adt

Iberos, sorry.

I'm afraid my Spanish isn't too hot, but google tells me these are, respectively, sea slugs or "the stomach of the sea cucumber", "tiny whole squid, fried", unknown (dried fish I assume?) and "invaders". All sounds pretty monsterous - but then again, one of my companions will definitely go for that. Which is the most upmarket/expensive of iris and ibericos, and which is the most modern in cuisine? Thanks for the advice btw.

I'm going to be in Granada this weekend, I was wondering if anyone has any up-to-date gastronomic recommendations in or near the city? I tend to go for 'creative cuisine', rather than 'rustic authenciticy' and unadorned plates of sea monsters, so Iberos y Patagonicos sounded interesting from other threads, any recent visitors? Mirador de Aixa also sounded interesting, as did FM bar - but perhaps a bit seafood oriented? Or, anywhere new?

A very interesting account - writing up the menu gourmand here must be a hell of a mensa test. It's a shame that some of the promised flavours (bergamot, "sea") didn't materialise, a disappointment I've had with a few interesting-sounding menu items at other establishments. Perhaps just a consequence of a chef's striving too hard for subtlety and respect for accompanied raw materials? I agree that VLS' write-up is offensive, in fact it made me quite angry reading it. However they are rendered, to dismiss such fascinating, individual and creatively constructed dishes as being "as formulaic as McDonald's" is aggravatingly stupid and needlessly disrespectful, likewise the various foul graphic descriptions employed. Of course, a sensational tabloid effect was intended and my irritation soon gave way to a mildly derisory indifference to the man's article. (And a mild irritation that he's been and I haven't...)

I'd agree that this thread has set astronomical expectations, and although I wouldn't judge a restaurant as a whole from a single visit, my particular visit didn't meet them in the way that, say, the FD did, due to what I felt were compositional flaws in each of the principal courses. However, some of the ingredients, ideas and combinations were magnificent, and the enthusiasm and attitude of the staff was, as the GFG would say, infectious. I'll certainly be making another reservation when I next get the chance. As I lamented with georgio when I was over at his villa, how does one persuade one's less gastronomically-plagued friends in Leeds that visits to Anthony's ought to be bimonthly rather than biennial affairs??

Totally unimaginable, after more than a couple of days. I wonder how they do it. Hmm. I was imagining that without undue suffering, one chef could perhaps manage 20 covers with one kitchen assistant (vegetable chopper, dishwasher loader etc.), evenings only...? Incidentally, I hope my earlier post didn't come across negatively, I was very enthusiastic about what they are doing at Anthony's. Most of the dishes I tried have already been thoroughly deconstructed on this forum I think. We could each have eaten a distressing number of their spider crab and grape jelly amuses quite happily. I thought their black olive tatin's caramel was particularly well rendered, pushing the savoury-salty aspect pleasingly to the very limit. I was more skeptical about the choice of pineapple as the fruit, which seemed somewhat astringent, but it seems I'd be utterly out-voted on this count from previous posts. If only one could order their home-made black pudding through the post, I'm sure they'd be inundated. Thanks for the detailed reply btw.

how many covers do they manage roughly, with only two in the kitchen? what about dish washing, etc., I guess they have additional staff for that? please forgive my ignorance in such matters - I'm really interested in how few staff you can run a serious kitchen with (likewise for Anthony's).

Thank you, Bapi. I had what I assume is the mullet dish you mention, as it was on the a la carte in march. The crisped chicken skin - langoustine - almond creme caramel combination was sublime. The remainder of the dish was quite redundant I though; the mullet was a little dry and the skin not as delicately crisped as I'd have liked, and the enoki added nothing for me. Take them out and it would make a wonderful tasting menu course.

They mentioned their intention to produce a tasting menu when I was there in march - any sign/news of this yet? I see the website still has the previous a la carte... these people are always too busy cooking...

fashion and potential celebrity, undoubtedly, but perhaps also the desire to do something real, rather than working in an office selling 'solutions'. has anyone here traded their highly paid job for 15-hour days, terrible money and burnt thumbs, and if so have you regretted it??

The Volunteer in trumpington isn’t bad and is reasonably priced. ‘modern british’ I suppose, had a decent eastern reinterpretation of gravadlax there I recall, rather frighteningly large serving in fact. Quite agree on the three horseshoes, the cooking is sound and interesting and some of the ‘assemblies’ have really good ingredients, e.g. their smoked mozzarella. almonds and oloroso good. avoid sunday evenings, the menu is limited and I suspect the head chef is not in the kitchen. Went to graffiti once some time ago wouldn’t go again, nice sounding menu but none of the combinations work out, I recall they ruined two perfectly nice scallops (one with coral, one without!) with the addition of a sun-dried tomato sauce and some other ill-judged flavours. You could consider a train/taxi to the tickell in whittlesford if you like that sort of thing (rather french, celeriac/artichoke froths ladled over poached eggs, endive salads etc.) but not cheap, and they only seem to have 60 minutes of classical music, which they play on loop, for historical reasons… Cambridge has no decent ‘new wave’ indian restaurants I’m aware of. Pasta fresca on mill road is cheap and cheerful and serves good home made ravioli etc. If you’re doing pizza express go for the jesus lane branch.