Corinna Dunne

Changes are planned. Heston Blumenthal recently said that the restaurant is going through a “period of transition”. Jan Moir (yes, she’s still around, you’ll find her here), interviewed him recently, click here.

Simon and Hanna, I'm really enjoying your report. Is there a special lunch menu at Jean-Georges and what price is it?

I haven't watched any of last week's episodes yet (recorded, so may get to it), and have only had a chance to dip in and out of the series... but the lack of a clear judging criteria really is a problem. So they criticised Michael Caines for using apples out of season, but were positively delighted to see Richard Corrigan using apples, blackberries and rosehips. In fact I think they even commented on the wonderful autumnal quality of the dessert.

Chapter One has scooped a few more awards. This time it’s the Restaurant Association: And the Best Chef Award: So that should settle things in the kitchen a bit. Garrett Byrne, who has been cheffing there for the past two years or so, got a Food & Wine Best Chef award last year and there were feathers ruffled at the award not going to the chef proprietor, which would be more usual. I think Dylan McGrath is a much better chef than Ross Lewis, not because his food is avant garde or different, just because he is better. For a start... just compare the bread in each restaurant, and move on from there (click here for the thread on Mint).

Thanks for the link Anne. It looks good... although I find it a little difficult to watch a rat tearing around the kitchen, even if it is animated. If you click on podcast 2, there's some detail about how they used a culinary consultant and there's a nice little plating sequence. No reference to Adria's cameo... I hope they've maximised its potential, because apparently he has quite a good sense of humour!

This sounds brilliant! Do you know when it is due to be released? I'd expect that there are going to be some positive messages about food in it for kids. I understand that Disney is focusing on much healthier food in its themeparks and licensing partnerships.

Bails, the canapés reflect the menu in Thornton's, so I wouldn't say that they are more exciting. They are very much the way he is marketing them: little bites of Thornton's. He mentions on his blog that the canapé bar is going well, click here. Maybe I was just there on a quiet night.

I think the fact that you have to walk up two quiet flights of carpeted stairs to get there doesn't help relax the mood. And it certainly takes it out of the impromptu drop-in category. Another barrier.

I use the "gnawed" chicken bones for stock (I use it for the family afterwards and we all seem to be pretty immune to each others germs at this stage!). If I roast a chicken, everything that's left over goes in with half a carrot, half a stick of celery, a few peppercorns and a bayleaf. This of course is a simple stock. If I want to make a special chicken stock (which is very seldom) I use chicken wings, a tip I got from a chef in Dublin who claims that it gives the sweetest, cleanest stock. I don't buy the packs of wings over here, as they are never free range. Instead, I save up the wings from birds that I'm using to BBQ. A crockpot is great for gently cooking a stock and you don't have to worry about it. You can leave it on overnight, and simply strain off the stock the next morning and leave it in the fridge for the fat to rise to the top, which can then be removed.

In a nutshell

That's interesting. I haven't heard of anyone being in the canapé bar (apart from the launch) except for what I've read on this thread. Anyone I mentioned it to just didn't feel like going to Thornton's for a few bites. It's got a bit of an all or nothing barrier, I think. When I was there, it was only opening in the evenings. Did he mention that it's now open at lunch time (as I think he had planned to roll it out for lunch)? What fascinates me most is the mention in the IT piece about his plans to open restaurants overseas. I would have thought that his focus should be on getting the one in Dublin squared away first, apart from the fact that I think his concept isn't unique enough to offer him the necessary standout. Something more informal that focuses on top Irish produce would have international legs... but this isn't his formula at the moment.

Simon, for some reason I can’t find the link to the piece, maybe there’s a time lag before they are put up. All of the Independent Group’s papers are accessible if you register (free) on unison.ie. The list, as I said, is a very personal one and makes no claims to be a World’s Top 30. So it’s more a list that should be read with the dulcet tones of Julio Iglesias crooning “For all the girls I’ve loved before” in the background. It’s more happy memories in tone. Which is how Paolo Tullio generally pitches his pieces... a happy man who always sees the positive side of things. And that’s his niche. Mind you, he gave Balzac 5/5 for food last Saturday, which is pushing the good will too far IMO. It’s certainly a lot better than La Stampa (will start a thread when I’ve got a chance), but it ain’t no 5!

Another list... This time it's from the Irish Independent with Paolo Tullio's personal favourite top 30 in the world. He qualifies his Dublin choice by mentioning that they will probably match everyone else's and that he believes that "they'd be outstanding restaurants wherever they were." So no surprises. They're not in order of merit... but strangely, they would be alphabetical if Mint was moved up Chapter One L'Ecrivain Patrick Guilbaud's Thornton's Mint Outside Dublin, he includes three: MacNean House and Restaurant. A good choice IMO. I was recently at the relaunch and there is some lovely cooking going on here Dunbrody House. Click here for the thread Wineport Lodge. The choice is probably based on the fact that The Restaurant series was filmed here. He does make the point that it is the location factor that really adds to its appeal

This sounds like much more than the usual amount of dishes, so I can understand that pacing might have been an issue. Being in the kitchen must have been so cool. What was the atmosphere like? It seemed very quiet and calm for the brief few minutes that I was in it last year, but being there during the service must have been very interesting. ← I am really looking forward to hearing more about this.

Kevin Thornton has been keeping himself busy. He’s writing a monthly column in The Gloss magazine and recently had a launch to get even more publicity for his refurbished restaurant. The Irish Times property section did a feature focusing on 1100 Architect, the NY architects who worked on the €300,000 project: So the canapé bar is what is on the publicity radar at the moment. It sounds like a great idea, a place where anyone can drop in for a casual few bites of Thornton’s food without a booking… but after a visit there about 6 weeks ago, I’m not convinced that it’s going to be a runner. The canapé end of things is somehow misconceived IMO. It looks trendy, with cool stools against the bar, but the reality is that these stools are directly in the flight path of the waiters bustling up and down from the pass. So, to start, the area is immediately broken up by a brightly-lit bar, which is more of a viewpoint than a communal area on one side, and a comfy lounge area on the other. Nobody was sitting at the bar the evening I was there, and the three groups of people that were there (apart from us), were all having pre-dinner drinks, and heading into the restaurant. So no poorhouse gawkers. We were made to feel very welcome when we arrived, loads of pleasantries, delighted to see you coming for the canapé bar and so on. Two of the sofa clusters were occupied, and the third suffered from bad lighting (a lamp would have worked, this may have been rectified since), so we sat at one of the tables for two, with the pass in our sightline. As Simon mentioned above, the canapés for €3.50 a plate are very good indeed. We had guinea fowl with Szechwan peppercorn, scallop (a half or a third) with a heavenly carrot sauce, bacon and cabbage terrine, blue fin tuna, and foie gras with crushed almonds. But they are all, in every sense of the word, canapés; so tiny bites of Thornton’s and absolutely no substitute for dinner, or even tapas. In short, exactly the amount of food you’d expect to get in Thornton’s for the money. By the time I’d be full, I might as well have sprung for dinner. Despite the good intentions of Thornton and his crew, it does not feel casual, informal or in any way like a bar. The atmosphere is a step above a dentist’s waiting room. Zilcho buzz. I just don’t get it and I would be interested to know if it increases customer spend or in fact cannibalises the a la carte, with diners opting to skip starters after having a few canapés. Certainly, it must be a pain in terms of service, adding an additional fiddly element for the kitchen (especially since some of the plates are hot) and disrupting the flow of service to the main restaurant. This little area didn’t work comfortably as part of the restaurant, and I think Thornton is right not to try to force it to be what it isn’t (although he does sacrifice about 10 covers). But it’s no lively canapé bar or recruitment mechanism either and I don’t see it ever getting there. However, the foie gras is benchmark and at €3.50 a bite, that’s not a bad deal. One more thing… the piece also mentions that Thornton hopes to open restaurants in other parts of the world (no indications of where) and wanted a design ”that would create a strong identity.” Hmmm…

Here's a piece about “the science of deliciousness” (Observer December 06):

Hmmm... the third way "Manifesto Cookery" perhaps?

Snowangel, thanks for starting this topic. I’ve never made paella before and am dying to give it a shot. And Rogelio, thanks for the great post and pictures, it is great to have an expert to guide us. I would love to go the authentic whole hog, but unfortunately, my first paella attempt is going to be on a large frying pan on the kitchen stove (it's gas)! I have yet to decide what type of paella I’m going to make. One thing I would like to ask: when you use snails, do you buy them ready prepared in jars or do you de-gorge them yourself? We have loads of snails (and some rosemary) in our garden, and I’d considered harvesting them. The only thing is, I’m not sure I could eat them after being involved in the process! The only recipes I have are in “Moro The Cookbook” by Sam and Sam Clark (well known London restaurateurs) and Larousse Gastronomique. The Larousse recipe uses chicken, squid, mussels, cockles, clams, langoustines, chorizo and an assortment of vegetables, and the pan is covered and finished in the oven for 20 minutes. From what you say, this doesn't appear to be authenitic (more like a pilav?) as it won't give the crusty base. There are 3 recipes in the Moro cookbook: paella of chicken, artichokes and oloroso; paella of pork, chorizo and spinach; and paella of monkfish with saffron. The Moro recipes stress that a paella should not be stirred, (just shake the pan) and say to cover the rice (off the heat) for the last 3-5 minutes to allow the grains to swell up, so along the lines of yours. Also, is saffron an ingredient that is only used in some paellas? Are there any rules on what can be mixed together from a meat/seafood POV?

In Saturday’s Telegraph: And the date, we are told, was chosen by Whole Foods' in-house feng shui consultant. At over 80,000 sq ft (the size of the new Wembley Stadium), there are promises of an eco-friendly design with “ambient lighting and mellow muzak” and up to 40 chefs on site all day preparing food. The basement or 'Market Level' will have fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, and natural and organic personal care products. The 'Provisions Hall' on the ground-floor will stock groceries, dairy produce, beer and wine and house “a large, in-house bakery for breads, biscuits, cakes and pastries”. The first floor, 'Upstairs at the Market' is where you’ll find pizza, dim sum, sushi, a trattoria and a juice bar. Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh are next on the list with Dublin as its target in Ireland. The plan is to open 30 – 40 UK high street stores at the rate of one a year. Some misgivings… and Click here for a bit more info in last year's piece in the Observer Food Monthly.

Is "new cookery" the accepted term?

I’m off to Vienna soon (for 4/5 days), and am only starting to plan things. So a few questions for the experts, if that’s OK. - It seems that Restaurant Coburg is the top recommendation. How long in advance do you need to make a booking? - I see that Meinl am Graben is recommended for a good value lunch earlier in the thread, is this still the case? - Has anyone been to Steirereck, Le Ciel or Stomach recently? - I read on one of the links that a reservation is necessary for Osterriecher im Mak. It seems to be a relatively informal restaurant, approximately what price is the food there? - I got this link on one of the sites for a Japanese restaurant, but don’t read German. Is this a good restaurant, do they have a sushi bar or is the sushi bar at Meinl am Graben better? It probably seems like a strange option to seek out, but there are no good Japanese restaurants in Dublin, so I always try to hunt down a sushi fix when I travel! - Any recommendations for Italian restaurants? I remember having very good pizza the last time I was in Vienna (years ago). - Also any recommendations for Turkish restaurants? - Any suggestions about where to eat in the Nashmarket, or should I head for the Brunnenmarkt? Sorry about the barrage of questions … please add anything I might be missing. Thanks - C

A homemade mayonnaise with some fresh vegetables cut into matchsticks (cruditees) would be nice and light. Sounds like a lovely menu!

You're not on your own. This is exactly how I "unprofessionally" chop my onions. I find it really hard to keep the onion together if I make the horizontal cut.

I was only there once, and it was two years ago, but I still remember some of the dishes vividly. Santi was cooking when we were there and I was lucky enough to have the pulpitos. I totally agree about the sauces, I wiped each plate clean. One of the waiters caught me in the act, using my finger to clean up every drop on my plate. He laughed and said that Santi was delighted to see my plates coming back so clean. He later came out to say a quick hello.

No plans to visit in the near future (unfortunatley). I was in Hissop last October, and thought it was extraordinarily good value for money (tasting menu plus wine pairing for €60, unbelievable compared with Dublin). Abac and Coure are on my list for whenever I get over there again.