Gary Marshall

21st jan i believe is the press release day, usually if you have been awarded a star they contact you the day before. cheers gary

you'll be fine, they have starbucks now

http://miseajour.apicius.com/meurice/fr/restaurant.asp meurice menu. i still can't find it on the main site but i am told this is the latest version. cheers gayr

winteringham fields is very remote so tends to take the approach of groom your own staff, start them young and train them up. the star at harome is also remote but the fact it's quite buzzy and there's a lot of young 20 soemthings floating around means they have no problem getting staff. they have a staff house for the girls and one for the boys! cheers gary

the perns at the star face similar issues, locals moan that they have forced house prices up, but forget they have revitalised the pub, where you can still just drink, and given them a shop that although a top deli does sell milk, conflakes etc and papers- the daily essentials that save a trek to helmsley. i am very interested in l'enclume (and i am organising a trip) the veyrat link is a bit of a concern, several people whose opinion i trust reckon veyrat is a waste of time - to put it politely. I was in the area in summer and didn't bother instead was recommended a 1 star, clos des sens in annecy, which was stunning. cheers gary

don't think the former is an issue, the latter is a major stumbling block, winteringham fields had exactly the same problem, and it was almost 3x the price too! cheers gary

yes, i agree with the forum idea and the journey is interesting, as i put in my original post something like -'considering he's spent more time with a paintbrush than a knife for the past weeks'- you can see what i mean! i am pretty sure it is leasehold. you can imagine the fun persuading the landlord- we've got this young chef, coming back from spain to do boundary pushing cuisine in the middle of leeds! the fact it ever got going is testament to the conviction they had in their ideas. cheers gary

they are very proud of their beer list, you struggle to actually find a mainstream lager such as becks there, which was an issue for a lager lout like myself however tony snr introduced to me to raspberry beer and now there's no going back! cheers gary

want to know what anthony's restaurant looks like? what exactly are the famed jacketless potaotes? what's on the menu? answers to all these and many more questions can now be found on www.anthonysrestaurant.co.uk cheers gary

No, but Liverpool is the largest nearby city to Chester and I was highlighting the fact that should you wanted a starred meal in Liverpool then Chester would be one of your natural options. eh la? :) ← i knew what you meant. stange that such a city hasn't caught the dining bug, few new names making it into guides but nothing like the growth that manchester or leeds has seen. Although all plauged by sub-standard paul heathcote operations. as a student in the 'pool alouette on lark lane was the best place, reserved for someone else paying and est,est,est in the albert docks, pre- take over when it was, if nothing else a fun place to go. cheers gary

Went to taillevent last year for friends 40th, really enjoyed it, had the tasting menu very classical but with a few twists but certainly very enjoyable more of a no3 york place than a fat duck if you get my drift. if you go email them and ask to be seated in the main room, some of the tables are in the hall way near the stairs, not too good. main room is a lovely panelled area. Or get mrs lynes to do so and tell them it's your 40th, they will make the effort. and they do answer emails unlike many! savoy was very good also but got a bit caught by the prices, booked it when it was a 2* finally got upgraded to 3* by the time we went and i'm sure the prices rose commensurately, and i wondered when i got there why everyone else was drinking half bottles of wine taillevent is a nicer room, savoy is more fashionable, call me old fashioned but i want my 3* to be nice formal rooms, and service at taillevent is great they must have 50 waiters, i've never said 'bonjour' to so many people on entering a restaurant in my life. was joking re importance of room, i'm getting more like my hero michael winner as i get older, i don't eat at restaurants, i eat at tables! for my ten pence worth le meurice and les ambassadeurs would be the two i'd like to try, also gagnaire, but that would be an expensive weekend! cheers gary

no great suprise unfortunately prezzo from the same family (the kayes) that started deep pan pizza ( well, city centre restuarants- also fankie & benny's/cafe uno/chiquitos/est,est ,est) and ask central (ask = adam and simon kaye) interestingly (or not) nandos/pizza express/ask all owned by the same people now. and city centre were the under bidder for ask. go on - test me on restaurant trivia cheers gary

sorry to be pedantic, coren was at the drunken duck in cumbria, see i told you how hard it is to get your bearings in the lakes cheers gary

are you going soft in your advanced years andy? when did the room matter it does look very grand the main room at le meurice, almost as grand as the prices which are pretty eye-watering even on the set lunch! agree despite a very fancy web site they've missed the menus off which is a serious omission for a 2 starred restaurant. cheers gary

thanks tarka staying in a pub, what could be better cheers gary

Anyone know of any acommodation within suitable staggering distance of l'enclume? i know they have rooms there but would rather spend money on the food and drink is the punchbowl in the immediate vicinity? i am geographically challenged for this neck of the woods, i know there's water there but that's about it thanks gary

some further help, 12 FAQ about the michelin guide. http://www.michelin.com/corporate/front/te...odePage=PAG_17#

Oooh, it's a date ← I'd be up for this given sufficient notice chaps-seriously? Was this a serious suggestion or was it the usual plished nonsense ? ← hahaha! he has a two week old baby and he thinks he'll be allowed out on a boys weekend!

one day i'll stop being a tight northerner and pay the subscription so i can read your reviews. maybe next year.

sounds like you've been reading the wrong guides/listening to the wrong people! have a look at 'favourites for the year' thread you'll find quite a few places that might interest you. at the high end putney bridge, the greenhouse, chez bruce are well liked, gordon ramsay royal hospital road should be tried as a barometer and tom aikens has its fans for starters. at the cheaper end new tayabbs is good, as is angel mangal for turkish kebabs. no doubt like your native city, london is full of poor, expensive restaurants but there are a few gems. best to have a dig around here, there's no easy answer as to what will blow you away - other than getting out of london and trying anthony's, hibiscus, star at harome etc .ha ha cheers gary

i would have thought that as a rough rule of thumb the lesser the quality offer the bigger the money. at the high end you have to have more and higher trained staff, more investment in wine and food costs and subsequent wastage higher. MPW used to say that the 3* oak room made no money despite being the flagship of his empire but it was worth it to work with the ingredients. that's why pizza express was a brilliant business, simple product, huge margins (500p for cheese and tom pizza!), no trained chefs required, no expensive kitchen required, high table turnover, little wastage - how do you think dough balls came about unless i had money to burn and it was a vanity project i'd not want to run a restaurant with michelin ambitions, mid-market is where the money is. cheers gary

andy, l haven't been back to l'ardoise since that review but i'm sure sam f has who regularly works in paris now. from memory it is only 2 minutes from le meurice so you could check it out on arrival, i think it'd be up your street. in the vague area is willis wine bar which has a pleasant ambiance, i've often drunk there but haven't eaten there adrian from my local wasn't overly impressed though the menu reads quite well. near willis is chez georges which is a very old school bistro that i liked too on a previous trip. cheers gary

that's no way to talk about circe

where was that? i don't think you've been to pearl but that's exactly the sort of comment i'd expect from them. i first had mont d'or at an egullet do at chez bruce and it has remained a favourite ever since, although i struggle to buy it outside of london. Until a recent caterer feature on it i too was unaware that there were two varieties. i also had another incident with vacherin, in chez georges in paris i could see no mention of cheese but vacherin was on the menu. I assumed it was the cheese and ordered it only to be given a meringue based desert. Eventually it was swapped for a cheese selection. cheers gary

in relation to what matt was saying about potential 3 stars... gidleigh was strongly tipped a few years ago wasn't it, has micheal caines ambition waned? he's got a few other places in the locale now hasn't he? cheers gary