magnolia

Thanks Suzi - I particularly like the chocolate shoes - not very Pasqual but I might be willing to make an exception...

I'm glad you said that JayT, in fact I publish a new wine magazine (don't want to shill so send me a PM if you want to know more) and although there's nothing like it - if I do say so myself - WS is our current competition in the US. I want to show WS to the folks at our parent company, this week, so they can get a feel for what US wine lovers read - and who advertises in it. I appreciate that WS may be clouded with ads but unfortunately, ads are a necessary evil.

Rococo might do it, I'm stopping by on Sunday...

Anyone know where I might buy The Wine Spectator in London?

I've taken the WSET Advanced Certificate Course in London, it was quite basic and very, very UK-wine-trade-centric. It basically took the angle that France was the Sun, with Spain, Italy and Germany as distant planets...and the rest of the world, extremely distant moons, if not random space debris. As in many things, the value of attending classes depends heavily on the lecturer for a particular topic. Many of the lecturers come in and review, word for word, chapter for chapter, exactly what's in the book - so in theory you could read the book and pass the exam without ever attending a course. That's neither good value nor interesting. The book I used in my course has been revised recently; I haven't seen it but the previous version was woefully anachronistic and badly needed updating. The Diploma course is meant to be harder-core, and the classes themselves, more interesting and necessary to passing the course. In the UK, WSET certificates/diplomas are considered good professional credentials for people who want to work in the wine trade (buying/selling wine for supermarkets and independents, working in PR or journalism). I don't get the impression that it's necessary for sommeliers, but I could be mistaken. I also - until just now -didn't have the impression that WSET means much to anyone outside the UK. There are a handful of good, interested and enthusiastic lecturers, but there's a shake-up going on in the UK - WSET seems to be pulling its purse-strings, relying on a handful of lecturers to cover more and more topics, rather than hiring specialists as in the past. I hear murmurs from their freelance lecturers who say they haven't been assigned as many - or any - classes recently. WSET HQ moving to new quarters, so perhaps this is part of the reason for new budget restrictions...

It might marche, I always forget about them. Will stop by. There's also a wacky Japanese patisserie near LMdC which might have something crazy...

Gosh, that's alarming...I was last there late last year as well...and loved it. What did you have?

For sedate high tea, the restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental (forget its name). Spectacular, plentiful food, loads of tea options. Upper £20s / early £30's if memory serves. For raucous, deafening and crowded - but good quality/good value, the Wolseley.

Ooops, I should have specified - aside from l'AdC...the people for whom I'm getting these are devotees so they'll have seen this year's model, I wanted to surprise them with something new. But good thinking, Batman.

I'm looking for the most outrageous edible Easter Eggs I can find in central London. Something that has both super high quality ingredients *and* looks fantastic. Thoughts?

Good to hear this Fi, as I've been having some Grave Doubts about Waitrose lately... So, can we tell by looking at the stamps on the eggs, which ones are actually Home Farm?

I can confirmthat Su Xerea and Oscar Torrijos are still both terrific - Oscar Torrijos renovated and is less formal but still lovely. I can get some more recommendations from friends who just left for a week there & will post when they return.

This is amazing - I will never make them myself but I'd love to try yours :-) My two cents/pence though - in all of my years of ordering in cheap Chinese (average of 3x a week, on and off for a total of about 25 years - or eating out - basically I grew up on the stuff) which admittedly ended eight+ years ago when I moved to London - I never saw these anywhere in the US. Maybe I just didn't order from the right places - but the US item that fulfilled the same "role" as a nibble-while-you're-waiting-for-your-order...were little brown, slim crackers that were about the same colour and consistency as fortune cookies (but were savoury); come to think of it, I don't think they have a name. Anyway you dip them in "duck sauce" - an orangey-brown sweet sauce (not the same as UK's version of sauce that's actually served with crispy duck, which is Hoisin sauce I believe?) which I've also never seen outside the US.

Thanks for all of this. I think it will be Providores, if it's good enough for vytoh (aussie) it's good enough for some French people ! Forgive me though, what is a 'flat white'?? I am a big fan of Michael Moore (but as the person I'm taking is from Bordeaux, I think the food and the wine list are a bit close to home). I *really* wanted to go to Vineet Bhatia but it's just too much of a hike for this particular evening. I too like Phoenix Palace and RC, but winelists are non-contenders. Haven't been to Michiaki yet though that's a possibility, if the sake list is particularly interesting... Orrery is too Frenchy for this evening. Lots of good middle eastern food in France, too. Thanks again.

Am trying to find a non French, non Italian (non-European for that matter) restaurant in the Baker Street-ish area - one that has an interesting wine list with lots of non-European choices. I thought Providores might fit the bill but I haven't been there in awhile. Any insight would be most welcome - and any other recommendations, too - this is for dinner on a Friday night with someone who lives in Bordeaux and works in the wine business. I want to take him somewhere that has food and wine that he probably cannot get in Bordeaux, and it needs to be a reasonable commute from Finchley Road... Thanks!

Sorry I'm late to the party. Vox, you requested a chop house - a very reasonable and very good m-eat-erie is Smith's of Smithfield, the 'middle' level (I think they call it the bistro) rather than the fine dining room - it's excellent value and usually has several steak options as well as pork belly or chops and other things. I'm sure someone has mentioned but St John's is also quite pricey for dinner. Nothing like Ramsey's of course, but you'd save something - and have the same pretty much the same experience if you went for lunch and/or ate in the bar area rather than the dining room...

Duran Duran, The Reflex. What do I win? Dinner at one of the places at which you ate during your four free days!? ← correct! glad to see another 80's kid out there, just watching simple minds from live aid at the minute, they ROCK! and yes! cheers gary ← Great !! I pick Antony's as my prize. When do we eat?

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You might want to look for places with a private room, or take over a small restaurant on a weeknight. I'll bet one of the guides indicates places where this is possible. But for the path of least resistance and most potential fun for your budget...I would suggest Le Ciel de Paris on top of the Tour Montparnasse. Wait- hear me out. a) the views are exceptional, almost anywhere you sit in the restaurant - with 12 you almost certainly won't be near the window but you will be up on a platform so your view won't be blocked b) it's great fun, tremendously kitsch, from the sparkly ceiling in the lift, to the piano bar (i.e. a piano that is actually the bar) and very festive but in way that can only be pulled off by the French, anywhere else and it would make your eyes roll c) the food is very decent, not star quality but service is comme il faut, the wine list is good, and there are lots of choices for people of all dietary persuasions. With 12 they may ask you to choose from a fixed menu though d) I've seen large groups there (I can't say 12 for sure, but definitely over six) e) I'm pretty sure it will be well within your budget. But don't trust me...hop on a Eurostar and try before you buy. http://cieldeparis.com/intro.html

Dee and the Chef (I never did know his name) went to San Diego and helped set up a restaurant there, but the owners have decided to move to Seattle so they all moved to Seattle. We await details... I haven't been here for ages, bit of a schlep from N1 but I used to go lots when I was in Clapham. Last time I went the lovely lady there and the Chef were moving to California. Do you knpw where they are now? ←

1. Ransome's Dock (fab as usual and Petrolo Galatrone 1998 was the highlight) 2. Taro (Japanese on Finchley Road, decent food, very good value) 3. Wolseley (first time there for a "real" meal - I had the choucroute and it was fab - huge plate of lots of different meats, tangy warm sauerkraut - advertised as a meal for one but could (and did) comfortably feed two

Duran Duran, The Reflex. What do I win? Dinner at one of the places at which you ate during your four free days!?

ASilver - don't worry about the rant...I've lived in London for eight years and I'm amazed at what I have been unable to find, for love or money (has *anyone* in this country heard of windowscreens? hello, there are more insects in England per square inch than the Amazon !) But there are lots of good reasons to live here too, so I guess it all balances out... Some other places for you to try... Hansens Kitchen & Bakery Equipment on Fulham Road: 73516933 Lakeland Limited (online and some shops around the country - http://www.lakelandlimited.com/ And of course if you make it to Paris, you have Dehillerin which has everything you can imagine. There's also a terrific French mail order company which ships abroad if you are really desperate http://www.culinarion.com/

Thanks PSB - this Firevault place looks very intriguing, just the place to to get *really* trashed after a full day of wine tastings. However...I could use your insight about the prices, I've had a look in their website & the sample menu doesn't contain any. Would love your take on how much dinner for 2 (without wine) might cost?

Am looking for a decent, affordable place to eat -anything -near the Royal Institute of British Architects on Portland Place (a couple of blocks from Regents Park tube, parallel to Great Portland Street). I don't know this 'hood at all ! Any ideas?