Gary Marshall

I agree it will either be stunningly good or a shocker, these sort of places tend to polarise opinion, and its usually nothing to do with technique or execution but personal taste. I suppose it's where you draw the line as to what is molecular gastonomy, i can't stand the fat duck but think anthony's is great, i'd no doubt hate el bulli too, i'd probably throw in a lot of the dishes at hibiscus too as being 'molecular gastrronomy' to the untrained eye and that's just the dogs dangly bits as far as i'm concerned. no lab equipment at Anthony's though and i note tony, bosi & rogon all claim vociferously not to be molecular gastronomists/ chef's not scientists. i really should go to l'enclume, i've never been to the lake district sounds daft that i'll jump on a eurostar to paris before i'll drive a few hours up the road! A punch bowl/l'enclume double header seems on paper not an unpleasant way to spend a weekend. I note l'enclume has some cool star-at-harome-esque-bedrooms now too. gary

it's in cartmel in the lake district chef simon rogon is ex-mpw. not been but know others who have, famous for long tasting menus and appears to be doing well www.lenclume.co.uk i'm sure will answer your questions..... gary

that must have been a while ago! i remember going there as a kid, long since 're-developed'. gary

Ahh, i hear great things of your brother, he's another of the shockingly young and talented brigade isn't he? Moby, All of Patrick's comments are indeed correct, although in the middle of no-where just over the humber bridge it's conveniently under an hour from my house i was introduced to winteringham by the owners of my local the st vincents arms who know annie and germain as prior to winteringham they had a home/dining room in the area. They've been regulars since and i've had some stunning meals there over the years (some of which i've written up here). It's a real chef's -chef's restaurant quite low profile but certainly up there with the best in the UK, and make no mistake all of the big names in the UK have dined there. My last visit was for my birthday last year, unfortunatley it has been a victim of my patronage of anthony's/no 3 so i haven't been as much as i would like but sounds like i'll have to have another trip. I had heard good things, kitchen was back on top and looking for that 3rd star, and my friend was until recently the manager there and said Robbie was cooking some excellent food. For you londoners the quickest route is gner to doncaster then taxi across i think. definitely worth a trip though. cheers gary

from memory the caesar dressing had quite a kick to it but not sure where there that had come from. gary

As i read the menu, my thoughts were exactly that- had you told them, because the short menu make no concessions for anyone who doesn't like anthony's vision. He's certainly not predujudiced against veggies in the early days he did a full menu and called it 3 chefs 4 hours because that's how long they took to do just one menu. gary

i think that seems to have covered the likely suspects. (except wetherspoons, where i think the irony emoticon was missing ) for a celebration though i'd go to number 3, at lunch you could have the menu du jour which is £13.50 i think for 2, £16 for 3 courses. great service and plenty of pol roger to celebrate, and they can cope with bigger parties. cheers gary

The other Sunday saw another trip to the star, I must declare it is a personal favourite. I can’t say I was particularly quick off the blocks to spot it only venturing through the door once it gained a Michelin star but ever since then I have been a regular visitor to this idyllic country pub, and as we got engaged post a trip to the star and spent our wedding night there, it seemed appropriate to spend our first anniversary night there too. We had managed to book one of the rooms in the cross house lodge the 8 room barn conversion/dining room/shop across the road from the pub itself and planned an early afternoon arrival before dinner at 6pm (no I haven’t gone all Californian, they serve food 12 till 6pm on a Sunday) However a ‘missing’ cat just before we were due to leave saw me hunting through fields for a hour before we found said cat, locked in a wardrobe but seemingly unfussed by 4 people shouting his name! So a not-at-government-endorsed-speed dash up to harome saw us there for about 5.30pm time for a quick shower then across to the pub for a much needed pint. As it happened there was not a mad rush for food, as England were playing France that evening the place was very quiet but that mattered not. Lager turned into celebratory champagne, (not literally, I mean it’s a good pub but alchemy is a bit beyond their talents) as we ordered. I’m a sucker for risotto generally and theirs is usually pretty unctuous, today’s was asparagus with goats cheese if memory serves and mrs m had a goats cheese and pesto salad with an avocado beignet. We normally eat in the bar but had actually booked a table in the bijou restaurant full of food related prints, wine bottle labels on the ceiling, that sort of eclectic but well chosen sort of décor that in the wrong hands is just tat but done well works superbly. Starters appeared promptly and mrs m’s pesto salad was enlivened by the unexpected addition of a shot glass of ‘something green’ I think it was a basil veloute sort of thing, given Chef Andrew Pern’s habit of twisting classic ingredients. It had the beignet on top and the well dressed salad around. My risotto came as the asparagus risotto in one pot and a separate goats cheese salad very daintily dressed with thyme flowers. The asparagus was lighter than usual but none the worse for it. My main course was a roast monkfish tail with celeriac mash and shellfish sauce. Mrs M had a starter but main course sized seared tuna on a mackerel ceasar salad. The monkfish was a decent chunk cut into medallions on the mash bed with six or so pools of sauce with a shelled prawn on each. I liked it but wasn’t overly keen on the mash, nothing wrong with it but anything other than potato mash is wasted calories in my book. Mrs m’s tuna was two huge steaks cooked rare on the salad , the bit I had was excellent, the dressing having quite a kick, to be fair if she’d only been given one steak it would have seemed a fair portion. With this we had a bin-end rolly gasman Riesling, which as Riesling does, covered the dishes nicely. We then shared a cheeseboard, which was a decent selection of 8 or so English cheeses which were good but would have benefited from an explanation or being plated in strength order, I normally ask but this time was quite happy just to get stuck in. There may also have been port at this time, but if not there was certainly Elysium black Muscat to go with the selection of star deserts which is always a great selection of deserts in minature usually along the lines of a few small tarts/cakes, an ice cream, a jelly and a caramelised five point star on the top. We were offered coffee in the garden and being a nice customer and sensing they wanted to clean down the dining room and get finished we went outside, where I have never ventured before, (not a big fan of English alfresco dining, never one of our strong points) but here it was fine. And had good cafetiere coffee and homemade petit fours (with the usual fight over the fudge!) Elliott the bar manager wandered through and mentioned the bar was deserted so we decided post coffee to head back to the room………. to watch the end of the football, and a calvados for me from the honesty bar in the lodge for me and a snooze for mrs m. Post footie, as expected the bar rapidly filled up and many pints were consumed. In my perverse world feeling rough the next day is usually a good indicator of a good night out, and it must be said I’ve never felt less than dog rough following a night at the star (except went I went with bapi- but that’s like drinking with your little sister). But breakfast at cross house is worth the effort, I still rue the one I missed post my stag do that I just couldn’t face! A full English with scrambled eggs (with the cheeky addition of tarragon) & lashings of Earl Grey sorted me out and left me looking forward to another night/lunch/breakfast - I’m not fussy at the star.

i had a glass at the opening party, i know there was something that didn't appeal, i think it might have been a bit sweet but could be wrong. can't remember that far back i tried with a chef mate of tony's and we both went straight back onto lager afterwards so i think it might be a bit of a personal thing. don't let me put you off trying it, if i went with someone who wanted to try it i'd have another go, at the end of the day it's cold, wet and alcoholic so you can't go too far wrong gary

the menu from saturday just through..... Kalamansi Lime Whisky Sour *** Beetroot Sherbet *** Parmesan Wafers *** Home Made loaf with duck, Parmesan, & plain butters *** Fern Asparagus, Toffee, and Balsamic Vinaigrette *** Squab and Crab Sausage (Stuffed Squab Leg with White Crab Meat) *** Roast Razor Clams, Garlic Mousse *** Langoustines, Fennel Tea Consommé *** Roast Monkfish, Enoki Mushrooms, Foie Gras and Baby Artichoke Brulee *** Duck Breast, Chocolate and Olive Oil Bonbon *** Parsnip Iced Powder *** Reconstructed Apple Tatin *** Chocolate Raviolis, Butterscotch Cream *** Chocolate and Kikos *** Spiced Bread and Yoghurt i'll add further descriptions when i have a mo..... cheers gary

i have tried that, it was interesting and i liked the idea of it, but a glass was enough to quell my curiosity. got to try these things though! gary

yes there is a range of beers i vaguely remember a raspberry beer which was very, well raspberry-ery, that i will try again sometime. there is a full beer menu but it's not really my cup of tea. i don't stroll much further than hoegaarden away from my beloved lager from early conversations with tony snr a web site is planned but guess they're too busy running a full restaurant at the moment! gary

hi robin wine list is quite comprehensive, i wouldn't say it's their strongest point but if you know what you want it will be served correctly in the right glasses. The food is so unconventional a lot of the obvious food/wine matches might not stand up, so i'd say go for what you fancy drinking, one of my guests on saturday paid corkage to bring a 2001 fontagne-gagnard criots-batard-montrachet and a 1997 aldo conterno barolo cicala and he hadn't seen a menu beforehand, they were very good i've had rieslings, red/white burgundy & italian red oh, and the house (italian) white too. i'm sure you won't go thirsty the ischian desert wine is quite unusual and good too if you like that sort of thing. cheers gary

sure i saw this in smaller paperback form in FNAC a few months ago, think it was about E60. gary

Sounds great. Making the trip up from London to go on Friday - would love to hear about the new things to look out for. A la carte has been recently updated. must admit didn't actually see the menu on saturday so not sure what's changed, squab with chocolate bon-bon is very good, i think that's on, as is the salt cod & pork belly cannelloni. white onion risotto with parmesan air, another must try. a lot of the really unusual 'bits' are amuses so it's what tony's been working on that day. don't all order the same so you get to sample as much as possible.... enjoy! cheers gary

another fantastic menu at Anthony's on saturday will write it up in full when i have a mo & the full details, but a few teasers... beet-root sherbet (as in the root of the beet i think) squab & crab sausage with pomme puree razor clams and garlic mousse artichoke stuffed with foie gras chocolate raviolis. once again some real technique and exectution on display not a wrongly cooked dish over 10 odd courses for 5 people! cheers gary

It was wet enough for the animals to be gathering two by two in leeds this lunchtime. I was going to get wet the question was would i get wet walking to prets and back or make a pleasant diversion to no3? after a short deliberation i found myself in my usual spot in the corner on the banquette. amuse today was a horseradish and something cold veloute which had a reasonable kick but was probably not quite the thing for a cold day, heinz tommy soup probably more appropriate but it was something different to try. starter, well the black pudding/poached egg/smoked bacon was on again it seemed foolish not to, so i did. it was again very good and polished off in probably record time, the slight hangover from last night responding well to the runny yolk and reconstituted pigs blood! main was my 'usual' the pot roast chicken, not adventurous but on a miserable day who can pass up chicken, almost robuchon like mashed potato and a thyme jus, not me cheers gary

already going will report back in full detail, just so you know what you missed! cheers gary

whilst it might not mean much to many of you the box tree in ilkley does have a certain place in the uk's gastronomic history as the first serious restaurant that marco-pierre white worked at and gained his interest in fine dining. personally it was always a place i had read about but never had the funds to go, marco at one point was finishing service in london (at the canteen i think) then driving to yorkshire to do sundays at the box tree and then drive back, it didn't happen for long. i did eventually make it to the box tree in 1997 to celebrate my return to the right side of the pennines after a sojourn in manchester, it was very pleasant, very french and very old school. of late it has struggled to keep chefs, lost its star and i did not even realise it had closed. It is neat symmetry that simon has picked up the box tree, he is a friend of marco's and worked at harvey's with him. i often thought his cooking was as close as i'll get to a trip to harvey's, he certainly can cook and i for one look forward to seeing what he can do with such a historic restaurant. cheers gary

any excuse for new technology!

well all this talk of no3 and quite frankly depressing work meant the thought of sandwiches was dismissed as the tractor beam of number 3 pulled me in yet again set lunch was partaken poached hens egg, black pudding, smoked bacon, sauted potato warm salad looked great. 4 decent chunks of diagonally sliced pud ontop of the potatoes ouef poche in the middle with salad leaves on top and a nice sprinklingof rock salt. v good. main was excellent too roast fillet of cod, smoke bacon and pea rissotto, wild mushrooms, veloute of thyme. This dish reminded me of my favourite french cooking, must be the veloute, always a personal fave. A decent sized chunk of fish with interesting and well seasoned mushrooms, on a bed of the risotto with a really good veloute, with chives by the look of it but hey, not time to be picky a thoroughly enjoyable lunch with the company of denis and the chatty staff. menu changes again first week july if you are thinking of a trip, got to keep it interesting for the many regulars apparently! gary

margot's is like paul bocuse a one off, national treasure and beyond rational review gary

a warm yarkshire welcome awaits padstow's finest then at least you might be able to put into context my drunken ramblings comparing black pig/anthony's and ripley's/no 3. gary

did you see the endorsements page? so that's where all the audi's came from in french leave! i see he's 'stolen' jennifer ellison's 'chunky chips' gary

glad you enjoyed it. My trip also reminded me just how good it is here and how much i enjoy it. Think i'll have to stump up for the alc more often rather than the set lunch wine service is a particular strong point here, denis knows his stuff and as you say they have the appropriate glasses which is a strong point. I also enjoy the particularly good array of digestifs too i think the ravioli is a little thicker than usual to protect the egg yolk, if it were a different filling i think you'd find it as RHR. i think you're right about hell's kitchen though, no way would diners have sent back half of the dishes if they were in rhr, claridges etc and i suspect restaurateurs will now have to put up with a whole load of uniformed comment- as if egullet wasn't bad enough the veg i had on friday was soo al dente/buttery/salty i kept it on the table after i'd finished and munched away on the leftovers cheers gary