Gary Marshall

ahh, so it's creme fraiche not double cream? thanks gary

i've been craving a roast chicken for ages, this has pushed me over the edge! was just wondering about simmering the cream even though there's a lot of it (a litre of cream!!) is there not danger of splitting it? did you just simmer it on the hob on a low flame? cheers gary

the first bit of tomme i tried did smell, well to paraphrase coren, 'like a little boys toilet'. tasted fine though! gary

Sorry, but it was the American sommelier (Michael Davis) who landed my wife with an £18.50 glass of wine for her guest without telling her what it cost when suggesting it. I've got a lot of time for the man in general, but that is completely out of order by any standards of restuarant service and I'll tell him so next time I see him. in that case please disregard my advice. it would be nice to think that there was at least one member of staff that didn't view the customers with disdain. actually thinking about it he did first mention a wine that was £20 a glass but i had the menu so didn't bite, after that we stuck in the £11- £15 range. it was quite an expensive lunch, given the menu is £24.95 for 3 courses, we paid £10 for the cheese. gary

ok haven't got much time as dinner beckons but having had lunch there today i have much sympathy with coren. cheese was in reasonable form, it was the staff that weren't (nb not the american sommelier he was excellent) waiter 'what cheese would you like, cows, goats, mild, strong, etc' me 'can you tell me what you've got' (ie the names) waiter 'well, will it make any difference?!!!!!!' well guess what i have eaten a bit of french cheese in my time so i affirmed my desire for the names, and guess what? HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THEY ALL WERE! what a ************* what part of waiter training says look down on the customer, when you don't know the answers yourself?! we didn't get stiffed on the champagne because i c hecked the list firsy, they do deutz for £9.75 a glass, and i gave the sommelier full reign on many of the drinks without the menu and he did us proud. if you go, check the list and speak to the american and you should be fine. food was good, as was the room. more to follow.....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0...3073737-7794215 this is the one i have, the seafood school cookbook. gary

steins seafood bible, i think it's called outsize thing, i've got it but not really used it. it's the instruction manual from the cookery school and cover most things fishy. gary

it's easy, just think brad pitt. you know, two arms, legs, head etc i have many unflattering pictures of bapi that i will post with pleasure! looks a very pleasant place, wasn't there a thread bemoaning the lack of decent places in derbyshire? I'm sure it's Thom's neck of the woods we'll send him as an egullet envoy, with his 9month son as an extra challenge! cheers gary

so what do we get with you for our £45 Johnny?! where abouts are you in the north? (no worries if you want to remain anonymous ) cheers gary

I doubt it, his piece of elastic doesn't stretch beyond Anthony's at the moment After all, there are basement clubs for that sort of thing aren't there gary ? well my elastic stretches to no3 which is conveniently located next door to, a basement bar that, well, let's just say is of more interest to the men than the ladies shall we?* unfortunately no longer open on friday afternoons, err, so i've been told. gary * although mrs marshall and her friend did go one (drunken) night cue, great comment from doormen when confronted with 2 couples rather than sad men/stag party. 'you do you this isn't a 'normal' nightclub don't you?'

not really my patch, 'south' yorkshire you see (i'm north) and i hate having to take my passport with me when i dine on a slight tangent, one service error that drives me mad is, especially when entertaining clients, i'm doing the entertaining (literally, you should hear my routine), in the middle of a hugely funny anecdote (trust me on this one ) the waiter/ess walks straight up and interrupts, usually to discuss something vitally time sensitive such as 'still or sparkling?' gary

have just bought and am currently flicking throught HFW's meat, so far it looks an excellent purchase. althought the picture of the calf being shot was a bit of a shock whilst having lunch ! gary

agree with nisbets. very prompt delivery, which reminds me i need a new big black iron pan! gary

yes, i saw that. as long as they kraft cheese slices (individually wrapped for freshness) i'll be fine gary

going for lunch on friday will report back.... gary

Why is this the most ridiculous? I have the English version and aside from some of the hard to find ingredients it is fantatically written and very beautiful. Lamb with curry jus (excuse the dark picture) Fillet of beef with bacon (accompanied by my own poor looking parmesan and onion tart) knowing the pictures from the book matt, they good pretty good! i'm thinking more along the lines of the 3 fish skewered through the heads and that sort of thing! ridiculous in that it cost about £50, i carted it all the way back from brussels, it would take me a week to translate a recipe and knowing fully it'll spend more time by the side of my sofa than splattered by the cooker! i don't spend as much time cooking 'proper' meals as i'd like. cheers gary

for actually cooking out of..... nigel slater: started with 30 min cook, now mainly use appetite as contains virtually all of the recipes/themes from his previous books. river caf: italian kitchen, mini C4 tie in, and first book too. jamie oliver: naked chef & return of. Decent recipes, inspired a generation, no-matter what people may think of him now. hon mention for nigella lawson- how to eat, her spaghetti carbonara is our store cupboard meal, judging by the paucity of her later offerings i think she gave away all her best recipes a bit too quickly. for the basics...... leith's cookery bible- has everything in it. For Looking at...... Marco Pierre White: white heat- just brilliant, saw one for £2 in a bookshop the other day so bought it again for a mate! everyone should have this, look closely and see a youthful gordon ramsay in the kitchen at harvey's. formulas for flavours- john campbell look closely and see both nathan 'black pig' outlaw and tony 'anthony' flinn in the background. best restaurant/cookbook crossover. gordon ramsay - chef for all seasons & a passion for flavour - again forget the tv and realise just how hard he pushed in the early days. larrousse gastonomic- never cooked anything out of it though! Most Ridiculous........ Bras- michel bras, in french, Mark askew at GR RHR showed me it, of course i had to have it, much more use to the head chef of a 3 * kitchen than me looking to rustle up tea most recent purchase....... how to cook better - shaun hill because bapi and i were being chef groupies and shaun signed them for us. will buy...... river cottage meat book - just not got round to it yet. most embarassing..... delia's how to cook one AND two, nigella 'bites' (must have been cheap) 'low fat, no fat cookbook' I also have an ainsley's 'big cook out' , if anyone can recommend a decent bar-b book i would be grateful! gary edit: got the wrong ainsley and nigella, despite them being my constant reference

he used to write restaurant reviews for harper's and queen. apparently his language got too much for them. the latest H&Q reviewer was in anthony's last time we were there, didn't strike me as the most on-the-ball reviewer either. our table: where can you eat like this in london? her: well heston & john (campbell) are doing marvellous things... our table: but not actually in london are they? swift topic change ensues. anyway as everyone knows people want to be entertained in their restaurant reviews not told about the minutae of the dishes, that's why sites like EG exist:biggrin: cheers gary

yes, i saw that flicking through it in smith's today. i await his anthony's review with interest gary

having sampled it, i can vouch for basildog's mastery of the confit duck gary

check out the 'anthony's' thread. they are the two must-try's. there was also a recent one on york too, but it's not much of a culinary city. gary

i was planning to head south for a week in september but other than easy flights to nice, nothing else grabbed me, however i do have a bizarre urge to take my bike and climb and climb alpe d'huez so annecy and the lake looks a suitable mid-ground with sunbathing and other holiday things for mrs marshall and plenty of good countryside for me any thoughts on accom, food, restaurants gratefully recieved. cheers gary

i have heard some very good reports, apparently the £50 menu compares very well with what's on offer at the higher end in london. also of interest an expensive wine preserver that allows them to offer decent wines by the glass and keep the rest of the bottle in good condition, in theory. gary

the piggery at the star at harome is available for private dining if you book all the rooms (8). that seats 20-odd i think, they certainly did 18 for my stag do with no problem. you get your own chef as the accom has its own professional kitchen. gary

'tis true he won't do more than six on a table, because the kitchen is so small you can't get any more plates on the pass, so won't serve any more than that at once. once saw claridges serve 30 odd main courses off two passes in one go, which was pretty impressive for a private function. gary