David Naylor

i may be wrong here but what other animals other than guide dogs would anybody take into a restaurant as a "service animal"?

make a pan of scrambled eggs, (ensure eggs are of a very runny consistency) fold in a good handful of crumbly Lancashire cheese then just before serving stir in a couple of spoons of Branston Pickle - make sure it is the chunky variety. Serve generous quantities atop well buttered lightly toasted crusty farmhouse bread. a difficult dish to pair with wine due to the egg and the acidity of the pickle but perfect after a session on the beer In my earlier days when i spent my time with relations on their farm in Garstang, Lancashire they made unpasturised Lancashire cheese, this coupled with eggs a plenty and a wonderful bread oven meant the only thing we had to source from elsewhere was the Branston (Booths supermarket) oh and the Vimto

I have always found this to be a most horrendous situation, the reliance of Joe public to ensure that somebody else’s employee is being paid a reasonable wage. I do understand that the American policy is to tip for service or put another way, ask the customer to pay somebody extra for performing their job description. There are only two options to solve this issue, 1. Pay a realistic wage that does not require the customer to make up the shortfall and include service in the cost of the food / drink. 2. Include a mandatory service charge to be shared equally by staff. As there is no legal requirement to tip after a meal there will always be the potential for waiting staff to be short paid. Furthermore the 15% & 20% norms always seem a little odd. I buy a bottle of wine for £100 the waiter brings the bottle opens and pours, is that really worth £20 in tip? If it is the norm to pay 15 – 20% in tips where is the incentive? Many years ago, 15 in fact, I was approached by a member of the waiting staff in a restaurant in London after I had paid the bill, I had not left a tip certainly not expected in the UK. He asked me if I had enjoyed the meal etc and I confirmed I had. He then asked why I had not left a tip, the wages in London are poor and he needed the money he informed me. As he had succeeded in embarrassing me in the middle of a large (full) restaurant and knowing that the owner was seated only five or six tables away with his guests I escorted the waiter over to his employers table and proceeded to inform the owner the problems this particular employee was having and how I came to know his problems. Nobody should have to rely on a paying customer to make up their wage. I write this as someone who has spent over ten years in the hotel / restaurant trade albeit ten years ago. David

Perhaps, but with $32.6 billion in sales last year there are plenty of people who don't seem to care about the quality of their food. The guy got off his arse and made something, providing employment for a considerable number of people. In my experience it's often those who don't want to get off their arse who are happy to eat eat poor quality food.

"maybe Greg and John should get their kit off at strategic moments a la Gordon - could add to the appeal? or do a show with Trinny and Susannah where everyone gets their kit off - which one would Greg pull? or would he rather have a pudding?" for a brief moment i thought you meant he'd be pulling his pudding

Yes couldn't resit it, bit of manc humour

Do they sell CottagePie?

You could alway book a table for six to gain the time slot of your choice and then when you arrive tell them the others can't make it I've seen it happen.

I don't know if we have any lawyers on here, but is it actually legal for them to ban it? My understanding is that, apart from any temporary bans on "unsafe" products (such as beef when BSE is a worry), it is not legal for any individual EU country to ban a product that can legally be sold elsewhere in the EU. In other words, neither York nor the UK can ban Foie Gras while it is legal to be sold in a country such as France. ← No, that's the point I made in the original post. While it appears that he's calling for banning, he obviously can't ban it (and neither can the city council as a whole) so is calling for restaurants not to stock it. Which will be about as much use in stopping people eating it as a storm in a chocolate teapot ← What is interesting though (to me) is that it is illegal to produce the product in the UK due to the methods of production yet the government are happy for us to import and eat the end result. This is a hypocritical peice of legislation along the lines of the laws that have decimated the pig farming industry where pig farmers in the UK are forced to adhere to very strict welfare regulations in respect of the rearing and slaughtering of pigs yet on the otherhand the government willingly allows the import of pig products from countries that don't have such regulations and therefore costs, ultimately this prices out the UK product from the GENERAL HIGH VOLUME market place.

The issue was discussed on Radio York this morning, the councillor was taking questions on air, the vote is today. He is a vegetarian.

Gary i agree but it's not the point though is it? You dont want to be told which ingredients you can or can't use in your business, it is afterall your business, whether people want to eat it or not is another thing. Selling the product is a judgement YOU make not some jerk of a councillor. BTW are you full on Sunday?

Bertie As a York resident I've chosen (d) - a complete load of rubbish that makes me want to kill local councillors even more than i wanted to kill them before! You are right that this guy is looking for publicity but judging from the e-mails he has posted in response to comments from locals on the york press web site he seems genuinely committed to this cause, i thought only the Americans could come up with something as socially submissive and ridiculous as this. I'm off to J Baker's on saturday invariably there will be plenty of foie on the menu as there is on other City of York menus (Blue Bicycle, Meltons etc.) I also have a house in Burgundy we can eat what we want there BTW try buying veal in york, does anybody know where in york i can buy veal? Regards David

Talking of celebs my sources tell me that the G Marshall establishment in westow is to be featured in Sundays edition. I know he is a big fan of Mcfly so naturally he is quite excited david

Ptipois I found your post quite facinating, amazing how we get from Bon App to toilet discussions. Not wanting to be too "anal" about this excuse the pun, my house in Burgundy with six bedrooms has only one toilet yet has sinks and bidets in each room. The toilet door is marked "Abort" carved in the oak door is this a derivative of ablutions you mentioned? Sorry to be so off topic

Because an amuse is a gift from the chef... ← I think you will find that the customer pays for the "gift" and if the customer doesn't like it why eat it. Hardly rude just common sense

what this guy is saying is that ONLY in the USA does the term cordon bleu mean stuffed with ham and cheese. I am quite sure it has the same meaning across europe. Veal cordon bleu etc regards david

what this guy is saying is that ONLY in the USA does the term cordon bleu mean stuffed with ham and cheese. I am quite sure it has the same meaning across europe. Veal cordon bleu etc regards david

I am having a debate with somebody at the moment regarding the term cordon bleu, not the cooking school but the filling of meat with ham and cheese. I am being told that the term in the US, and nowhere else, means 'stuffed with ham and cheese' I am not aware the term is US related only, am i right in thinking that the term is used elsewhere to mean 'stuffed with ham and cheese'?? This guy is one of them dam journalist types Regards David

I am having a debate with somebody at the moment regarding the term cordon bleu, not the cooking school but the filling of meat with ham and cheese. I am being told that the term in the US, and nowhere else, means 'stuffed with ham and cheese' I am not aware the term is US related only, am i right in thinking that the term is used elsewhere to mean 'stuffed with ham and cheese'?? Regards David

Nope. But I think your 2nd idea - changing how tips are proportioned - would be good. At least one person has remarked above that when they've tipped in restaurants, they've thought that the money is somehow divided and not just pocketed by the waiter. We've seen it really depends on the restaurant, however, so how is a diner to know? Maybe all you can do is to give a tip and tell the waiter - 'this is for you,' or 'please give half of this to the kitchen' depending on the quality of service and service you experience. If the food has been great but the service has been of the 'leave a nickel' variety, then I would try and tip the kitchen through the manager or something. If both are bad, just leave a nickel. When it comes down to it, waiters make too much relative to the kitchen. When I was a cook there was little I could do to change this, and it upset me enough that I quit. ← Isn't the simple solution and moraly the right solution to pay people a decent wage where ever they may work front or back, sure the price of food & drink will increase but then there is no dilema regarding tips, you won't need to leave one!

Busboy wrote "Wow! A little light but strikingly delicious. I'll spare you you any attempt at tasting notes until we open the second bottle, but certainly one of the best and probably the most eye-opening bottle I've had all year. Made me wonder why it's been so long since I brought a bottle of something like this home." That wouldn't be anything to do with this thread would it? "Boycott Bordeaux! (and others), Take the pricing power back There's only one hope, one that will benefit us all: a two-year boycott of all wines that cost over $40 retail In the mean time, we'll search the world for new champions, in Argentina and Greece and California's more obscure hillsides and valleys, showering money and respect on producers who bring passion to their art and respect to their pricing." David

Thanks John i'll have a look through these, i did do a search before posing the question but didn't find anything. Perhaps you have special search powers! Regards David

I am looking for a little bit of advice if anybody can help. I have been invited to a News Years Eve dinner in the burgundy region, three or four extended families will be in attendance. In order that I can display a little knowledge of this traditional time could anybody shed light on dishes normally served on New Years Eve (if any) and are there any particular customs? Furthermore it is custom in England to listen to the chimes of Big Ben (bells) either on radio or TV come midnight, what is the equivalent in France? One last request, I have invited a number of locals from the village (in Burgundy) to my house on New Years Day for a late lunch, again are there any particular dishes traditionally served on this day? Regards david

Bearing in mind most of the wait staff are Aussies here in England because life is so dire back home