Gary Marshall

well the interest lies in the technique for me and of course my love of butter sauces and eggs! winteringham fields have long had a egg yolk ravioli but from memory the ravioli is two fine sheets of pasta with a separated egg yolk sandwiched between, the no3 version is an enclosed ravioli. if any gastropub can compete with this level of technique i'd like to go! cheers gary

They do seem to change it quite regularly now, about every couple of months, this one has been on 2-3 weeks now i think. i'd give denis a ring to be sure. cheers gary

A not unproductive day for a change in what’s been very difficult times saw the opportunity to head off to Number 3. I knew the Menu had changed so it was in the back of my mind to get myself there and have a sample. Usually I head for the set lunch but once seated I checked the new menu and once I saw ‘egg yolk ravioli’ unfortunately for the wallet and waist it was going to be ALC. An amuse of gazpacho started the meal, it was nicely spicy and a decent palette livener. The Ravioli came promptly and looked great, a single large ravioli on crushed potatoes with peeled asparagus tips and a really sharp hollandaise over the top. The moment of truth was upon us, would it be a runny egg yolk….. Yes it was! How do they cook the pasta and not overcook the egg? well I know now but it will take a large bribe (ok then, a pint) for me to tell you, but it was an excellent display of the kitchen’s technique. – I won’t be at all surprised to see them regain their Michelin star this time round. Although there were several interesting dishes on the main courses, I do have a fondness for their chicken preparations and also tarragon. As the dish came with both a tarragon veloute and tarragon risotto it was a done deal, and good value I thought at £13.95. Nothing disappointed the plating looked very sophisticated and ‘French’, with tender carved veg garnish. Didn’t have time/room for pud but they have been updated today too, so I’ll leave you with the menu and the thought that with a bit of planning it’s only 2 hours and £19 away from londinium. Or 10 minutes walk from my office! A la carte Menu (Updated 17.05.04) Lunch & Dinner Monday-Friday Dinner on Saturday Red Mullet & Saffron Soup with Gruyère Cheese, Rouille & Croûtons £ 4.95 Terrine of Duck Foie Gras, Sauterne Jelly, Black Grape Chutney, toasted Brioche £ 9.95 Ravioli of Poached Hens Egg, Buttered Asparagus, Crushed New Potatoes, Hollandaise Sauce £6.95 Poached Oysters with Sea Scallop Mousseline, Cucumber, Avruga Caviar Cream £10.95 Ballotine of Rabbit, Smoked Bacon & Wild Mushrooms, Pickled Globe Artichokes, Essence of Cepes £ 9.95 Sea Scallops Roasted with Sesame Seeds, Crispy Pork Belly, Asian Salad, Sweet & Sour Sauce £ 13.95 Terrine of Smoked Salmon, Curry Butter, Minted Yoghurt, New Potato Salad £7.95 ******** Roast Fillet of Cod with Braised Ox Tail, Root Vegetables, Herb Gnocchi £ 15.95 Pan Fried Fillet of Red Mullet, Crushed New Potatoes, Aubergine Caviar, Sauce Vierge £ 14.95 Roast Tranche of Halibut, Wild Mushroom Ravioli, Garlic Pomme Purée, Caramelised Salsify, White Truffle Cream £17.95 Fillet of Beef, Young Spinach, Fricassée of Wild Mushrooms, Foie Gras Cromesquis, Red Wine Sauce £18.95 Herb Roast Saddle of Lamb, Rillette of Confit Lamb Shoulder, Tomato Farci, Smoked Aubergine Purée, Jus Roti £18.95 Pork “Three Ways” Belly Braised with Spices, Roast Fillet & Braised Trotter filled with Black Pudding & Ham Hock, Pomme Purée, Savoy Cabbage, Honey & Clove Sauce £ 17.95 Pot roast Breast of Corn fed Chicken, Confit Chicken & Tarragon Risotto, Fricassée of Young Vegetables, Tarragon Velouté £13.95 Breast of Barbary Duck Roasted with Crushed Black Peppercorns & Honey, Cider Potato, Beetroot Purée, Choux Farci, Port Wine Sauce £ 15.95 Side Order: Panaché de Légumes or Pomme Purée £ 3.95 ******** Lemon Three Ways (Hot Lemon Soufflé, Lemon Meringue Pie & Iced Lemon Chiboust Parfait) £ 6.95 Hot Apricot Soufflé with Almond Ice Cream, Apricot & Cointreau Jellys £ 6.95 Crème Brûlée with Rhubarb Compote, Strawberry Sorbet & Strawberry Jus £6.95 Warm Fondant of Dark Chocolate & Coffee, Milk Ice cream, Espresso Syrup £ 6.95 Pyramid of Passion Fruit Sorbet & Nougat Glacé £ 6.95 Assiette of Desserts £ 12.95 Selection of English & French Farmhouse Cheeses £ 7.95 ******** All prices include VAT 10% service charge will be added to your bill! Smokers are quite welcome to use the bar area during food service! Many Thanks!

there's only 25-odd covers so if they're full there's probably not a lot that can be done. but if you call No 3 york place you might be able to get in there (0113 245 9922) I guarantee you will have a good time there, great food, great wine list, great service. - see the thread for more head and shoulders above room gary

i was a taillevent last year with a friend celebratinghis 40th, we ended up in a somewhat heated debate with a local about the upcoming england france rugby. he did bet lunch at taillevent france would win, history suggests we should have taken his bet! yes we'd had a few but he'd certainly had more! gary

thank you the problem is that at the grand old age of 34 i don't have the same inclination to be out and about in leeds on a night i read some of the guides to leeds and think 'i have never heard of this bar/club' as you've probably gathered, i'm quite fond of anthony's/no3 and quite stuck in my ways. other than la grillade for a bit of steak and red wine action or pizza express for an american hot i don't really go anywhere else (oh and i'm even worse in my hometown of york, hence a determined effort to try a few new places these last weeks ) gary

ha ha glad you enjoyed it! sorry about the phone, very annoying in restaurants. what did you have? gary

i htink they might be called enoki mushrooms. turns out jack has taken all of your advice gary and we're eating at 3 york place on the friday, anthony's on the saturday and staying at the boutique hotel that completely escapes my mind now. so, other than eat, what does one do in leeds? any recommendations for cocktails? any really fabby shops that i don't want to miss? sounds like a job well done. 42 the calls was probably the original 'boutique' hotel. Quebecs is newer but i'm sure you'll be fine at 42. as andy mentions it is next door (and part of) 44 the calls brasserie and pool court the michelin starred place, i haven't eaten there for years but the guys from no3 and anthony's have been recently and liked it. Leeds is quite a small city centre so you'll be able to wander around quite easily, for shopping the obvious haunt is harvey nichols and the victoria quarter which houses the better shops and also in the streets surrounding it eg a good cookshop peter maturi, flannels good clothes, hugo boss etc. for cocktails is a bigger issue! Your best bet and near no3 is to head to greek street there you will find a street full of bars, the living room does have an extensive list how good they are i don't know! if you go past living room on your left to the end of the street, turn left and virtually opposite is a bar called firefly which is quite nice too. Ask denis at no3 he's well plugged into the leeds scene so will probably be able to give you some better recs. www.itchycity.co.uk might give you some more ideas. let me know if you require any further info gary

better be quick, think they are virtually full for tomorrow lunch never mind dinner, 0113 245 5922 you know it makes sense! gary

everyone stares at you in the wolsely in case you're a celeb... x that's the fun thing about the ivy walk stridently through the place and watch the necks crane to see if you're somebody. like a restaurant full of meercats unfortunately unlike slacker who resembles many debonair english actors i most closely resemble martin clunes not really a claim to fame. gary

A quick trip to anthony's and i must report i'm quite full First news is that the a la carte is changing soon, when i get it i will post it. also there were a few more faces in the dining room and the phone was merrily ringing away, so hopefully there's a financial reward for all their hard work, olga and tony will be in on their day off working to perfect the a la carte. Olga offered the chance to try some new dishes, as ever i was a happy and willing guinea pig and said i'd try anything they wanted to cook. First up a new 'cocktail' amuse: mango and rapsberry grappa, the individual segments of raspberry had been picked apart in and placed in a tall grappa glass with the grappa (not noticable) and a tiny jug of mango juice, all very pleasant. then the paprika crisp which is a rice puff, almost a quaver (for UK readers) which was both salty and paprika-y ,mmmm. next was a new dish, 3 roast sprats with a japanese mushroom (who's name escapes me but the best explanation is that it looks like an exclamation mark), also fine diced shallots and a dressing, very nice and nicely salted. next up the now famous bread with salted and parmesan butter. new starter was crab claw, on top of a crab remoulade with white asparagus, the plate was dressed with pumpkin seeds and a quenelle of yoghurt ice cream and a reduction i didn't quite catch. This was excellent, 3 little piles of crab claw with the quenelle on a long rectangular plate. very fresh, remoulade excellent and a great dish. unfortunately it transpired i had already tried most of the new main courses in the tasting menu of a few weeks ago, so i stuck with the house fave salt cod with pork belly cannelloni. Very good it remains, and it's staying on the menu too. as i'm out for dinner tonight i declined desert but glady accepted some samples of the new fudges, a smoked one (interesting) and a yoghurt and balsamic (yes please). with half a chablis and 10% service added the bill was £42. still the dogs dangly bits. gary

exactly anthony's food is best in multiple, small courses of his choosing, unfortunately not everyone is as trusting as us gary

Same age as Martel Smith. Great article. My wife felt cheated by the lack of amuses with the set lunch. I am not at home to cross examine her on whether this was explained on the menu. I feel that 'consistency' would be better achieved by treating all the guests to this hospitality. I usually avoid an a la carte because I think the set menus are more likely to be a closer communion with the chef and feature the freshest produce, not because they are cheaper. Of course, it is no coincidence that Gueller's Rascasse was the only restaurant in the country to have a star and a Bib Gourmand at the same time. A bare bones option must always be offered in Leeds. Or indeed Harrogate, where he had to degrade from restaurant to bistro. So, Anthony, be sure and keep them amused ;-) yes martel is also frighteningly young- and talented. i think the no3/ anthony's double header will soon become the alternative hibiscus/merchant house weekend. there's no mention of amuses on the menu's but i rarely see them listed unless to boost a tasting menu. i sense we completely disagree over the set lunch issue, i would take it anywhere to be a cheaper introduction to the cooking, rather than a 'what's fresh' issue (even thought they may well be the same) in my experience eg no3, winteringham, anthony's that appears to be the case. i would be pleased by the addition of amuses but not expecting of them, the amuses at anthony's to be fair are much more complex than many i have had. but don't get me wrong i've had the set lunch at anthonys several times and enjoyed it, but the alc is the way to go, though when it's a choice of small, medium or large tasting menu it'll be even better! gary

That really does give a glimpse of what it's been like at Anthony's in the early months. i've banged on about the attention to detail, this is probably the most accurate piece written about them that i have seen, i suspect they'll be quite pleased with this. For about a minute, then they'll get back to work gary

i tried the tasting room briefly for lunch on saturday. quite a varied menu from sandwiches and omlettes onto bigger plates. staff seemed helpful but didn't get much of a feel for the room as the girls insisted on eating outside, something that is rarley done well in the UK here is no exception. food was fine, grilled sardines, sandwiches for the girls and a goats cheese, tomato& asparagus tart for me, it was fine but not great value at £7.95. i couldn't find the website before lunch but have now (www.thetastingroom.co.uk) it becomes a bit more restauranty in the evening so i'll probably have a go at that too. wine list was informative and heavy on new world with a few unusual wines being pushed. like many places in york with the tourists being so important they try to cover a lot of bases, hopefully in the evening the menu is more focussed. gary

i can't disagree with any of the above. melton's is a really 'nice' restaurant, food good, wine good, service good and tends to be- good value, especially set lunches/dinners. i have always had an issue with the saucing, they tend to favour thin stock based unreduced/no cream/butter sauces which aren't to my taste, and also a pain to eat as they splash everywhere! i have been twice recently and found all to be in order. meltons too would be a good lunch stop off, much more casual. blue bike is a popular place, has atmosphere but is not for foodies. yet to re-try rish, given new chef it should be better and they have ambition, but get the impression it's not there yet. tricksters lane is popular, menu hasn't changed since opening but they seem competent and may well have more specials now. not tried tasting rooms/lime house but must give them a go. other 'non gastro' places..... the pizza express on the river is in a beautiful room and is always buzzy there's a mad italian down the shambles restaurante bari which is english owned but italian run and is loud and fun, and food better than usual. siam house is the only thai place and is good. there's quite a few indians, and most have the same owners/menu's, most in york are pretty much the same standard, there's no really dodgy ones in the town centre! nothing of note for chinese in the town centre. living room have just opened across the river, although i despise the leeds branch, york will no-doubt go mad for this in the initial weeks so that's where the crowds will be. other drinking places - around swinegate is pleasant (off stonegate) there's oscars, kennedy's slug and lettuce, kites, the punch bowl is a well run 'proper pub' coney street (the main shopping street) has become a bit of a drinking run too, start at varsity (or judges lodgings) and head into town, in a courtyard near the river there's orgasmic, pitcher and piano, then across the road haha's then avoid yates's and head to casa then over the river to living room. leeds is easily accessible on the train anthony's is open sat lunch/ dinner no3 open sat dinner only, both closed sunday. have fun, raining when i left at 7am but sun is forecast! gary

Agree with all the above, but would rate it much higher than the fat duck inventive, but still highly delicious at the end of the day gary

chalk & cheese though isn't it? there's always going to be food made to a cost, this is food made to a specification. if you want bigger portions and plenty of offers, room next door is the place to go. gary We don't compare chalk with cheese. Anthony is underfeeding his guests and I don't want his business to suffer because of it. Certainly the chalk at Gagnaire, Bras and even Roellinger was more copious. You'll also find top floor at Harvey Nicks is more than a sandwich store. yawn there's a restaurant at harvey nicks- who knew? gary

valvonna & crolla - italian deli of extremely high repute [Edit to add link - mp]

chalk & cheese though isn't it? there's always going to be food made to a cost, this is food made to a specification. if you want bigger portions and plenty of offers, room next door is the place to go. gary

the original units were in these 'historic' buildings as they were cheaper! the dash for growth and its stock market quote meant abandoning the interesting buildings, plus competition from the other chains/pubco's york branch is in an old gentlemans club and is quite spectacular. first went to one ealing in early 1990's, had an american hot, i've never had anything else. I know what i like cheers gary

i've done both and for choice would go for reims. however i would say it depends if you have a car, and whether you want to sightsee or eat & drink. Tours itself is not overly exciting, the surrounding area is the attraction, but you'll need a car. However the chateaus are stunning and well worth a visit. also a lot of the starred restaurants are out of town. We had a very good dinner at le choiseul, about 1/2 hour out of tours. in reims without a car there is more to do and epernay is easy to get to on the train- 1/2 hour with more champagne houses and restaurants to try. if you do try tours i would avoid charles barrier a grand restaurant trading on past glories, and a brasserie le chope (i think) was poor too. in reims/epernay there are plenty of places, at all ranges/stars. i've rarely eaten badly in reims/epernay. i also really like jacky michel in chalons en champagne (also a hotel- hotel angleterre). You can get the train to chalons too. cheers gary

does anyone know if this review is available on-line anywhere? thanks gary

Wifey had decided that the bank holiday was better spent with her friend in Barcelona leaving me with a weekend to fill, and of course plenty of assistance from Sarah as how to do so, tile floors, etc. Funnily enough I had other plans, a quick call to a B& B secured a cheap couple of rooms in Harome and after my mate had finished cooking on Sunday lunchtime we headed up to harome. Narrowly avoiding what passes as high entertainment up here, a tractor rally, we found the place actually quite quiet which was good as it allowed the chance to have a few quick pints outside before we had to secure a table in the bar (restaurant was full). I was pleased to see that despite a bit of sunshine the fires were still going, it wouldn’t be the star if it didn’t smell of woodsmoke! To start the afternoon’s adventure I had a crab salad with bloody mary dressing and ade a smoked eel risotto. The salad is a bit of a signature dish I fancied something light and dare I say piquant and it was indeed both. A mound of leaves with the mayo-y crab salad on top and reduced ‘dots’ of bloody mary around the plate. Only disagreement was I could have done with a bit more dressing on my leaves. The risottos here are very good, I usually go for one but fancied a change, ade’s was properly cooked and had decent chunks of eel in it, as well as other things that escape my mind. We then split a fish course, off the specials board which did have a very good array of fish dishes that day. It was sea hake with a spider crab vinaigrette and brown shrimps. It came on a similar leaf base as the crab and we got two decent sized fillets with 2p sized bit of crab sprinkled amongst and plenty of shrimps, a very enjoyable dish. We had a gruner veltliner with those dishes, a new addition to the list. For mains we both went for the roe deer with a little venison cottage pie. It was the pie that did it! It was a rare saddle on pomme puree with the aforementioned pie and a nice red-winey/reduced stock sauce. We then shared a cheese course which, with the help of the cheese menu and elliot the barman, we managed to decipher was a selection of perhaps 10 ‘mainly english but some comte and things in there too’ cheeses. A gevery chambertain was good company here, can’t remember which as it was a new vintage and producer than was on the list. Of course it would be rude not to have desert and of course ruder still not to have the star deserts in minature, which I would usually share, but not this time! Ade had a banana bread and butter pudding which he really liked and I munched my way merrily through the star assiette which had the usual tarts, cakes, ice and jellies on it. A couple of black muscats helped this little lot down. Coffee and chocs followed, as did a medicinal calva. At this point (about 8.30) the pub was pretty much deserted apart from us, a barmaid, and another couple. However we needn’t have worried. We retired to prop the bar up, where a most strange thing occurred. I was beginning to feel uncomfortably full! The post prandial lagers weren’t helping so a couple more large calva’s over the next hour seemed to do the trick. By this point the pub was filling up again with regulars, the classical music was replaced with kylie and beyonce and a dance area was established with yours truly strutting his stuff The star breakfasts are justifiably quite famous and as I missed my chance to have one on my stag do due to over indulgence I asked jaquie if we could have breakfast at ‘the piggery’ and she agreed. We turned up at 9.30 not looking very clever, they had set us up a couple of places at the bar area- right in front of the chefs range, and about 400 degrees, just what we needed after a heavy night! Two pots of earl grey and a full english went someway to restoring balance to our jaded bodies. A quick trip to the shop for some supplies and then a very steady drive home completed a very enjoyable night out. Needless to sat Monday was a washout, but I’m booked in again for my anniversary in June, I can’t wait! gary

If you saw him you'd realise exactly how committed to the cause he is he's not exactly lax on the drinking front either! cheers gary