David Naylor

Sukie you need to look here http://www.bitterwaitress.net/smf/

I would have thought that an illegal immigrant should not be employed in the first place. Your responsibility to society is to obey the rules of society. How can you help him to achieve legal status? He has broken the law by entering the country illegaly. I admire you for supporting family farms over giant agribusiness and minimizing ecological impact by buying locally but this can only pertain to a certain tranche of operators. Sadly the reality is that for a great majority of food consumers world wide price is the driving factor. Of course efforts are being made to "educate" the consumer but the bottom line for the vast majority is price.

it seems some people do bother, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8071602018.html Murky Coffees blog: http://www.murkycoffee.com Angry Customer blog: http://www.andiamnotlying.com All this over a $5.00 coffee?

A slightly less enthusiastic review...................... http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/expert...2284500,00.html

Gary i have been to these two places a number of times http://www.restaurant-lechannel.com/intro.php?id=537 http://www.cotedargent.com/modulosite2/fic...132&id=319&fr=0 The Channel has a fantastic wine list excellent fish and great cheese. Service is efficient and friendly. I know you asked for steak frites but i have ignored that. At the cote d'argent you get a great view of the sea front, on one occasion we were booked on the 2pm ferry to go home but decided to go for lunch instead and watched the 2pm ferry from our restaurant table with some excellent turbot and a bottle of Chateau Fuisse. We got another 2pm ferry the next day! I notice the A la carte menu is not on the cote d'argent website. david

It is also very expensive to employ staff in France. Whilst in the States the employer pays not much more than $2 an hour and expects the customer to leave a little extra to pay his wage bill. Civilised country? Hey that quaint little thing called slavery.

I agree about the voting, i commented last night that the voting element was a diabolical con, how can people make a valued judgement on appearances alone? Furthermore how can the chefs celebrate at the end of each show if the public can cast their own vote, what if there are millions of people who vote because they like the look of a cup of sweet tea and dinky sugar cubes and nobody votes for the burnt cream in a egg shell?

Aye ...... it's all about concept and presentation with you isn't it Marshall, driving ya posh car round our village whilst we wait for the only bus of the day. IIRC Jason scored 12 out of twenty.... accused of lacking substance Hey if only Tony had made it to this stage he would have done much better than Nigel David

Dear RedRum, i am currently reading a very interesting book on the origins of the consumption of horsemeat in France, if you continue with comments like the above i suggest you keep your eye out for Mr. Marshall. You may be included in any subsequent editions of this book. david

sour grapes?

Because americans don't deserve it! Only joking ................................. i will be there next week stocking up for a ten day feast at our house in the Morvan. BTW Vinotas just finished dinner and had a wonderful Chateau Fuisse (J & J Vincent) 2002 and a Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos d'Arlot 1999....... very tasty. Do you have any recomendations for eating in Chablis? i will be spending the day there on the saturday 21st march. It is about 40 minutes from the house but not been there since '89 David

A restaurant is a business after all, that's what is all about. Forget stars, forget egos if i plough X thousands of pounds into any business i want a return not some plaque from some guide book.

Yah yah yah to both of you. I spend more money on anti-calc, vinegar, sel, rincage, etc than on presents for my wife (whoops).I'd like to move this from trying to fix it to what should I buy next? What are the hot models? How do I avoid spending my life adding anti-calc, vinegar, sel, rincage, etc? ← Relax John you bought her the dishwasher in the first place, you've bought her all the presents she needs

When eating good quality butter the fact that it is cold brings out the flavours and taste. I enjoy being served unsalted butter and use only unsalted at home. I will always return butter that is not sufficiently cold. Occasionally I might mix a pack of butter with crushed fleur de sel when making hot ham and cheese ciabatta sandwiches. I was always taught by many respected chefs and FOH staff that butter tasted better served cold. Hathor - your comments were very interesting, many years ago I read a rather lengthy book on breads and how the varying cultures of the world treated this particular commodity. I ate in a Indian household a couple of weeks ago great food but no cutlery - we used chapattis to transport food from the plate to the mouth.

My thoughts as well Brighton Chef, what were people expecting? This is a programme on ITV with eight minutes of actual kitchen footage per 20 minutes of screen time to allow the lowest common denominator amongst the viewing population the chance to understand the “plot” What exactly was disgusting about the sous chefs? Sadly the focus for this programme is not really about the food. So called celebrities “entertaining” the aforementioned population with their jocular antics and manic mood swings whilst suffering at the hands of the devil in white is what will ensure the ratings. Luckily for me I was able to feign complete disinterest in front of my 22 year old niece! I managed to watch with just one eye as the other was trained (though closed) on her law and criminology degree material.

hi Vinotas, not read your blog just yet but will be heading there saturday next and quite looking forward to it. david

Thanks for the reply Kerriar, not too bothered about the price more concerned about being central to the main eating dringking and shopping regards david

A quick and i hope simple question, i am looking to stay in Lyon in a couple of weeks just for the one night. Does anybody know the most central place to stay for restaurants, bars and shops. My house in france is only 100 minutes away so i will have plenty of opportunities for cultural activities on other occasions, this time we are taking our neice and she will have spent plenty of time in Burgundy being "cultural", she (along with my wife) will want to shop whereas i will want to drink eat and drink. Cheers in advance david

Gary, i think there may have been a little currency confusion, savigny les beaune & becks induced i fear. 30 euros is correct. Have all the "loose birds of flaxton" gone now or can you still get them?

Cheeekymunkey, I don't think anybody is suggesting that one should dine at a restaurant looking scruffy or god forbid wearing shorts. Using tradition as a reason for wearing a jacket and tie is quite sad i feel, traditions are ever evolving. Even the greatest story book of all time required a New edition. Restaurant traditions themselves evolve and change, look at the food, the decor, the styles of service etc. Respecting your fellow diners is not limited to how you dress, sadly some people see this as displaying some kind of social status. The fact that somebody is wearing the same clothes as me ceartainly doesnt enhance the pleaseure of my meal. david edited to say "unless it's a woman, that would be interesting"

Answers in my opinion 1. Me too 2. None 3. No 4. No 5. Only for the fashion conscious or those of a supercilious nature 6. I'm interested to find out david

I think this should explored a little further, what about those who conform to jacket and tie only to find they are wearing the most appalling shiny polyester? Not to mention "shoes" that are made of plastic with the most horrendous chunk of plastic glued to the bottom of said "shoe" I have it on good authority that the next edition of the Michelin guide will be adding a little shoe icon to the ratings to denote the dress code, along the lines of 1 shoe = plastic shoes allowed 2 shoes = leather soles required, plastic uppers allowed 3 shoes = full leather shoe required of the Lobb variety if you please. Sunbeam Wrote: Whilst i would agree with you Sunbeam if dining at a members club i think that as a proprietor of an establishment i would be more concerned with attracting regular high spending customers with a chauffer for wine purchasing purposes (or wife, Gary) rather than somebody who can afford a £10 jacket and drinks one glass of sherry. Whilst i constantly decry the deline in everything in todays society i do believe food is for pleasure and as long as certain limits (wellies, bobhats and balaclavas) aren't breached then what the heck? david

Whilst i agree with your comments Dave could you not say the same thing about food? I always thought it was to nourish and provide sustinance, sometimes when i see people performing scientific experiments with ingredients i wonder where it will all end. Me, i love wine of all types, currently drinking ST Aubin 1er Cru Les Frionnes - Vincent Pruniers - 12 euros at Leclerc, 28 euros in the UK. You are right we are spoiled in France. Now if only i could find chocolate hob nobs on a regular basis

Just to confirm the comments made by Ptipois, i have a house in the morvan, last year i spent around 3 1/2 months there around the year. To me it is the most idylic of places, the house is 2200 metres above sea level, fields and hills abound and quite remote (as prefered) Car essential. The temperature last summer was 43 degrees C on many occasions, the winter saw temperatures of minus 20 for at least one month, snow volumes brought down trees and electricity cables - not good when you are trying to watch Little House on the Prairie (1st season) on the DVD and you are plunged into darkness as the electricity disappears for three days - nice hot chocolate though. The people, the scenery, the food, the life it really is la vie en miele for me, it is perfect i love the definate changes in seasons and the effects this has had on the way the population over the generations have defined their culinary requirements. Others may find it somewhat difficult to say the least. Dave Hadfield wrote: It certainly is Le Chalet Bleu with an excellent deli just next door, i would say quite nice, the value for money is outstanding. Try the brasserie hotel de ville across the road for a good simple homemade lunch or the Restaurant des Ramparts a little further down the street for good family cooking.

Whilst being a fan of Mr Bricolage, for those of you who enjoy buying such diverse objects you must like me make an effort to visit the many 'vide greniers' especially in the small villages. Last week i stumbled accross the missing edition of the michelin guide that i had been looking for (1963, 1 euro) i now have every edition to date since 1960. A piece of Lalique crystal for 7 euros, similar piece in UK 650 euros. The most interesting stuff has to be the age old culinary equipment either in silver, copper or brass. I buy the stuff en masse but never use it i simply admire the craftsmanship that you just don't see anymore. Leather bound books are piled high, i love the feel of the leather, the quality of the binding, i have no idea what most of the books are about. sorry if a little off topic. david