual cast iron, cleaner you see). All electric and spotless. Although often tagged as a molecular gastronomy chef i can assure that if you speak to tony for more than five minutes you'll find he is not interested in science/technology for the sake of it, his expensive low temp oven lies vitually unused as they have decided they can get better results using their own techniques. The difference with Anthony's cooking is he challenges the orthodox, why do you cook fish/meat in a knackered black pan? why add veg and herbs to stocks? Why sous-vide something and then blast it under a grill? Anyway we eventually let Tony get back to his prep and we headed upstairs for coffee, p4's and of course calvados and raspberry beers, there is no finer way to end a meal!

I think the more fundamental question is, why is it such an affront to a chef to have someone lean on the pass? Should I take offense next time someone comes to talk to me and puts a hand on my desk? This is the stuff that gives chefs the rep of being more high strung than thoroughbreds. Get over yourself for godsake. ← What I find bewildering is why DP chose to slap the kid's hand rather than, in the grand tradition of chefs since time immemorial, shout in a voice loud enough to be heard by the folks in the parking lot "Get your freakin' hand off the freakin' pass before I fire your freakin' freak-a-deak ass". ← In the UK, i believe a hot palette knife is the tool of choice.

Gary, are you offering?!! ← i'll happily offer, whether you'd be happy with the results is another matter

for £200 a head and 50 people you could probably get anyone to cook for you!

another excellent meal yesterday, unfortunatley i'll have to wait for scott to show me his pics to get all the detail as although i took my camera, i didn't take the memory card. and by the time we'd had our usual after 'lunch' drinks got the train home, ordered a take-away from the pub, decided to actualy stay and eat in the pub, have a few pints, go back to mates house for a swift drink it was shall we say a little later than had anticipated, so i can't be relied to get all the facts in the right order! also tony is demonstrating at the yokrk festival of food and drink tomorrow (as is andrew pern from the star). this had completely by-passed me but actually looks very good this year. http://www.yorkfestivaloffoodanddrink.com/

surely that depends on what they got for their £1.4m? other than stock i doubt there'd be much else in the way of assets, such as freeholds, but plenty of lease liabilities etc. AGA also own 'fired earth' trivia fans.

after anthony's for tea?

lamb chops/kebabs/dry meat

and well deserved too! Anthony's and the box tree both in with 3 rosettes also.

i'm pretty sure it doesn't have a star, laziness prevents me from checking it out on viamichelin. my colleague lives nearby and says it is a very small pub that has been nicely converted, not a big dining room (which suggests you should book) and food was always very good. note past tense, he now has two children so doesn't get to eat out as much - let that be a cautionary tale for you it sounds like a decent bet if you are in the area.

i thought they looked good value, especially for london. i wouldn't blink at those prices in leeds!

The Pot of Beer's shut, mate, for ever as far as I know. Gone to the redevelopers. You'll get a decent choice of pop in the Smithfield, opposite Bar Fringe (which can be fairly scary in its own way). Stephen. ← aahh thom's been rumbled doesn't know that the old pubs have closed, yet has an uncanny knowledge of all the latest cocktail bars

Then i must be going when they've just re-opened. Going on 17th for lunch

when i first had it, it reminded me of a mini donner kebab, a proper one mind, made up of discernable layers of meat! They de-beak each and everyone of them too, now that sounds like a fun job!

i've had that squid and garlic cream combo several times and it is one of my favourite 'tastes' of the year. cheers gary