Gary Marshall

b*llocks. great pans of which i have quite a few, i'll have to check out stockists in leeds to see what's left. i'll let you know. gary

(How do you make a consomme of potato for heaven's sake? Or are we talking consomme with some potato in it?)

not a lap dancer are you? i too used to work on york place (aintree house) unfortunately before the restaurant and other 'amenities' were established. cheers gary

In a completely selfless act, I thought I’d better just check that Anthony’s really was as good as I first thought and so off I wandered again today. I thought I’d try the set lunch this time to see what was on offer there. As I couldn’t decide between the dishes I asked that Tony cook whatever he thought best and left it at that. Bread was good again, butter this time was a choice of salted and jambugo ham, this was very good, I wolfed down the delicate slivers of ham that topped the small quenelle and then realised the true flavour in the butter, like the finest refined bacon fat unctousness. Mmmm bits of pig. First up today was a little trial dish, a cocktail of guinness, chocolate and raspberry in a little glass. This worked well all the flavours were distinct, yet complementary, a good start. Apparently the ‘upside down beer ‘hadn’t quite worked but Iooking forward to that another day. The amuse was a veloute of butternut squash with pine tree oil with a langoustines and piece of mango skewered above it on japanese bamboo (talk about attention to detail, they’d sourced 3 different types from the internet to find the right one!). The veloute was excellent, a real ‘f’ing hell that’s good’ moment, great depth of flavour and the langoustine & mango accompanied by a purple cress leaf that was highly flavoured. Starter was the roast scallop, salad of pigs cheek. One large scallop on a bed of the above mentioned cress, with the same spicy leaves and shreds of pigs cheek, more piggy goodness and very good quality scallop, with a herb dressing. All good. Pan Salmon, potato consomme & braised lettuce was the next up, a neat rectangle of salmon in that hard to achieve state, crispy and caramelised atop and sides but rare in the middle, it came away in nice flakes easily. It was sat upon the braised lettuce, which again was good and well seasoned, this is not a kitchen that daintily seasons, and it works, with a slice of lovely buttery potato fondant then the salmon. The consomme came in a small cup on the rectangular plate again another lovely dish. It was very smoky, I thought there was more jabugo at work here again but no, it was charcoal oil which gives the flavour. Also in the soup were peas at the bottom and a very precisely cut tomato dice. Whilst tony is still experimenting the omens are very good, I think the food here is definately of a standard that foodies will travel to sample and not be disappointed. The delicate flavours and detail suggest to me a full tasting menu will be a real treat, I will of course put thoughts of my ever expanding waistline, poor liver & depleting wallet to one side in order to sample this and report back soon. gary

no, not heard of it. may have to have a look though, you go past ripon on the way to the yorke arms at ramsgill. might be a good place to stop off on the way. cheers gary

here you go, as i've got nowt better to do at 8am: the lunch menu roast scallop, salad of pigs cheek veloute of butternut squash. confit duck tortellini, pine tree oil xxxx pan fried salmon, potato consomme, braised lettuce roast suckling pig, sobrasada risotto xxxx panna cotta, caramelised rhubarb, vanilla ice cream selection of local cheeses xxx coffee and p4's 2 courses 18.95 3 courses 22.95 gary

The opening of a new ‘proper’ restaurant in Leeds is a rare occurrence. You may say a city gets the places it deserves and indeed Leeds is chock full of mediocre bars/restaurants selling sub standard food at top prices, the living room is the best example of this breed (and the best restaurant in leeds if OFM readers are to be believed, which they shouldn't). So when news of a new ‘fine dining’ restaurant reached me through the grapevine, I was interested. The plot thickened when I heard the chef Tony had spent time at El Bulli. The thought of el Bulli/Fat Duckness in Leeds didn’t overly excite me but I was certainly going to give it a go. Which saw me wander through the door yesterday as customer number one. The restaurant is on the site of an old bar, so on street level there is a bar with a range of comfortable traditional leather sofas at the end for pre/post dinner drinks/fags, with the dining room in the basement. Reception is handled by Tony’s sister Holly who was eager to help and explain the background of the staff and the philosophy of the restaurant. Opening day niggles expressed themselves in the form of no proper menus & wine lists yet, for which they were very apologetic but it mattered not. As well as the expected bar selection there is also an interesting range of beers that have been chosen to match the food. An interesting idea and not the gimmick you may think from reading this. One looked especially interesting, ‘deus’ a belgian beer brewed in belgium then shipped to champagne and treated exactly like champagne. Presented in a Dom Perignon looky-like bottle with champagne style glasses to match (indeed they have a glass for every bottle, or should I say a matching glass?), it was £19. I had a quick look at the wine list which looked interesting. Many restaurants in the region do have common bottles but this list, although ticking off the usual areas looked different and was especially strong in spain. Olga, Tony’s partner and maitress d’ joined us and further explained the restaurant. The pedigree immediately became apparent. Olga worked at El Bulli for several years where she met Tony. Now I’m sure there are many chefs with a stage at el bulli on their CV but Tony’s is different. He was the first Englishman to be offered a job there and worked 2 seasons as a full time member of the team. Apparently Adria prefers French/Spanish chefs for his team and only Tony and a Japanese chef were not from there. When el Bulli shut for winter, Tony came back to the UK and worked with John Campbell at Lords of the Manor/Vineyard at Stockcross along with Nathan Outlaw. Nathan has also seconded a young chef from the Black Pig to help out and learn from Tony whilst it’s a quiet time in Cornwall. They also have a helpful German girl from The Vineyard assisting with front of house and the Spanish theme on the wine list became understandable when I was told a sommelier from el Bulli had helped them with it, along with input from their connections at the Vineyard. So the collective CV reads very well, what about the menu? I was offered a 3 course/ 3 choice set lunch and ALC (a degustation is planned). I went ALC and chose risotto of white onion, espresso, parmesan air (5.95) followed by pan fried salt cod, canelloni of pork belly, sauce grabiche (15.95) and a reconstructed apple tatin, vanilla parfait (5.95). I was shown to the dining room downstairs. The room is modern and minimal with well spaced tables, and unusual floral arrangements. It was a bit cold due to heating problems and could probably do with a bit of art to warm it up a little, however might be completely different full of punters rather than just me sat there! A fresh small loaf of bread was brought to the table with very good plain and parmesan butter. First amuse was a deconstructed, I think pink lady, a small bowl with lemon powder on one side with grapefruit on the other and then mixed together with a vodka/cointreau soup poured at the table. It was, as you’d expect, very fresh and palette cleansing and a similar preparation to a consomme I’d enjoyed at Sketch. Second amuse was a slice of dried fried artichoke with pumpkin seeds, well seasoned. These would be the ultimate bar snack, I could have eaten a lot of them. Also offered were what was described as ‘jacketless potatoes’ which were sealed potato ‘bubbles’ filled with creamed potato and vanilla. It was one of those dishes that you can’t quite work out how it was made and needless to say bloody good. I was rapidly deciding I quite liked molecular gastronomy! The starter then came out in a square bowl, a very good risotto with a cloud of parmesan air on top. This was a very, very light foam with hint of parmesan, very interesting. The coffee was in the bottom of the dish and although it shouldn’t have, it all worked together seamlessly. Main course came on a rectangular plate and the plating and style reminded me of Tom Aikens. A not overly large piece of salt cod with a crunchy top perfectly cooked, parallel to it the canelloni with a fine white sauce and the gribiche in reduced form on the plate. There was obvious skill in the prep of these, the pork belly in the cannelloni cut to precise mirepoix, with other elements too that I couldn’t identify. Pre–dessert was a roasted rhubarb panna cotta, very nice, and main desert was another interesting one, it looked like a perfect square of shredded apple marmalade and tasted exactly like tarte tatin. I was a bit disappointed that they’d reconstructed the pastry away but that’s just because I’m greedy. The ice cream was sandwiched between two triangular, ‘sweet crispy things’ whose name escapes me. The taste was certainly there but I had eaten it all in about 30 seconds. It can’t be ruled out though that I am a greedy git and nothing to with portion sizes, I was pleasantly full on departing. I had a brief look at the kitchen to say hello and as usual was impressed with the quality of food turned out in such a simple kitchen, it was certainly no lab and Tony seem to be content with a small flat top stove as his main tool. He personally cooks everything, no executive cheffing going on here. To complete the family theme Tony’s dad was there and so we chewed the fat for a while before I headed off. I really hope this place is a success, the cooking is already at 1 star calibre and given Tony’s only 24 and spent more time in the last six months with a paintbrush than a knife the omens are very good. The pricing seems right and the service friendly and spot-on. I didn’t really have the opportunity to do the wine list justice but I will return to do so. I just hope the good people of Leeds recognise quality when they see it and give them the custom they deserve. So is leeds the new ludlow? , not really but With No3 down the road leeds now has two restaurants that can stand equally amongst some of the best restaurants in the UK, which is good news for me if nothing else! The menu Starters Roast langoustines, fennel tea consomme 7.49 Anjou squab, jabugo ham, pink grapefruit drops 9.25 Dressed salad of crab, green pumpkin seed praline 7.49 Risotto as above Mains The salt cod Suckling pig, jersey royals, mango flavoured jus 21.95 Line caught sea bass, scallop raviolis, smoked oil 16.95 Roast duck breast olive oil chocolate bon bons 17.95 Coffee timabale, yoghurt mousse marshmallows 5.95 Tarte tatin Warm chocolate fondant, black sesame seed ice cream 5.95 Cheese 6.25 Coffee & petit 4’s 2.95 19 boar lane leeds ls1 6ea, 0113 245 5922, dineatanthonys@aol.com

Just returned from anthony's and although troublesome work is now getting in the way of writing a full report, suffice to say this has the potential of becoming a very interesting restaurant. the calibre and professionalism of the staff is unmistakable, they have staff from el bulli, vineyard at stockcross and the black pig and as a largely family owned and run affair i hope they will get the customers the cooking deserves. having not been to el bulli and the fat duck not being my favourite place in the world, from my terms of reference i would place the cooking in the sketch/tom aikens/hibiscus mold ie adventurous but not outlandish. i'll give the meal full justice later but as a taster, the amuses of a 'pink lady' deconstructed cocktail and starter of risotto of white onion, espresso and parmesan air were excellent. cheers gary

Opens on 3rd march, i am booked in for lunch According to the caterer, they will not be going for the full on el-bulli take at the start, which i think is a good plan as high end dining in leeds remains a conservative affair. i will of course report back.... for bookings 0113 245 5922, trevelyn sq, boar lane, leeds. (opposite square's , behind greggs, a most salubrious location!) gary

Another pleasant trip to no3 today, A cold wintery day in leeds, coupled with a boring day at work and wife driving home, saw me skidding through the welcoming doorway this lunchtime. place was a bit quieter than usual but staff seemed glad of a chance to catch up after an unexpectedly hectic jan/feb. i went for menu du jour and had a warm salad of goats cheese, honey and thyme which came as two discs of cheese with thyme on thin toasts (i mean thin- 2-3 mils thick). and for main a confit duck leg on savoy cabbage, smoked bacon, pomme pureee jus of thyme. This was excellent, a giant leg nice and caramelised on the outside but moist and tender within, the quenelle of mash again spot on and a decent sauce. 2 glasses of the house riesling and a couple of house syrahs (domaine du pigolet) rounded off a very pleasant lunchtime. cheers gary

what, that he hit the nail on the head? it is exactly how i describe my web activites gary

i have a soft spot for au pied, and am rarely let down by my usual order of onion soup, steak bearnaise & profiteroles

: They both sound good Thom- nice post. Perhaps we can finally meet up for that drink and a bite to eat when I am next up in the area? I'm used to character assasination from the good mr hetherington I don't tend to think of my local haunts as gastropubs but guess they fall into the generic category. For example the ''gastropub cookbook' was launched at the star at harome which i personally would not class as a gastropub although paradoxically it is most certainly a 'working' pub and most certainly a gastronomic delight. Likewise the yorke arms which is also in the book and retains many of the features and bar of the pub but is really more a very good restaurant. my local the st vincent arms in sutton upon derwent, york, to me is just a bloody good pub that happens to serve bloody good food. It has many camra awards for those odd people who don't drink lager and the cheapest quality wine list i have ever seen (pol roger white foil £23, michelot meursault £24, dujac morey saint denis £40, sauzet puligny montrachet £40). Food varies from pub staples of fish and chips to, well whatever the chef decides to cook, which last night was breast & confit'd leg of guinea fowl on savoy cabbage with a red wine sauce (& chips!) £9.50. Virtually everything is made in the tiny kitchen on a daily basis. i will do it more justice with a full write up soon, but obviously i'm wary of inducing customers from the wrong side of the pennines gary

quite embarassing that a london dweller makes it to the weavers shed before i do! good review, i thought it would be my sort of place it's only an hour away from me, i've previously got as far as the website which looks very good but will now have to make the effort cheers gary

yes, i and friends have been several times since that review. It doesn't disappoint. gary

in beaune, les jardin des ramparts 1* modern restaurant very good, one of my favourites. had reasonable food but cheapest lafon meursault i've ever seen at l'Ecusson. for less formal - la ciboulette, caveau des arches. avoid bernard morillon, was starred, trading on former glories, unless its recently turned around. le montrachet in p montrachet, agreed hotel nice but restaurant underwhelming 1* when i went, not anymore. If you venture out on the n74 the road through the vineyards to dijon then Gevrey chambertain has a few good places. i had a nice lunch at chez guy i had some of the best bouf bourguignon at 'aux vendages de bourgognes' which is on the n74, big range of GC by the glass also (the beef is joie du bouef cuisse sept heures (sp?) basically a 7 hour cooked beef cheek. restauranteur friends are very fond of rottisserie du chambertain too

pleased to hear of another successful visit, far more enjoyable than my trip to the smoke and french course which deprived me from joining you. In london (the don) i did have the same wine, domaine d'arlot though they had confused the issue by spelling it phonetically d'arlaud. i of course gained brownie points but, unfortunately not a free bottle, by pointing out their error I did have lunch at number 3 last tuesday, a great red mullet, tomato risotto and pesto starter followed by a pork fillet (cooked pink) on creamed savoy cabbage, celeriac puree and an elegant red wine sauce. Well worth £15.95. cheers gary

Given my love of molecular gastronomy i can't wait to try this place I will of course give it a full and fair review when it opens, thinking about it, it might do well, the fashionable seems to triumph over the competent in leeds restaurants at the moment. It's been a long trek for no3 to finally establish itself. (and if observer food monthly readers are to be belived the best restaurant in leeds for £20+ is the living room, let me tell you, it 'aint!) cheers gary

moby: weekends do fill up quite rapidly now, ask for denis and feel free to tell him i recommended you go. (soon i'll be just like michael winner!). If you need to stay denis i think has a deal with a local boutique hotel at good rates (quebecs townhouse, very, very nice) otherwise there's plenty of accom in the town centre, let me know if you get stuck. bapi: i've not looked at the map but it's literally 5 mins walk, left out of the station down wellington street, right up east parade (i think, first main road) then left into york place. cheers gary

What ???? I have asked them to pop a couple of bottles away for us both at Hibiscus in March. I trust you will have rediscovered you taste for it by then. Good review, but blimey - 5 hours !! don't worry i still finished it the time really did fly, one minute it was 7.45, next time i looked at my watch it was 11pm! ps i hope you're not expecting early nights on our ludlow trip are you?!

Another fine dinner at no3 last night, i've been several times since my last write up but usually on a work basis or just for a quick set lunch but last night was a no-holds barred assault on the a la carte with my cheffy mate adrian and a certain A Lynes from brighton who was working in leeds. After a few 1664 liveners in all bar one (the best pub chain i find ;) ) we made our way to no3 for 7.30pm. after the usual warm welcome from denis we got straight onto business with a glass each of the pol roger '95 vintage which was very good but i think i could have settled with the NV for half the price (£7). We spent a while debating the menus , there is a menu degustation but as the alc had just been revised it seemed churlish not to. amuse taken in the bar was a potato and pancetta veloute. starters were: pour moi homemade black pud, seared FG, fried quails egg, crushed new pots and calvados jus. Well in my book anything with a fried egg on it can't be bad so that went down well and had a decent slab of FG. Ade had seared sea scallos with wild mushroom risotto and white truffle cream, this was 4 big scallops sliced in half arranged on the risotto and went down well. Andy had the mille-feuille of red mullet & aubergine, sun dried tomato sauce which looked very impressive fish interweaved with dried slices of aubergine. We had a very good new zealand riesling with this that worked well with all the courses. we asked split a couple of fish courses between 3 of us, we went for the fillet of brill poached in red wine, pomme puree, buttered spinach & salsify. Denis is very skilled at ego massage, he said that at first martel had refused to do it as he couldn't split the fish and keep the presentation, denis said it's for gary marshall so he said Ok but it might not look too good! What we actually got was 3 full portions but lovely fella that he is, denis scrubbed them off the bill :D To match this we had an interesting slightly chilled red pic st loup at denis' suggestion. Feeling a little full but nevertheless ploughing on we got stuck into the mains, me and ade had honey roast squab pigeon, pithivier of foie gras, pomme parisienne, jus of winter truffle, which was excellent and andy had the roast saddle of venison, creamed savoy cabbage , fricassee of japanese artichokes, turnip fondant raspberry vinegar & port sauce. With this we had the ubiquitous ch musar, which became a bit hard going, i think i may have drank a bit too much of this over the years now :D . originally we had planned cheese and desert but could face it, indeed we only managed a single assiette between us but it was packed creme brullee, souffles, pyramid, fondants-the works. We had a desert wine of denis' that escapes me. somehow the evening had disappeared and after coffee and brandy we made our way home at about 12.30pm. 5 hours is about right for a dinner methinks. the bill should have been more but denis scribbled a few things out and charged us a very reasonable £295 all in. a great place that's finally hitting its stride now, highly recommended if you are in leeds.

i forgot to mention the cooked breakfast didn't i?! well i didn't exactly leap out of bed but we did make it down for about 8.45am and there's the full selection available fruit cereals etc along with porridge and kippers (not together) and full english. we were being figure conscience so only had the full english and toast. how did we feel afterwards? well we got home and did nothing, i later managed to find the energy to make some bread for another culinary highlight, beans on toast for tea! gary

I first visted the Yorke Arms in Ramsgill back in march, It had won its first star in January and was the subject of a great review by Giles Coren (as were all the restaurants he visited in the north: the devonshire arms, betty’s and room –leeds). So we went expecting a star at harome-esque quality gastropub, focussing on local produce etc, but were actually served food that would not have been out of place at two star winteringham fields or at least any london one star. So it was with great hope of another cracker we booked ourselves in for a gluttonous stay. The restaurant really is in the middle of no-where, drive to harrogate, onto pateley bridge and keep going round the reservoir until you hit ramsgill. There’s no worry about not finding it, there’s ‘nowt else there! Current full time residents of Ramsgill number around 15 I’m told so to run a thriving business out here gives an indication of the quality of what’s on offer. We arrived about 1.30 and thinking they’d be wanting our lunch order asap, said we’d dine straight away, but were offered the chance to check into our rooms and eat when ready, which makes a nice change from in ‘2 milliseconds time the kitchen closes and we only have crisps’ attitude which can be prevalent. We did however take up their suggestion of a pre-lunch drink, to ease the strain of a 1.5 hour drive there, and took 2 glasses of champagne in front of the fire in the residents lounge. On our previous visit we were surprised (pleasantly) to find the full menu degustation available at lunch but this has now changed so there’s a 2 choice each course, 3 course set lunch for £18 and a list of specials. After checking the evening menu to avoid the chance of duplication, we plumped for the set lunch. After some good amuses, I had a cep tart, sarah a soup (pumpkin) I think which were fine if unremarkable, which can’t be said of the bread which was outstanding, especially a cheese and sea salt, which we fought over. Mains were more memorable, mine was a perfect roast partridge, off the bone with confit’d legs, pommes anna (sliced, cooked in stock) bacon and a good red wine reduction, nothing fancy but well executed and presented with obvious care. Sarah’s curried monkfish and lobster was a lobster claw atop a curry dusted sizable chunk of monkfish with a light curry sauce and pillau rice, it was very good. We got stuck into a bottle of Gevrey Chambertin, domaine drouhin-laroze 98 with this for about £35. We also struggle to resist cheese and both received a small selection of 4 cheeses, just enough. The original plan was lunch, then a walk then a full assault on the tasting menu, by the time we finished lunch it was looking a little dark and the thought of coffee in front of the fire with the papers sounded much better than pounding the muddy lanes. So we settled in and it is one of those places where you can feel quickly at home, once coffee was dispatched calva followed and a pleasant few hours ensued. Soon it was time for dinner. We wandered back downstairs and although they had saved us a spot in the lounge, I was quite happy sat at the bar. Along with our kir royales they brought some potato gaufrettes and a chive-y mayo dip. We went for the tasting menu which is available with a glass of wine to match but as they were the same as we’d had on a previous visit we chose a 1999 st aubin 1 er cru ‘les frionnes’ domaine hubert lamy £35 and a 1996 beaune 1 er cru ‘Les Avaux’ by champy. The dining room is almost medieval with its large stone fire places, creamy cloth walls and pewter ornaments, but its certainly a convivial room with mix-matched furniture of ‘character’. I forget the amuse but remember it being very good and again we fought over the cheese bread! 1) YORKSHIRE POTTED BEEF, HAM HOCK & FOIE GRAS TERRINE asparagus veloute, beetroot relish. This is such a good dish, presented on a glass plate, just like in ‘that london’ it’s a slice of terrine with a good 2 inch diameter circle of Fg in the centre, in a shot glass is the veloute with 2 spears of asparagus and a quenelle of the relish. Well I could drink gallons of that veloute light and yet creamy and the terrine is absolutely textbook. From a textbook written by someone who really knows how to make terrines . 2) LOBSTER RAVIOLI confit of fennel & tomato, shellfish broth. Another cracker. The sauce just a great rich pinkly seafood sauce, frothed up and a generous ravioli atop the confit. 3) ROAST TURBOT brandade of smoked haddock, spinach tortellini and tomato butter sauce. The turbot was certainly not cooked ‘saignant’ variety but that was the only near flaw I could find in the meal. The brandade was a tiny quenelle on top of the fish and was a real taste highlight, again the sauce was great, not heavy but certainly containing its fair share of calories, this is not a place for the figure conscious! 4) CONFIT OF LAMB, HERB CRUSTED SADDLE, barley and potato risotto, roasted vegetables. On my last trip the standout dish was the lamb and this was no exception. The saddle was coated in a microscopically chopped herb mixture was perfectly rare and tender as butter, the confit was a little rectangle of the most unctous braised melty lamb as I have had, a truly ambrosial dish. 5) CHICKEN SAUSAGE ballottine of chicken, veal sweetbreads, morel & brandy sauce. You see by now in any other tasting menu you’d be expecting the cheese by now, but no, here comes another stunner, a slice of the ballottine, on top of the sweetbread with a boudin blanc too and a creamy morel sauce that made you want to lick the plate clean and ask for more. 6) BEIGNET OF YORKSHIRE BLUE CHEESE beetroot sorbet does what it says on the menu, just enough to give you a taste but not too much so you have room for…. 7) PLATE OF CHOCOLATE which was a sort of 3 dimensional filled ‘apostrophe’ very nice, quite light and a great finish. (oh, and that little lot was £49) We again gave up the delights of the lounge for the sanctuary of the bar for coffee and for me to finish off the remaining wine. The chef Frances Atkins joined us and despite me promising not to take up hours of her time happily chatted about the food world until about 1.30am. I love this place, the cooking is just up my street, rooted in classical french but with a northern english touch in the ingredients, a sort of haute cuisine comfort food. Was it better than my lunch at sketch earlier in the week? Well it might not be as inventive but in terms of enjoyment it was miles ahead, I could eat it every day, yet I’d say it’s not far off 2 star food and its unusual to find that combination. Highly recommended. Gary

i will just not sure whether it''ll be at lunch or dinner! i thought i might as well make the most of it!

As a rule, its when they get the vacuum cleaner out that they're hinting they want you to leave (although when it happened to us and we complained, they did point out it was 5.30pm and they had a full restaurant again at 6pm. we had been there since 12.30 and hadn't realised how time had flown, ahh the wonders of red wine...) gary ps it wasn't at petrus, clarkes in bradford!