Gary Marshall

what did you have suzi? cheers gary

A worthy review - if you havent been - go! its that good. ← yes, certainly sounds like my sort of place, might have to have to plot a visit to my friend nearby. He's used to my visits with ulterior motives Actually wifey has cottoned on to this too, if she wants me to go anywhere she's realised that tying it in with a decent restaurant is the only way to get me out of the anthony's/number3/star bermuda triangle! cheers gary

Ok, so the meat mincer has arrived, i know where to get my steak and have a rough idea how to cook it and what to serve with it. question remains how do i bake a decent bun? any thoughts? thanks gary

Out of interest, and because at the end of the year i can't remember where i've eaten, i thought i'd note in my diary every meal i ate out this year. it's quite an interesting /scary thing to do, i think this was an unusual month but time will tell! in order pizza express st vincent arms star at harome maxis chinese el gaucho tootsies anthonys st vincent arms el gaucho box tree no 3 york place st vincent arms pizza express st vincent arms siam house February looks quieter can't believe i've not had an indian either! cheers gary

that's been on conran menus for years, i never understood the technical reasons behind it either. i assumed they reacted badly or something.

. Holly had said that it was a journey into four countries - but I couldn't figure out what that was. ← It is because the chocolate has been sourced from around the world, well four different countries with the highest cocoa %. i suspect this will be on our list to try on saturday, perhaps with a big desert wine mmmm- desert wine. (can you tell i've not had a drink for a week, think i might try and hang on another week until my anthony's trip )

Git ←

for the first time i used the 'my opinion' function on viamichelin yesterday. Michelin claim to answer all correspondence and they did. and not just a standard letter, so quite impressed. cheers gary

was it paul bocuse who when asked 'who cooks when you're not there' replied... 'the same person who cooks when i am'! cheers gary

if anyone is interested in accom nearby the following were mentioned to me (other than tarka's royal oak- which was full when i'm going) www.thecavendisharms.co.uk sounded very pleasant on the phone and is within staggering distance which sounds about right for me paid £45 each for two single rooms en suite B&B 015395 36240 market cross newlands (as mentioned by andy) cheers gary ps i'm sure you can guess the menu we'll be having hmmm could maybe squeeze in lunch too, i'll be very hungry by 7pm

lunch is nice and relaxed though, and then you've got time to do number 3 as well afterwards haha! cheers gary

The star has been a personal favourite of mine for some time now. We got engaged after a lunch there on christmas eve, i held my stag do there (apparently) and we spent our wedding night there too! We have returned on subsequent Christmas Eve's for lunch to start the festive season rolling. This relies on A) both of us having christmas eve off and B) the goodwill of the mrs to drive me back. Neither can be taken for granted. The week leading up to christmas was a frought one for one who thinks through his stomach like me as the date was on/ off and back on again, but finally it was agreed the two us would head up for an dinner then head home. I was off on the day and spent the morning wrapping presents quite happily, looking forward to my dinner. Then the mrs came home. I', not quite sure what i did. Breathed the wrong way? Left fingerprints on the doorframe? Anyway my hideous behaviour left no room for manouvre 'That's it, i want a divorce'. said she. I was very concerned now. What was i going to eat? In my caring considerate manner the situation was resolved. ' Go to bed and have a nap' . Said nap worked its magic and before long we were heading up to the star, phew! To ensure we got a table we were forced into the unthinkable, arriving at the star at 6.20pm and waiting for them to open, otherwise it could have been a long wait. There were a few others waiting but with my six foot 14 stone bulk, granny stood no chance of beating me though the door .haha! Once safely ensconed at my required table (the two next to the bar and toilet, near the fire) -remember, never a favourite restaurant, always a table! we could get on with the business of ordering For me i had a saute of autumnal wild mushrooms, with deep fried goats cheese wilted baby spinach and nutmeg cream. It came as a giant mushrooms on toast with a generous portion of the wild mushrooms, the cheese didn;t massively add to it but hey, deep fried cheese, who's complaining? Mrs Marshall thinking of the exertions of Christmas Day declined starter and went fishy for main course, i can't remember her dish exactly- hopefully she'll call before i finish writing this! My main was a first for me at the star, a truffled chicken breast. I don't ever recall seeing chicken on their menu. This was a sizable breast no doubt from 'loose birds' a free range chicken farm in harome liberally stuffed with truffles under the skin and also in the accompanying gravy. There will no doubt have been some other bits and pieces but i forget and i don't take notes. Suffice to say it was very good not unlike the classic ivy poulet des landes, but better. The sauce more refined than the overly veal stocked ivy version. Obviously i was way too full for desert, but not for the montgomery cheddar rarebit with bacon! To be fair it was sheer greediness and probably a bridge too far but a delicious elysium black muscat helped it down. The rarebit was properly done and slightly souffled on a big chunk of brioche from memory. we also had a bottle of gruner veltliner with the main courses which i find is a good general food match and was not silly money at about £25 i think. One thing i really like about the star is i can find virtually nothing to complain about/think they could do it better. It is an extremely tightly run ship with attention to detail in all areas. An example. Many pubs over winter were selling mulled wine out of vac pacs running through a heater on the bar. At the star there is a stainless sauce pan with red wine and clearly identifable spices gently heating on the open fire. We retired to my local for a few more christmas pints, a most enjoyable christmas eve! However it was not our only trip to the star over the period, Knowing that they close for a several weeks in January i had to get my fix so we were back one sunday, before they shut for their hols. This time sarah had the sauteed mushrooms and i had another new dish to me, Risotto of braised oxtail with dark beer, root vegetables and fresh horseradish baked thyme tuile. pickled shallot salad. Now this was a great dish i assume they made the risotto with the braising liquid for the oxtail. it was almost the essence of winter, dark and brooding but unlike winter, exceptionally warming! the thyme tuile was very good and the shallot salad in a dinky pot a livening dish. We were both a bit dull for the main courses, a roast loin of pork for me and roast beef for sarah. To give it the full kudos 'roast sirloin of village reared beef (med-rare) with yorkshire pudding, confit root veg horseradish, onion gravy', and 'roast loin of helmsley reared pork with 'boudin noir' raisin forcemeat, stewed fruit compote sage and cider juices', they did as they say on the tin/menu. It seemed a shame not to have the selection of star deserts in minature, so we did, likewise, rude not to have some more black muscat, so i did! Wine with the mains was a very drinkable rioja £20 something i think. coffee and excellent homemade fudge and choc truffles finished us off and thankfully they re-open soon!

you're addicted aren't you get yourself down to truffles anonymous! cheers gary

derek do you think it is fair/appropriate to judge a restaurant on its set menus? I'm thinking along the lines of the starred establishments that do a different menu that is not taken from the ALC, made to a price point rather than a quality angle? for example ages ago there was a poor review of winteringam fields based on the set lunch, part of me thinks that's a bit harsh as it's not really what they are about, but part says it shouldn't matter? do your inspectors stick to a la carte or do they mix the set lunches with alc and degustation? cheers gary

is he an aussie? seem to remember reading that somewhere and married to jill dupleix (sp?) or is that someone else? helpful aren't i? i can tell you he's very tall as he was in anthony's at the same time as me once, i would have had a word but he'd gone by the time i'd finished. full of it today me gary

derek the newer guides eg pubs/ charming palces to stay are much more descriptive and in colour, and there has been a change to simple commentary in the red book but are there any plans to further alter the red book format to the colour and pictures approach? thanks gary

The process is as follows: Inspectors eat in a restaurant to decide whether or not it is recommendable - based on the quality of the food, the cleanliness, service etc. If it is recommendable they would then decide the clessification it should be listed under based on the comfort and style of the restaurant. At this point the food is not an issue. Is this what you mean? ← yes, sort of! what i mean is the food is being rated somewhere in the equation? I'm sure you wouldn't rate a lovely looking restaurant with a poor kitchen, but no overt mention is made in the guide, that a one knife and fork for may be a simple bistro - and you would expect to get simple bistro dishes prepared with care for example. i suppose what i'm getting at is if the knife and fork ratings do not account for the food then there's a huge gap between restaurants rated as bib gourmand and the stars, and surely they merit a ranking of some sort? thanks for your responses cheers gary

been too long since i've been here. next visit i'm going to get some takeaways to freeze! cheers gary

Cue: violin strings.... It's quite hard working in Leeds, any hint of a bad day, or celebration of a good day, or maybe just a friday and the welcoming arms of Anthony's or Number 3 York Place are mere minutes away. When i read of 'quail ravioli' on the number 3 website and tarte tatin the desire to book became overpowering so i rang to reserve a table, although despite having the no3 card in my hand i actually rang anthony's the numbers are eerily similar no3 245 9922, anthonys 245 5922! I knew what i was having to start before i set foot in the restaurant, having seen the menu on the web and shared a bottle of very nice alsacian riesling with denis a few nights previously, Ravioli of Quail, Creamed Savoy Cabbage, Fried Quail’s Egg, Velouté of Thyme. It's pretty much self-explanatory. A large ravioli on the savoy cabbage with a dinky (and runny- key in my opinion) fried egg. Eggs/ ravioli/veloute, just three of my favourite words if the fourth had been tarragon they we would have been really cooking but that wouldn't be appropriate in this dish! I was indecisive over the main course, (menu attached) but Poached Escalope of Turbot, Crab Ravioli, Sauté Potatoes, asparagus, Shellfish Velouté won out. I hadn't realised that i'd done it again and had another ravioli! the turbot was good and meaty, quite a skill for a fish. the crab ravioli atop good and the saute'd potatoes almost confitted certainly very unctous there may well have been duck/goose fat in there somewhere, the 4 trimmed asparagus arranged compass like and competently cooked. a little yoghurt/honey/fruit shot kept us amused waiting for the tarte tatin. My friend had a mouthful and was momentarily lost for words. Then uttered 'that's the best tarte tatin i've ever had'. I think it might be a notch below a fantastic banana one i've had before, which was an individual dish, this was a slice, but it was, to paraphrase my hero 'quite historic'. Wines are a particular strength here as co-owner denis is a sommelier by trade, we enjoyed a 98' sauzet bourgogne and a 98 domaine d'arlot cote d'nuits village. i messed up the desert wine by ordering a red when i wanted a white by mistake but just goes to show i don't know everything. Yet. still highly recommended and still to my mind a text book 1 star restaurant. Hopefully leeds will be the story of next years michelin as both no 3 and anthony's get the star they both deserve. cheers gary Ravioli of Quail, Creamed Savoy Cabbage, Fried Quail’s Egg, Velouté of Thyme £8.95 Terrine of Foie Gras & Duck Confit, Spicy Pear Chutney, Toasted Brioche £11.95 Velouté of Smoked Haddock £4.95 Pan Fried Sea Scallops with Tiger Prawn Tempura, Pumpkin Purée, Sweet & Sour Sauce £12.95 Risotto of English Lobster £12.95 Carpaccio of Beef, Parmesan & White Truffle Oil £7.95 Terrine of Rabbit, Leeks & Foie gras, Pickled Onions, Horseradish Cream £9.95 ******** Poached Escalope of Turbot, Crab Ravioli, Sauté Potatoes, Asparagus, Shellfish Velouté £20.95 Steamed Fillet of Sea Bass Farci, Buttered Spinach, Tomato Butter Sauce £18.95 Navarin of Roast Fish, Buttered Noodles, Root Vegetables, New Potatoes, Red Wine & Five Spice Sauce £14.95 Roast Fillet of Beef, Ballotine of Braised Beef Shin, Mushroom Farce, Root Vegetables, Red Wine Sauce £19.95 Braised Pig’s Trotter stuffed with Black Pudding, Veal Sweetbreads & Chicken, Pomme Purée, Essence of Morels £ 17.95 Roast Saddle of Venison, Pumpkin Fondant, Celeriac Purée, Chocolate & Raspberry Sauce £16.95 Pot Roast Breast of Corn Fed Chicken, Confit Chicken Leg & Mushroom Pie, Braised Leeks, Fricassée of Wild Mushrooms, Velouté of Thyme £ 13.95 Squab Pigeon roasted with Honey, Foie gras Parfait, Pomme fondant, Buttered Savoy Cabbage, Jus Roti £19.95 Side Order: Panaché de Légumes or Pomme Purée £ 3.95 ******** Feuillantine of Caramelised Pear, Ginger Cream, Lime Sorbet, Caramel Syrup £6.95 Hot Mango Soufflé with Pineapple Sorbet & Mango Sauce £6.95 Pyramid of Nougat Glacé & Passion Fruit Sorbet £6.95 Trio of Chocolate £6.95 Tarte Tatin of Cox’s Apples, Vanila Ice cream, Caramel Sauce £6.95 Assiette of Desserts £ 12.95 Selection of English & French Farmhouse Cheeses £ 7.95

yes, They were realistic enough to realise that there was a big chance michelin would want to see how the restaurant develops over another year before deciding on any award. With everyone, including yours truly, suggesting it was on the cards i'm sure they were disappointed but it won't hold them back. They can take solace from a full saturday night reservations book until late April! They realise that the main achievement for any restaurant is to a) survive its first year and b) have plenty of satisfied customers. They have achieved both and basically want to prove to 'all those who supported and awarded them in 2004 that their assesements were accurate and justified'. think that about sums it up! cheers gary

nearly, but not quite lunching on the 5th also considering not drinking until that date, but think it might be a bridge too far.. cheers gary

derek where do you like to eat? (trying to be general as i suspect you can't answer a direct 'what's your favourite?!') cheers gary

derek, what is the review period for inclusion in the guide? take the 05 guide for example- is it restaurants opened december 03 to december 04? thanks gary

derek, I know technically the knife and fork ratings are for comfort rather than food, but surely the food must account for part of the rating? is it not time to register this in your comments? when travelling the starred restaurants are easy to find and research, the difficulty is finding the cheaper restaurant that's a gem in a row of very similar looking restaurants, especially abroad. That to me is the value of michelin, oh and the maps are the best. cheers gary ps i will now use viamichelin to keep michelin in touch on the yorkshire dining scene

i would say margot's is exactly the sort of place that should have a bib gourmand. good ingredients, soundly prepared and properly cooked with a decent value wine list. cheers gary ← The only Margot's I know is in Padstow and I assume that is the one you are referring to. The menu price they supplied to us for 2005 was £25.95 - above our upper limit I'm afraid. ← basildog's such a money grabber