McDermitt

London Pub pickled onions. They are distributed by Reese Foods. I haven't had them recently, but if I remember they were pickled in a brine using malt vinegar. Now that I think about it I may be wrong about the use of malt vinegar in the brine.

I still feel the "London Offer" originated with Chef Ramsay. If we take him at his word it would seem Michael has the basic talent and skills needed to become a class act chef. This isn't to imply he didn't discuss it with the producers of the show. Only that the offer originated with Ramsey. He could watch Michael start a restaurant only to see it fail in a year, or he could put him on staff as a potential money maker in one of his new restaurants (maybe the one in NY). Of course this would happen only after complete Ramsey training. Looking at Chef Ramsey's record I don't think he would have an issue with hijacking a Fox production. (that's what lawyers are for.) As far as Fox, they win either way. They get a twist to the plot, ratings and no restaurant to throw away money.

New here but, Chef Ramsey's offer to Michael may have been on the fly honesty and not staged by producers. During the tapings of Kitchen Nightmares Chef Ramsey was dissappointed in the chef of The Glass House. This did not stop him from discovering raw talent in two of the cooks in the kitchen and offer them learning positions in London. He even tried to make light of poaching cooks in his return visit. Who knows...but I might be inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I was reading Giuliano Bugialli's "The Fine Art of Italian Cooking" and saw a recipe for inslala di patate alla fiorentina -- potato salad, florentine style. It sounded good so I tried it. The basic premise was dressing the chilled potatoes with anchovies, black pepper, olive oil and flat leaf parsley. This is now one of my favorite potato salads. I made the sauce by pounding the anchovies with a mortar and pestle, so as the potatoes were cooling I could not resist dunking a slighly warmed potato into the anchovy mixture. Now I am not sure if I prefer this dish chilled or warmed. Both were just as good as the other.