seanw

Yep the old 'failed footballer' tag (which happened to be quite true!)

Andrew, Ramsay ejected Gill(AA not A) because of what he wrote about his establishment, in case you are confused(i dont think Ramsay is in the habit of ejecting people based on career choice! not yet anyway). Can you explain what you mean by 'flippant methodology' & how this endangers jobs. Such a shame about all that venom though, i wouldnt want Alexandra to lose her job

Deb, Sorry for the misunderstanding, i of course was referring to the content not the people. With all due respect if anybody is taking the high road, it is yourself not Gill. "The Nation's National Newspaper" according to yourself is not the proper medium for Gill's critique, the editor & a number of people(myself included) would probably disagree. I find that Gill has made the concious decision to distance herself from the industry- what i believe you describe in part as "taking the martyrish(?) & self congratulating high road"(please correct if misunderstood). Gill is merely elaborating on the rules she has devised for approaching reviews. I appreciate & respect that, although only time will reveal how credible this approach is, but a good start nonetheless. I used to enjoy the reviews of J. Meades, but an education in the classics was helpful to fully understand the whole content(Rushdie-ish ) . Really a thesaurus is not essential to restaurant reviewing, i value honesty & integrity more. Let's be honest there is little difference between describing something as yummy(a favourite of Robin Mines) or crap. Mr Maw is certainly more effective with constructive criticism here & is something that Gill could look into if she is interested in improving the dining experience generally(but is that her job??). Diva got caught with it's pants down(excuse pun), unless Coinoisseur was a member of the 10 who dined that evening then his take on Gill's review reveals nada.

I have enjoyed two dining experiences at Mistral recently. I thought that Minna Benoit handles the FOH expertly(intelligent wine list to boot) & provides the confidence that a positive experience will ensue. Decor is comfortable & relaxed. Food- I think for the price the food is very good, a fine sensibility of balance & technique ensures that the food is honest & flavourful. With such pricing obviously the quality of ingredients are somewhat compromised but this is understood & what Jean yves produces makes for a great neighbourhood bistro(thankfully close to home) Standout was the all pervasive molten chocolate dessert that beats all Vancouver restaurants i have tried, faultlessly executed. Aforementioned duck trio was served at the right temperature(v. important & common mistake-along with seasoning) & good fat content to ensure a rich silky mouthfeel. A tasting of mediterranean appies were less successful, too many salty items(anchovy dip, tapenade, salt cod brandade) the excessive saltiness just deadens the palette after a number of mouthfulls imho. The tapenade in itself was excellent, rich & creamy with great depth-good olives here!. The brandade was poor, i will leave it at that. Cassoulet was well prepared & executed, with really deft seasoning. Chicken breast with morels was adequate, the chicken being slightly dry & bland(not the best chicken i think, but remember at such price points it is unlikely to be the best!) the sauce was traditional & flavourful, fresh herbs would of been a welcome addition for me. Overall a really pleasant experience, the room was busy but well maintained. Surely this place will do well in the hood, Minna was hoping not to advertise(hopefully not another'best kept secret') . They deserve to succeed on the quality of the product they offer.

"with influence comes responsibility" I like that.....but perhaps too vague(for me anyway). I find Gill to be useful because of her (perceived)distance from the industry, 'punters' perspective' so to speak. The actual content seemed fair enough as far as the Diva review was concerned UNLESS the dining partner & Gill lied about their reaction-but that would be absurd considering her position. So do people take exception to the publication of the free thoughts & opinions of somebody hired for that very purpose? Has Gill panned all the restaurants she has visited?Perhaps in this instance she had markedly higher expectations(which would be the case if i should dine their too!) & those expectations were not met so what! Really with PR being somewhat pervasive in the higher echelons of fine dining(yawn, yawn i know) perhaps such reviews/reviewers are essential components in the dynamic scene here to provide some form of check to the generated propaganda. I see a more visibly detached press as an encouraging trend for the consumer, just need to ensure that the resume can back it up! and such faith takes a while to establish as egullet proves. It will be interesting to see how Diva responds to the criticism. I find it perplexing that a number of people want to somehow gag/edit/reform Gill through the channels of command- there already exists enough censure, surely the most effective response is to not buy the paper & allow those who do read her reviews to do so unadulterated. cheers

apparently Hills Foods are importing Australian roadkill, i mean kangaroo meat, after getting the all-clear from the govt. which included prodding! Check the story out on Cityfood.com. So we can get roadkill but not other great products such as pata negra, can we not get the guy from Hills to prod the guy in govt. to rectify the situation?

Mesopatamia maybe?

chefboy in what sense are you using the word 'great'?

I saw part of an episode last night, will not be tuning in again. It isnt very good.

You should be barred from next year

Molto, Interesting comment as far as MB(too much going on). As far as the tasting menu i had i thought that was not the case, the deficient dishes(imo) were more to do with technical glitches(seasoning) & the sheer contrast of inspired dishes alongside uninspired(again imo)- Also at the time i think he must of been enamoured with truffle oil as it was prevalent in several dishes which i felt was unnecessary(actually this was his first year with 3*, perhaps there was an expectation of such ingredients to be used. As i have not dined their before or since i dont know how his cuisine developed or evolved??) I certainly enjoyed many aspects of the meal although the dessert was a letdown(but that is quite common- i loved Arzak desserts & funnily enough dreadfully disappointed with Gagnaires dessert, but i did have expectations, cos the guy put his name on it!)

Christine Ferber. nuff said

Molto, When i visited San Sebastian a couple of summers ago, i took in Arzak & MB(also Kursaal which was fantastic value @ E15 for 3 courses & bottle of wine). Although on the whole i preferred Arzak, MB really had some magic dishes but also some mediocre ones- i think based on your report i would like to try Akelare. Thanks for your report!

cricklewood, Try calling(or writing) to a resto that interests you! I managed to for Michel Bras where i staged while at culinary school in the U.K. I was hired as CDP the following year(his first with 3*) straight from school. It was fucking hardcore, but what you can learn is immeasurable- really different from Canada(i'm here too!) I kinda jumped in at the deep end, but you either sink or swim ; you choose! I have written from Canada to Olivier Roellinger, but never heard back so be persistent. The big boys in France have no end of kids looking to work for them, your lack of experience will likely mean that you will work unpaid(if you are looking at the top end).I had to giggle at the slap thing on another thread- these guys(& girls Ghislaine Arabiane is scary, allegedly!) really care about what they do & emotions can spill out unpredictably, but what do you want? Good luck.

Or a doggie brunch item in Kits.

Newcastle Brown Ale provides all the important nutrients to sustain a healthy student lifestyle- the stuff is a gift, unfortunately the expense tends to rise markedly through experience.

Yes, from now on just good, happy, smiley reviews! Why make Leonard's job easier or any other establishment who have used the forum to improve customer experiences(Chamber comes to mind). Surely if constructive criticism is to be effective, people should be encouraged to offer their honest appraisal & who knows perhaps it may alleviate the propensity to react with too much sensitivity(afterall you cannot please everybody- wish more places wore their heart on their sleeves) I think it is laudable that GMs like Leonard participate & seemingly listen to whats going on, i would find it extremely boring/unrealistic if all Leonard does is receive platitudes from the masses. my two cents.

Lots of publicity, look forward to trying but please keep the chemistry set at home cos i drink beer/lager from either a) bottles b) pints...i guess i'm old fashioned that way! Who drinks beer from a pippette? But really it seems like one of the more interesting food openings in a long while & the buzz is good, pedigree is their. Noticed in Vanmag(i think?) that had an ad for C that included a 'chemistry set', i guess an El Bulliesque influence, has this carried over to Nu & has the MG(molecular gastronomy ) phenom been adopted further for Nu? Just cruised the website for menu & it looks expensive(website not menu) holy crap food ventures' K investment is soaring into the stratosphere & my expectations with it, which is good because hopefully such ventures will be challenged to coordinate the hype they invent & the product they deliver.

Pranian Man, '(dining?)' please expand on what this implies, & were your expectations of El Bulli consistent to expectations of other fine dining experiences? You seem to suggest that your expectations were defined by the nature of the El Bulli experience (challenging, shocking etc.) Curiosity on my part! Thanks

Lucky Girl Sangria.

Pam- with all due respect the reason why servers are paid more is because the restaurant patrons allow them! I believe your supply & demand analysis holds little credibility(other systems exist) surely it is because of the support & maintenance of an imperfect system, which of course benefits the patron, that creates inequality. Also i find it incredibly ludicrous that restaurants should make the discrimination of FOH & BOH so obvious- how can they been viewed independant from one another??? The problem is deeply entrenched in the system, i find it extremely diificult on a humane level to accept the theoretical validity of the system- I think it would be sage to consider the repercussions of development of the restaurant sector if it does not become more equal- Europe is struggling to maintain a consistent quality staff because of market forces( certainly in France the difficulty in attracting young French recruits is becoming apparent- Long hours/low pay,why not do something else!) & has developed under a different model which is by no means perfect but at least does not create the division inherent in the US model. French attempts to encourage young chefs into the sector have relied upon reducing the hours worked & creating more leisure time, but also attempts by Ducasse & others to highlight regional cuisines & skills as an important component of tradition, that have to be valued & not lost(personally i see this as crucial, we all enjoy doing things more if they have a perceived value!) Opportunities exist for patrons to formulate their own ideas of how people should be compensated, all i suggest is that we deserve better than what exists now & that perhaps their needs to be consideration of future opportunities if good quality personnel are to be enticed into the fold- My 2 cents.

Having worked under both systems, as a chef, i find it extremely difficult to accept the N. American model. A person with any degree of intelligence, experience & passion for what they do should feel undervalued by the inherent inequality. Kudos to Keller, i have constantly questioned the system only to find the general response being "that's the system!". The double-standards shown by hypocritical restaurant owners is tiring, why should anybody want to be a chef, when you could be a server(less hours, more money)- the weakness of such a system, certainly in areas where hardly any to no skills training exists, is that a bunch of people who should be doing something else find the proposition of serving lucrative, get rid of them. Have people who care about the profession work together. Much lip service is paid to the notion of teamwork without the added complication of unequal incomes- either be poor together or moderately well off together, should not be an issue. I continually find it amazing how some servers still try & justify their position to me a chef, i believe they seek credibility from the almost institutional framework of the system & any threat to such will result in disaster for restaurants.....bullshit. So an enlightened approach should be encouraged, especially by the diner who can support the coke habits of both front & back of house(kidding!)

Never really been convinced by veal. Although have seen a demo by Passard for a carre de veau cooked for 200 mins on a grill that looks rather splendid. In fact Bras would do the same for certain size groups who requested a special menu(perhaps that would have been the way to go sir(moby)!!....i would recommend it BUT start with a whole lobe of duck foie roasted on the charcoal braise....damn i'm drifting)

Excuse me for asking, but how much? It looks fantastic & Judith you are probably right i have to go soon.

Gerald, Its a veritable food pyramid you have with that 'triple header', how much does it cost?