postcode

Gee, was I imagining it then? Gosh, how foolish of me. I must remember never to post personal observations, opinions or facts whilst posting on egullet I must remember never to post personal observations, opinions or facts whilst posting on egullet I must remember never to post personal observations, opinions or facts whilst posting on egullet I must remember never to post personal observations, opinions or facts whilst posting on egullet I must remember never to post personal observations, opinions or facts whilst posting on egullet I must remember never to post personal observations, opinions or facts whilst posting on egullet I must remember never to post personal observations, opinions or facts whilst posting on egullet I must remember never to post personal observations, opinions or facts whilst posting on egullet I must remember never to post personal observations, opinions or facts whilst posting on egullet

Forgot about the legendary Gerry Stonhill's place. Once referred to as 'the most arrogant man in England' by Michael Winner. I do like irony... He used to have a sign above his door, proclaiming 'No kids, no mobile phones, no disabled' and used a mobile phone scrambler so no one could possibly get a signal. Needless to say the PC brigade put an end to his rather odd and discriminatory practices. Top food though and always a good selection of fine wines.

I lived in Oxford for some time and I must confess it's got a pretty awful selection of decent places to eat. Students and pushbikes abound. Le Petit Blanc's probably the best bet in the city centre, but if you head slightly out of the city into the little villages that surround Oxford, you'll find little gems of country pubs. My personal favourite.It's not mind blowing food, but when the weather's mighty, sitting outside by the river, peacocks and jumping trout abound. Head up the A34 to Woodstock, have a dander 'round Blenheim Palace and sample the food here. Used to be good and it's still holding two rosettes.

In 1990 at 27, MPW gets two and then in 1995 he becomes the youngest and the first ever British-born chef to get three. Apparently...

I was actually going to say Steve Smith, who's incidentally now the main man at Seaham Hall, after 'leaving' Pat McDonald's stable at Paris in Birmingham. Incidentally, he's just had the nod for his fourth rosette and is still as hungry for a star as he ever was.

Try here.. Works for millions of people.

They don't have a bar licence? I think they were yankin' your chain. The one time I've been in there were countless laydees sipping fizz and not eating

Contrary to the rumours, people don't actually get less intelligent the further out of the M25 cordon you go.

And it's set to get bigger (the restaurant, that is)

Yet it's top of the page in the search results?

The Wolsley[sic] has a fairly comprehensive website that'll answer any questions you have.

From memory, yes he was. The Caterer website has removed the archived pages from the time, but their were numerous letter posted on the site (one from me at the time) commenting (and criticising) the actions of both JBR and Nigel Marriage. Edited to add: I tell a lie, it's back on the Caterer's website here

Indeed he was. Inside Story, Channel 4, 1995. Jaw dropping insight into the mind of a cycle path.

We know who he is - he's John Burton Race and he's here. He used to be a bit of a 'cycle-path' in the kitchen, but he's calmed down now. His Sous Chef, Nigel Marriage, was the same, but has taken a bottle full of chill pills in recent years. There's no other real reason to go to Devon to eat, other then The New Angel.

As an addition to that 'aside' - I'm led to belive it's not actually as hard as El Bulli claim, to make a reservation and a lot of people book so far in advance and then cancel, that a chance phonecall/email might just get you a table. Don't know about just going on a daytrip, mind you...

You can call it what you want! Shepcot pie? Cotherds pie? Cottaging pie (favourite in Brighton )

Red sky at night, shepherd's delight. Red sky at morning, shepherd's warning. Minced lamb and potato topping? Shepherd's pie.

Cottage pie is made with beef and shepherds pie is made with lamb. It really is that simple.

Sorry, only been to Durham twice and don't recall ever eating anywhere 'notable' whilst there. Seaham Hall's pretty close, but I've never been. Steve Smith's a fantastic Chef (ex MPW) and it may well be worth a visit. Ain't cheap, though!

Go and see Durham - it's a great place to dander 'round when the weather's good and the students have all gone home. As for dining, Treacle Moon is very good on the quayside and is part of the Seaham hall stable (without the horses)

Selling artwork?

Yesterday's Sunday Times carried an interesting piece on what may or may not happen to Signature

The Bullring (Or 'BULLRING' as it's now rebranded itself as) gets mixed responses from people. Some love it, some hate it. I personally think it's a stunning building and a vast improvement on the concrete jungle that was there before it. Ok, so I'm not big into shopping, or shopping centres, per se, but they've done grand job in pulling in tens of thousands of visitors on a daily basis, into the city centre. Birmingham's grown up in the last few years, and despite it constantly getting ribbed for its daft accent (and Liverpool, Newcastle, Essex and Yorkshire ones sound nicer??) it's actually a very pleasant city to visit As for Jessica's - not a bad wee spot. Enjoy!

There are plenty of decent options in Birmingham without having to go anywhere near Broad Street. In fact, you don't even need to set foot on Broad Street to get to either City Inn or Malmaison, but it's there if you're sad enough to want to take a peak. Mustard gas would be to lenient to those who frequent it on a weekend. Chav central. To put it into prospective - if the powers that be in Birmingham's licensing commitees hadn't insisted on ensuring that all pubs and clubs had staggered closing times, an estimated 65,00 people could, in effect, all be on the street at kicking out time. Burberry abound.

Spot on - stay away from anywhere on the Hagley Road. I wouldn't touch Broad Street either as it's trashy at night times and if you're not being accosted by Chavs handing out 'buy one get six free' drinks vouchers in their 'clubs' then you've got drug-dependent (supposedly) homeless vagrants begging for money I agree with the City Inn suggestion. Stayed there over The May Day weekend and it did exactly what it should do for the all in price of £99 for two people, for two nights. As for Jessica's, it is very good, but went through a hit and miss period some time ago. It's fine now (or so says Mr Bibendum)