magnolia

Freckles I have a file of places in Burgundy I've visited over the last couple of years and I'll find it and post some in the next couple of days, hope that's not too late. One thing I can advise now though is that because "Burgundy" mostly comprises lots of tiny plots and sub-plots, it's not obvious who owns what, who makes what, etc. It's best to do a bit of homework ahead of time and make some phonecalls to save time and make sure there is someone to host a tasting - particularly on a weekend - most places don't have a formal infrastructure that accommodates drop-in-and-tasters. Anyway Beaune is a wonderful town and you'll have a lovely time if you organise. More later...

Thanks for covering Jon Seriously, on the subject of getting a table/sitting down without the whole group, whatever - the place is still new and possibly a bit wide-eyed about their popularity. They aren't yet tangled in their own red velvet rope so if you are nice and calm and not pushy, they'll be as accommodating as possible. Last orders (for food) are 10h30 though, I think they're missing the boat a bit on that... And yes, we ordered way too much. Again the dim sum influence...

Correct. White wines that are meant to be aged - especially sweet ones - will indeed get darker over time.

Old Champagne will lose its bubbles naturally over time. If it has been stored properly, it *should* end up resembling a Burgundy. Loss of bubbles doesn't mean it's bad. Unpleasant flavour means it has gone bad.

I've seen Belazu written up a few times in the foodie magazines/newspaper columns. They may have good PR but the fact that they have made it to the top of the editors' pile should mean something...maybe...

I went for lunch yesterday (Wednesday) and now I can see why it might be difficult for them to take bookings. There aren't many tables at all, and part of the appeal of this place is that it's not terribly cramped. Several of the tables are 'communal' ones that accommodate four or six or even more in a pinch. We were a party of two, walked in at 13h45 and were seated immediately at a large table that already had three people dining together. (We were asked if we minded sharing). Those people left at around 14h00 and two took their place, and nobody else came in after that. If they instituted a booking policy, my hunch is that they'd have to turn a lot more people away because a large party would take up a whole table for longer than several smaller parties. At lunch yesterday there were only two waiters and one head waiter/wine bottle opener/manager type. They were all very quick, friendly and efficient . The place just doesn't seem to warrant anything more formal (at least not at lunch). That said, I thought it was excellent and certainly very reasonable. There were at least six things on the menu that I would like to have tried. I had a whole mackerel with buttery braised fennel (I think?) and aioli, for something like £8. This same dish at St John would have cost at least twice as much. The bread and butter were good too, and decent wine selection - nothing earth-shatteringly exciting but several good options by the glass and carafe ((1.5 to 2 glasses per person). And they even have decent coffee. We emerged for around £12 apiece, including wine, mains and service. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Dim sum - I hear Hakasan does the best dim sum in town (I'm sure you can find a lot of discussion by doing a search). Controversial, but I don't think dim sum in general is as good here as it is in NYC. Places that are good (for London) are Royal China (several branches, one in St John's Wood; one in Bayswater and a couple of others - but I haven't been enough times to all of them to be able to compare) and Phoenix Palace, Glentworth Street just behind Baker Street Tube. To me the main appeal of dim sum is that it accommodates a large group and you can be stuffed for £10 a head. re: Indian food - again, loads of lively debate and discussion - the gist of which is that "best Indian" is like saying "best Italian" - India's food is highly regional and you'll get recommendations based on what kind you want to eat. Parsi? The Parsee in Highgate (though I haven't been there in awhile). Punjabi? Southall. Goan? Ma Goa. "High end" Indian with a mix of different styles, in a more elegant/refined setting - include The Cinnamon Club; Zaika; and Tamarind. Be prepared to pay. Cheap and cheeful Indian - another mix but more on the 'nouvelle', trendy and/or upmarket streetfood end of the spectrum include Mela, Chowki and Masala Zone (though I really like the first two much more). Again, search the boards for loads of commentary.

Not sure if this is too far for her to walk, but the main drags of St John's Wood - Circus Road and St Johns Wood High Street - have much better options than Maida Vale proper. Panzer's Deli has decent baked goods, and there's a Maison Blanc (IMHO the only decent 'chain' patisserie in London) and an outpost of the mini-chain The Bread Shop. Lesser quality but still good option is Richoux, also on Circus Road.

Was fortunate enough to participate in an unprecedented tasting of Alejandro Fernandez's wines earlier this week - he's best known for Pesquera - unprecendented because the 71-year old winemaker hasn't been to London in 20 years (he says he's been too busy). Fernandez has been making wine in the Ribera del Duero for 20 something years, though his family has been in the ag business for far longer. He now makes his wine from four different properties - El Vinculo; Condado de Haza; Pesquera del Duero; and Dehesa la Granja - he owns all except El Vinculo - he says it's too far from the others for him to keep a constant eye on, but he buys their grapes. Each of his four daughters 'manages' some aspect of the business, nominally each is in charge of one of the properties. Alejandro makes tempranillo, tempranillo, tempranillo. (He also makes a white wine for his own consumption only). He uses American oak. Some of it is outstanding. All of it is affordable, when you can find it - under £15 a bottle, though UK allocation isn't huge - there are loads of stockists, so maybe they each get a few cases. We tasted the following: El Vinculo Crianza 2001; Dehesa la Granja 2000; Condado de Haza Crianza 2001; Pesquera Crianza 2001; Pesquera Reserva 1991 and 89; Pesquera Gran Reserva 1986; Pesquera 1978 and a Janus '94. The last great year for this region was '94, and this was also the last time Fernandez made his 'icon wine' "Janus", so-called because Fernandez considers it a wine that has one face in the old world, and one in the new. He thinks he's going to make a Janus from the 2003 harvest as well. It has become quite the mantra for Spanish winemakers to insist that their wines are "organic" without being "certified organic" - i.e. that the weather and other conditions are so perfect that they don't need to use any artificial intervention, that it has always been this way so they've never made a thing out of it, and haven't bothered to apply for certification, yadda yadda yadda. I don't mind one way or another, but organic can be a marketing advantage, so it's just something they all say nowadays. The wines are very well made, good structure, ample acidity and excellent fruit. Of the ones that show a lot of oak, some of the other tasters considered them 'over-oaked' - but I like some powerful oak as long as it doesn't overwhelm the fruit, tempranillo is a grape that can stand up to oak - and in this case I thought they worked. The older vintages were surprisingly fresh and showed very little colour change or aged character - they were all deep ruby to garnet, and almost opaque(I noticed something similar at a tasting of old Brunellos about a month ago, they tasted quite young - but not too young to drink - however the colour of the Brunellos had actually gotten lighter over the years!) Without going too deeply into the tasting notes, all had luscious dark summer puddingy fruit flavours, decent tannins (some a bit chewy for my taste but others, more experienced with Spanish wines than I thought this was appropriate) and streaks of licorice and tobacco. All were imminently drinkable and could probably keep. The ones I'd take home : the Reservas were outstanding, as was the Janus '94 which I'd had before. The Dehesa la Granja 2000 and the Vinculo Crianza were also lovely. Anyone have any experience with these?

Here's the line-up of this year's purchases - pls forgive errant spellings, I'm in a rush but will post more and/or edit anon... reds: Domaine Hubert de Montille Pommard 1ier Cru "Les Petirolles" Emmanuel Rouget Vosne Romanee (against my better judgment due to price); Jean Grivot Bourg. Rouge; Echezeaux Confuron-Cotetidot (my favourite of the reds) whites: Javillier Bourg. Cuvee des Forgets; Dom. Des Forges St Romain Clos Sous le Chateau Monopole; Domaine Laroche les Blanchots GC; J-P et Benoit Drouin 1ier Cru Chablis (unoaked) Vaillon (my second favourite of the whites); St Aubin 1ier Cru Les Chamois; Meurseault Clos du Cromin (my favourite of the whites)

In fact one of the reasons I've been off line so much is that I've been tasting, tasting, tasting - three Burgundy tastings (plus a couple of general portfolio tastings) in nine days - my teeth are purple and my tastebuds are knackered. The Burgundy 2002 reds are pretty good but the 2002 whites are really special. Overextended, yes - but it's going to be worth it in the long run. Will get a list & post tomorrow. PS Scott I'm a big Chevillon fan too. Yum ! Tasted some Amiot Chassanges last night but without my notes I'm useless...

This is a tough one. I don't know the law. But it seems to me if they advised you of this policy - and didn't say 'we'll charge you if we can't fill the table' then you don't have much of a 'moral' case. If they were marketing-and-customer service minded (with respect, few UK places are) they could create some good will by refunding the charge, if in fact they do fill the table (I guess if you wanted to, you could stop by and check to see if the place is full). But my guess is the reason they have that policy in place is that they've had experience with no-shows (which, incidentally, I just don't understand -if you can bother to pick up the phone to make the reservation, how much of an imposition is it to call and cancel?). You could write a letter to the management and see where that gets you. Or you could just avoid this restaurant in the future (or name and shame them herewith) because they weren't willing to play ball.

Funny you should mention this place, I've been passing by there for a few months, at different times of the day - and have never seen anyone go in or out. But it looked intriguing and I've been meaning to try it anyway. The sign in the window says it's related to a wine-oriented restaurant in Jo'burg (I've never been to Jo'burg). Jon Tseng and I had a drink there a couple of days ago. The restaurant is located on a depressing junction of Farringdon Street and Charterhouse Street, at the fringes of Clerkenwell. The windows don't give much away, as the restaurant is underground. In fact the entrance is a bit gloomy. The interior, however, is very impressive. There's a small bar with a couple of cafe tables - down a short flight of stairs from the reception. The bar lists about four red & four white wines by the glass, reasonably priced if a bit standard - and I think a couple of sparkling wines by the glass. The bottles on the bar list ranged from £15 to around £whatever. No bargains but better quality than All Bar One & other 'wine bars'. There's a wine cellar (if I recall correctly it's whites) on the bar level. The real treat looks to be the restaurant downstairs, it's quite stunning. High vaulted ceilings, stone floors - loads of space between tables - I counted two dining rooms but there might have been three. Because of the hard surfaces, though, I'm guessing it might get loud. But it was impossible to tell, because at 19h00 on a Monday night, there was not a SOUL in the restaurant. (There was only one other party in the bar area, a super-drunk city worker and two male colleagues). We were told it gets busy at lunch but I'd passed by at lunchtime that same day to pick up a card - and there wasn't anyone in the bar, and the lady at reception (who then showed us around later and is apparently one of the owners) had time to chat. The other two wine cellars - one for red and one for general storage, plus the cheese room - are also on the restaurant level. The cheeses looked beautiful and there were many to choose from, we were told they come mainlly from Machiavelli (I'm not familiar). Jon inquired how they could keep the quantity of cheeses properly if only a few people ordered cheese boards (based on apparent lack of adequate turnover) and was advised once again that there are lots of takers at lunchtime... I wasn't wearing my reporter's hat so I didn't want to snoop around too much but a very superficial inspection indicates had some good South African wines (I'm not familiar with the SA vintages so can't comment); some interesting Spanish wines; and many big name Bordeaux in fair-to-blah recent vintages. We were told they have some older Bordeaux. I didn't get to look at the restaurant wine list but I'd expect the prices to be standard to high mark-up. The fun part would be to spot the gem... The menu is French, looks interesting and reasonable for the area. So: why is it empty? It reminded me a bit of my Flaneur experience, which I keep going on about... thought it was too good to be true, never saw anyone there, prices pretty outrageous - but the more I've gone back, the more enamored I have become. I still don't see anyone there, but I've all but stopped trying to figure out what it's a front for. Vivat Bacchus has pedigree, a big, expensive fit-out and all the right ingredients to be a welcome - if not cheap - addition to the area. If the food is great and reasonable, people will spend money on the wine. I think this requires more investigation...

Hmmm...interesting, I believe that's pretty much what they serve now.

WOuld you mind abridging the Bon App recipe & posting it here? I can't buy it in the UK & nobody I know is going to the US / returning in time. I love eggnog and really want to make something eggnoggy for Christmas. I'm thinking of ice cream too...so any eggnog ice cream recipes would be most welcome (though come to think of it, the last time I tried to make an ice cream with alcohol in it, it didn't work even though I burned off all the alcohol... )

I'm trying to track down the current brewers of Macksons and have been all over the 'net but cannot find any reference to the parent company...Thanks !

Hmm...I never considered the possibility that the spray starch might actually be a part of the edible experience, call it domestic molecular gastronomy, the newest thing. Maybe instead of lemon they use lemon fairy liquid. Oh, and on the napkin test - not only did they pass, but they brought a new one for each course.

Well, when you see someone spraying the cutlery with glass and mirror cleaner - as I witnessed at Pappardelle, one of the myriad faux-Italian places that opened in the 80's on Columbus Avenue in NYC - it's time to say 'check please!!' or better yet, just get up and go.

Moby - unfortunately Enrico wasn't there - he has a real job. I didn't get any sense of 'personality' in the same way as I did at Fat Duck or even Arpege, or Novelli - or even Chez Bruce - off the top of my head - the personality that comes through these places is playful and humorous, but still arguably dignified. But it does seem the chef is enjoying himself at these places. I wonder if the kind of personality that comes through at Claridges & Petrus (though I've only been to the former twice and the latter once) is much more serious, that perhaps joy doesn't come into it - but perhaps this is more down to the service than the food? Tarka - I don't think there was any cheese in the Tatin - should there have been?

I just don't get it - I don't think I'm a snob, but if I'm paying to eat someplace other than my own house - (and even there I don't jump up in the middle of a meal to deal with laundry) - I don't feel like watching, smelling or hearing someone doing housework. It sends mixed messages: tey're trying to hint that they've got more people coming in a few hours and need to clean the place up, so hurry and finish your meal - but they took more than enough time to serve the meal and give us our check... If you're not the ironing type, then Claridges & Petrus might be just the places for you -why not bring some of your own linens next time and slip them across the table as Iron Man is doing his thing.

Now {as they say}...back to our regularly scheduled programming. I had lunch at Petrus yesterday - interesting. I was expecting {and received} mostly excellent food - and service that was super-slick, almost superciliously detailed. But what we experienced with the latter was quite different. Please chime in (oh, what am I thinking? of course you will ) if you think I'm being unreasonable... Reservation for three people, 14h00. Arrived on time, but my guests were late so I was seated in a tiny 'waiting area' where I could happily eavesdrop on the table behind me - I was separated from them by about one foot. Two people of a certain age tottered in behind me, the female of the couple was pugnacious from the get-go...Woman: "I booked a table at Petrus. This is not Petrus !!" Maitre d': "welcome madam, we have redesigned our restaurant." Woman: "When I called they said you had moved, but I didn't expect this! I have eaten at the real Petrus many times" Maitre d': Well I hope you will enjoy it here as much as before. May I have your name please?" Woman: Says her name... Maitre d': Is it possible that you booked under a different name? Woman: "No, I always book under (name)." Maitre d' : I am sorry but I don't seem to have a booking. What time was it for? Woman: "1h30. I always book at 1h30. Maitre d': Ah, I see it now. But it is 2h00." Woman: "no it isn't, it's 1h30. I am never late..." and so on... I wanted to smack her but held back. Anyway they got her sorted and my guests arrived, and we sat down. We were asked if we wanted to order an aperitif, and we advised that we would order wine with lunch, so could we see the wine list please. Then asked if we wanted to order water. Next a waiter came by with an amuse-bouche - a cheese spread of some kind with little pieces of toast, which was very pleasant but otherwise unmemorable. Ditto the next amuse - some kind of soup-in-a-shot glass. Yummy but I don't remember it. Then the waiter came by & gave us a menu (£60); then another for £30 set lunch,. and also advised of a seven course tasting menu. No wine list however. So we settled on the £30 menu and started the usual horsetrading about who would get what so we could share. We were given some excellent warm ficelles and butter. The menu was as follows: Starters: Crispy red mullet served with roasted chestnuts, courgette, pea purée, creamed foie gras and port sauce Roasted vine tomato soup with cheese and onion on toast Terrine of smoked ham knuckle and foie gras on cucumber salad, Shiso cress, truffle cream dressing ~ Game tourte on wilted red chicory, sautéed confit sprouts, truffled Madeira sauce Guinea fowl poached and roasted, served with mushrooms, lardons, baby onions, Cognac velouté Grilled fillet of sea bass with sautéed Globe artichokes, braised salsify and smoked red wine fish sauce Selection of cheese from the trolley with a bread basket and water biscuits (£8.00 supplement) Warm tart of frangipane with William pears, Amaretti ice cream and sauce Anglaise Peanut butter ice cream, tapioca, rice crispies, salted caramel sauce and a milk foam Apple Tarte Tatin served with Devonshire clotted cream and vanilla ice cream (for two) ~ Bon Bon Trolley ~ Tea, coffee, infusions £5.00 I really think this last item is a bit of a low blow at any restaurant where there's a prix fixe. Coffee and tea are so cheap to make, so having a £5 supplement just makes the place seem miserly. About 14h25 the waiter returned to take our order but still no wine list. I now understand they have two wine books. Another annoyance because I like to hang onto it and look through... Sadly they were out of mullet, which was not replaced by anything. So two of us had the terrine and the other had the soup. Then the wine list appeared and after some discussion, we decided to leave it to the sommelier to choose for us. We figured he'd find something palatable for our budget of £800. Seriously, we were not familiar with any of the producers for the wines under £40, and he ended up picking something that was very good and worked well with our meal...though we didn't get the first glass until half-way through the starters... which arrived very soon after we ordered them. The wine was a 1999 Ch. Vignelaure from the Cote d'Aix en Provence, I tasted some Cab Sauv but it wasn't overpowering so I'm guessing there might have been some syrah or grenache or both... Double decanted though you wouldn't expect this kind of wine to have a lot of sediment or to need too much air...nevertheless it was very nice. I noted that the waiter filled our water glasses to the top, thus finishing the bottle in one go -and then asked if we wanted another bottle. We declined as we still had some wine. There was some hierarchy to the service, and the wine was only poured by one person who did it properly. Mains arrived at 15h00. I thought the terrine was delicious -subtle flavours that you could discern one from another, from the various bits that comprised the terrine - but the little cucumber and friseé salad that accompanied it tasted as if it had spent a lot of time in saltwater. The disappeared before I had a chance to taste it, which I deem a good sign. I had the guinea fowl, which I thought was outstanding. I didn't realise those little birds could yield so much meat, it was a very generous portion, more smoky than gamey, within a ring of tiny roasted onions, bits of lardon and a lovely cognact cream sauce poured over it from a little gravy boat. Same treatment was given to the sea bass, with a red wine and fish sauce, which my guests both had. I love red wine with fish so I was very pleased to see this. By 15h30, we were finished but plates hadn't been cleared and no dessert menus appeared. The room was beginning to empty. After a couple of moments we noticed a 'spraying' noise, and turned around to see, in the far corner, someone spray-starching a tablecloth and ironing it. Spritz, spritz, iron, iron. He proceeded to do this, methodically, with ever table that was empty - right in front of the customers. I didn't know whether to laugh or be offended. It was the Michelin equivalent of a McDonald's moment I had with my mother, when I was about six, and in the middle of our meal, someone began mopping the floor below our table and asked us to lift our feet. Needless to say, that was the only time she ever took me there. Then we noticed a very strong smell of cigar smoke, even though nobody in the restaurant was smoking a cigar (cigarettes, yes). We figured out that it was coming from an adjacent room, either the lounge or a side dining room. Cigarettes during a meal are bad enough; cigars are putrid. And they kill the taste of Armagnac too so no excuse. Eventually our table was cleared and we ordered dessert (about 15h45). We had a pre-dessert amuse of mango, watermelon and tomato soup which was very nice - but a bit repetitive given that the amuse was the same consistency and presentation, just different flavours. I shared the tarte tatin with one of the guests, and the other guest had the peanut butter ice cream thing. Our tarte tatin was spectacular, it was presented in a copper pan (not the one it had been cooked in, too clean!) and was fantastic - a bit more 'rustic' than refined, with lots of crusty caramelised bits. I'm not a huge peanut butter fan but I do love salted butter caramel and rice krispies so I had a spoonful... By now it was 16h05, and we asked for the check. While they were preparing the check, we we offered the bon bon trolley which is a sort of crystal 'tree' of sweets. I have put this on my Christmas list, as I think it could come in handy for so many things including office supplies, pine cones, fruit, prepared salads - you name it. My guest remarked that it was but a pale shadow of Alain Ducasse's at ADNY, but I haven't been there so I was pretty happy with this one. By 16h20 we were getting restless and signalled for the bill again. By 16h30 we were annoyed. Finally the bill came - a very reasonable (for the food) £47 apiece. My overall assessment: good value for the food, but pretty uneven service - the in-room ironing was just gratuitously bad form; running out of one of three starters - with no replacement - is just poor planning, and 2 & 1/2 hours is a bit much for lunch... I open the floor....

We have taken to cooking extra - i.e. more than four servings' worth (for two people) otherwise we'd have none left over for arancini - also known as suppli al telefono in our house, as the cheese inside stretches when melted to resemble high tension telephone wires !

They are called "glaneurs" and Agnes Varda made a wonderful film about them called "Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse" - rent it if you can.

I am pretty sure the same thing happens in the UK.

The 24th looks good for E & me. Thanks for doing the legwork - er, arm work...