CheGuevara

I would also give Apsleys a go - a welcome addition to London. The Galvin outlets are always good for lunch, especially the Bistro on Baker street. If you're in Charlotte street area definitely try Mennula...wonderfully simple Italian food.

Definitely Galvin @ Widnows...the food is excellent and the restaurant with those views is one of the most romantic of London.

ahhhh...how i love a great chardonnay with all its minerality with some super gruyere - ever since a friend of mine introduced me to this combination i have been completely hooked on it. it really is one of the simple pleasures in life. -che

damn...i was taken there for my birth-day last year and had a lovely time. stunning gardens, and the food at the pub was very enjoyable. hopefully it will still be run as a hotel of some sort. -che

wild honey in mayfair have a good bar...not sure though whether you can eat there or not.

you can walk, cycle or bike into covent garden for free - so for one box you might be able to cope carrying it home. generally the best juicing oranges which you can find in covent garden are moroccan or egyptian at the moment - small and ugly looking from the outside.

you've misread the article - it makes no mention of Restaurant Magazine's awards but rather the "palmares mondial" which is apparently sponsored by the chemical industry to promote use of their products.

It is also worth adding that ordering supplies when you know you will be unable to pay for them is illegal. This goes back to dougal's comment on their "discreet" marketing excercise whcih ensured none of the suppliers had any idea the business was in trouble, and furthermore that it was going to write off its debt in a matter of days.

Without all the facts? So you mean supplying someone for years, in one's industry, and being owed thousands of hard earned pounds means we as suppliers are devoid of all the facts? You think we lack any judgment in how a business is run, and how one can chose to shut it down when we run businesses sometimes larger than the ones we supply? We have more information than what is out in the public. One can chose to sell off or close a business conscious that many longstanding suppliers - many of which were an integral part of your earlier success - will be left with large unpaid debts. Or you can chose the more honorable route and ensure you leave the business with as little debts as possible, and at a bare minimum face your suppliers in person. The only "unfair" issue in all of this is how a director who demands trust and professionalism from his peers decides to disappear, without granting any respect in return. Unfair is financing someone else's business through your hard work and not getting paid for it, even with an apology.

But surely they they wouldn't do that, I've just read this on their website: 'We do our utmost to behave responsibly and ethically, and to purchase our ingredients from sustainable sources.' They wouldn't lie, would they? ← of course...it is always like that. a friend of mine got shafted with B&S, went to the offices and she is nowhere to be found. great way to run a business and then run-out. similarly i tried getting the directors patrick macdonald and dominic ford on the phone for the last three weeks and nothing. in person and nothing. they ask suppliers to fund their business and support them, they then return the favour by showing a complete lack of decency when asked to face reality. i very much understand the difficulties a business can encounter, and bankruptcy is one of them. what disgusts me to the core are individuals like these who don't have the intergirty and courage to face the outcome of their actions and misjudged decisions. i have little respect for incompetent businessmen like these who should be restricted to managing shifts in a convenience store. they're big shots when things are good, while when shit hits the fan, rather than standing up like grown men they hide behind the poor office workers; complete cowards. -che

Food Inc has just gone into liquidation, yet they are still open for business. The directors are nowhere to be found. Baker & Spice apparently has folded, then bought out, and reopened the next day shafting all the creditors in the process. The ex-owner of B&S Gail Mejia has left the country and is now living in Dubai. Certinaly she's on welfare over there. -che

as a half-Italian, my comments should not be taken lightly!...the above comment is a bit harsh, ther are several good Italian restaurants in London. from what i hear locatelli has gone down quite a bit in the past year... ← but maybe there wasn't when paul wrote the comment over 6 years ago! ← quite right you are...

they opened up today for lunch only - this will be the case until end of december. in january they will resume lunch and dinner service.

as a half-Italian, my comments should not be taken lightly!...the above comment is a bit harsh, ther are several good Italian restaurants in London. from what i hear locatelli has gone down quite a bit in the past year...

a bit late, but next time you're in the tottenham court area, there is a new, small place which is apparently very good - la gioconda dining room. recently closed as the chef broke his arm, it is now reopen for lulnch until the end of the year, and then lunch and dinner as of january. -che

interesting article from the telegraph. it seems quite clear that this is a case of debt-fuelled expansion which went very wrong at a time when credit is very hard to come by. thank god we haven't supplied any of his restaurants - it is horrible to lose out like that.

yes - especially considering the great weather we have over here! my 2 cents on factoring is that it is best avoided if possible - all you need is for the bank/financing co to reduce the lending rate, which tends to happen when things get tough, and you are literally screwed.

another wonderful time at riddle & finn yesterday. went there for lunch at around 3pm after hesitating at Oki Nami,; the much talked about sushi place around the corner. thank god the hostess was so utterly annoying we didn't even sit down and headed for riddle & finn which was truly phenomenal. we ordered steamed langoustines, razor clams, a mixed green salad and two glasses of muscadet. both langoustines and clams came in a shallot, lemon-thyme white wine and butter sauce which was superb. especially the one with the clams which was better seasoned - logicallyfinished with the soup spoon and bread! i must say that the food in brighton is fairly sub-standard yet the riddle & finn is up there with the best restaurants in the country in my opinion. the simple reason is simplicity expertly executed - no other restaurant i have been to in the UK is so good at meeting and exceeding expectations. you get exactly what you pay for in the right environment (in this regard it is just like st. john's.) - once again i can't reccomend it enough.

tha's PR for me, otherwise the employees would not have been made redundant - the simple matter is that location is just not profitable enough for them, if at all. and the current situation in the financial sector is undeniably part of the decision. the economic data is horrid - especially some of the more leading indicators coming from the manufacturing sector. yesterday it was announced that shipping activity has been cut in half in the last month and down 75% since the beginning of the summer; not even china seems willing to support our economy. going back on topic - there is no doubt going to be a serious impact on the restaurnat industry, as eating out is one of the more costly activities which is easily substituted by eating at home.

I'm of the same opinion concering the economic situation; it has hardly begun to hit the consumer, although their spending has been curbed since the end of the summer. The situation is going to get much worse and will be very long-lasting as corporate investment has collapsed, unemployment will continue to rise, the government will have serious fiscal issues and public spending will have to be cut - there is very little left to fuel the econoy other than a long and thorough cleaning of the system. I can honeslty say that across the board the restaurant sector is beginning to feel the pain. Only Friday i spoke to a wholesaler who is downsizing the team in his warehouse, and everyone in the industry i speak to is very disappointed by September figures. Personally i mentioned a few weeks ago that getting a table at the Ledbury that same morning was not a problem, and likewise a friend mamaged to book Chez Bruce and Royal Hospital Road with 1 day's notice - something unheard of over the last few years. Special circumstances aside, and individual places aside, the restaurant industry is less busy than last year. Even the US has been reducing the volume of quality food imports since August from UK suppliers. They big uncertainty at the moment is Christmas...will it be very good, good, or really crap...the latter will be serious for many businesses who live off of that season. edit: haven't confirmed it bu ti was told that the Nobu restaurant Ubon in Canary Wharf has shut in the last few days...

i'd say more originally the sicilians who produce wonderful capers and have been combining cauliflower and capers for centuries.

and that cheese plate...love the celery stick. i can't believe this is 3 stars...

i'm at a loss for words...that dish is horrendous. maybe you're right, it goes with the carpet.

Certainly didn't stay with me as the mackerel did. The fried cauliflower was very good - i loved it, but the cauliflower in three versions is again amateurish to me. What was the purpose of cauliflower in three ways? plus a caper sauce? Was the dish about the cauliflower? About sea bass with cauliflower? Who knows...either way i didn't leave thinking that cauliflower and sea bass is an amazing combination or that capers have anything to do with cauliflower. If there is no purpose other than playing on the "nouvelle cuisine" of the recent past, then caualiflower in textures demonstrates an inability to be truly creative.

Had never thought of it as "infantilisation" but it is quite precise a term...commenting on chefmatt's post further down on the issue, the balsamic vinegar which was popularised over the last 10-20 years is purely a sweet and sour condiment, made with loads of sugar - the latter being its appeal. Even aged balsamic vinegars which say 20 years on them are not necessarily aged for that long, the process has been commercialised. No self-respecting Italian would ever dress a salad with balsamic vinegar... I don't regret or disprove of high prices per se, i do believe in value for money and fort the most part belive the pricing on Natoora is excellent in that regard. Our quality is certainly far superior to any of the online or offline grocers - at least my palate thinks so. In any case we wouldn't be able to supply the top restaurants in London with the same produce if we sold what was more readily available on the high street. -che