Gary Marshall

I nearly fell off my chair when I read this post. I know this is very wrong of me, but I always think of Gary Rhodes in the same light as Ainsley Harriot. ← i know what you mean, they both come across as totall chumps on the box, but while i own a rhodes book (new british classics) and use it regularly, with some degree of success, i do not own any books by ainsley (not even his barbeque bible which someone was championing on here a while ago) and would never even consider looking in one, let alone using one! ← yet again i feel it is time for my friends ainsley harriott story.... he was the queen mothers private chef, my mate worked for his family in manchester where they owned a restaurant, they wanted him to return home to work for them but he refused and stayed in london to make his career. Apparently he his actually a good chef. my mate now lurks here, maybe he'll fill in the tale.... yes, and it is true my cats are named after him ainsley and harriett cheers gary

It won't. The last thing on earth Michelin would do is award a 3rd star one year if they thought there was the remotest possibility that they might have to take it away the next. ← I'm sure you're right, I was joking really, but even so I wouldn't completely stunned if the either the Waterside or GR @ RHR went down to two. If I had to bet on one I'd say that GR must be a bit nervous, by all accounts standards at RHR have slipped of late. ← consistency was always the key with michelin, if you remember they made ramsay wait for his 3rd one for a year longer than he thought it would take. i'd be suprised if rhr lost a star but they did take a star off alain ducasse in monaco, which he won back. If RHR lost a star, i'd give it a month or two and head back, i think you'd find it quickly back on form and maybe even a bit more input from gordon. I suspect though at that level there's more dialogue between the restaurants and michelin than they'd have us believe, if it were demoted it might be a shock to us but i doubt it would be to ramsay. He's busy enough with openings in japan and maze with jason atherton to keep him quiet. cheers gary

easy tiger unfortunately it's fallen prey to my laziness, i've know about it for ages and have often plotted a punch bowl / l'enclume double header but i've never actually made it, actually i've never knowingly been to the lake district (edit: thinking about it scott f and i plotted a trip to l'enclume whilst in anthony's once, the wives weren't interested so we were heading up for a boys weekend, maybe we can rescutitate that!) it seems easier to plot a long weekend away in paris on the internet for scoffing than jumping in the car and heading up to the lakes. i have recommended it to friends though. new years resolution - go to more UK restaurants! need to go to the devonshire arms, not been there since they got a star, not been to the yorke arms for too long either. cheers gary

I think that hibiscus is a natural 3 star at some point if it carries on in the same fashion. Maybe not just yet. Anthony's could get three eventually, especially given the fat duck precedent, and tony is definitely up for it. winteringham fields were always hopeful for 3 and they ticked all the obvious boxes but it never happened, we always used to book the weekend michelin was out in the hope it would get upgraded. A few years ago petrus would have been the obvious call but since the move no-one seems to mention it, and you very rarely seem to see/hear much from marcus wareing who was very high profile at one point, i get the impression that even though the chefs in the ramsay empire seem highly motivated, financial success has become their barometer. Can't really blame them, can't pay the mortgage with a star can you? cheers gary

Three knives and forks but no star. ← indeed, i don't know why considering i don't really follow l'enclume but i would have bet ooh, at least a fiver it had a star! and there's me thinking i know everything cheers gary

got one last year i think. even so, one to two in consecutive years is rare. hibiscus was at 2 star standard for a while before it was upgraded. get the feeling now michelin have to be seen to be quicker to respond to changes/public opinion than before as there is much more competition from other guides/internet etc. hence fat duck 3 stars which makes no sense at all hahaha if there's any justice, one apiece for anthony's and no 3. then cue loads of press hailing leeds as the new gastronomic centre. cheers gary

normally end of jan from memory, france usually march time. cheers gary

it's all been a bit of a blur but i can remember... christmas eve: the star at harome. Fab meal as always will write it up. Eventually. wednesday lunch: pizza express, beverley. 2pm gone and it was packed. think kids were on the menu as place was stuffed with them. Amercian hot as per usual. Good service though spoiled it by me having to ask 4 times for another peroni, then made up for it by comping it when they finally delivered it. thursday lunch: st vincent arms , i fancied a burger. rang pub (with 20 mins of lunch service left) no problem, chef made 2 burgers had time for a pint of fosters too then a nice bottle of bests cabernet sauvignon and home for sofa and films, been a bit of a theme this week! tomorrow pizza express lunch then beers in york with friends, better late than never for that 'christmas drink' cheers gary edit: just remembered a curry too one night, aagrah tadcaster and a shockingly poor ham and eggs at the crown and cushion near castle howard.

thanks patrick, i can agree that the pine nut and mousse have not been amongst my favourites this year. but knowing tony there'll be plenty more dishes to debate next year! cheers gary

lucky you! i knew i shouldn't have gloated about my trip, and not factoring in the ability of mrs marshall to change her mind, looks like i am now cooking on christmas eve instead grrrr! gary ← indeed mind has changed again, at the minute the trip is back on!

i'd be interested to know what you thought of anthony's vs tom aikens, maybe stick it on the anthony's thread if you have a mo? i assume there are no complaints with the cooking at winteringham cheers gary

food, not the company i trust! ← Were you there? ← in body, yes.

food, not the company i trust!

lucky you! i knew i shouldn't have gloated about my trip, and not factoring in the ability of mrs marshall to change her mind, looks like i am now cooking on christmas eve instead grrrr! gary

monday evening- viceroy of india -york, used to be ok, was poor but so 'tired' i couldn't actually read much of the menu monday lunchtime - blue bicycle -york chef needs to understand the difference between rare and medium well, as he cooked them all the same. friday evening- st vincent arms- my local. there you see that's not too bad! note the 2 day gap between restaurants (which might be due to ...... tuesday - anthony's wednesday- armstrong's barnsley thursday- number 3 friday lunch - la grillade hence why i am sitting at my desk holding the fort whilst my colleagues are all in 44 the calls! oh and i'm trying to lose 1/2 a stone for the new year cheers gary

that's because it wasn't ilkley! lets put it this way, sell a nice place in kensington, you'd struggle to buy a similarly nice place in ilkley! cheers gary

A fitting piece of natural justice. ←

flattery will get you everywhere on this board!

i would go one step further with pizza express, i actively love it and always have! mind you i've never had anything other than an american hot there, the original and still the best agree re aagrah i even have the discount card! Although a 30 mile round trip for a curry is the downside of living in the sticks! can't think of any other chains i patronise, except hangover/drunken visits to burger king/mcdonalds if its breakfast time. would actively avoid living room for eating, ok for drinks. used to have a soft spot for est,est,est... but not sure how well it stacks up now, been through too many owners/managers. cheers gary

think simon rogon is a southerner, he wanted to be out of london and was looking brighton way (unlucky andy!) when someone told him about the l'enlcume site. andrew pern is from whitby i think (not a million miles away from harome) and tony flinn i think was born in liverpool but grew up near wakefield which is 20 mins from leeds. cheers gary

he he he! going up for christmas eve dinner! we usually go up for lunch on christmas eve, but mrs marshall is working. We got engaged on christmas eve after lunch at the star- ahhh! (yes, it was planned the champagne and oysters had nothing to do with it- although at the last minute mrs-to-be marshall said she didn't have time to go for lunch she was too busy i had to put my size 11's down!). i like the thought of jan moir sitting at home looking at the web-site after a poor me-too meal out in london. She is often very supercillious about out of the m25 restaurants. i am very happy with my non-london dining scene cheers gary

yes - the best food is being cooked out of london, if we define best as haute-ish cooking. when i had to see mrs marshall's friends in london i was pushed to think of somewhere i really wanted to go for dinner. The ramsay empire is good but predictable, marlon abela (?) seems to be going the same way. London is best for cheaper ethnic, i will happily make the trip down south for a curry at tayyabs or kebabs at the mangal. (and if you're paying ok, i'll go to ramsay's too!) those of my knowledge such as Anthony's, the star, winteringham fields, hibiscus, number 3 can hold their own against anything in London, and there's plenty more i haven't tried like l'enlcume, loves, jessica's for example. Obviously there's not the depth of choice but for that elusive/subjective 'what is the best restaurant in the UK' well, i don't think a london based one would win it. (for my money hibiscus/anthony's) as for why i think it boils down to money and way of life, unless you do a ramsay and get a big hotel backer the costs are astronomic, and if you look at the pricing most of the best country restaurants can charge 'london' prices and be full, it's win/win, make the money and have a bit of a life too, especially if you have a family, though don't think out of london is an idyll, rents in leeds and ludlow are much higher than they were 5 years ago and places like the star are very hard to come by, and the expense account diners are much less frequent. cheers gary

so have the star and winteringham fields, i just don't know how others manage i was interested to read coren's comments along the lines of 'you remember the tricks at the fat duck but you remember the taste of the food at l'enclume' that is a big distinction, and the way it is at anthony's. i would be interested to try l'enclume, but i'm still put off by the wording of the menu, from the sounds of it he can certainly cook but to live up to the billing it would have to be out of this world! cheers gary

i can see JC doing that quite well, bet circe will be desperate to get on that guest list! the celebrity chef's? Household names? Certainly not in my house! cheers gary