marc at fraiche

simon you should try eating out in merseyside for grim

but that is great news for abac im really pleased hes got the second had superb meal there not too long ago

blimey matt the wirral isnt that treacherous but yes gem is a good neighbour hood restaurant serving fresh food,but you will have to move quick as its up for sale at the moment

going to the restaurant show next month and wondered if anybody could help recommend a dinner on the sunday evening, i think the square is open or is there somewhere else exciting, thanks

yeah had oyster with the rose champagne with cumin and apple cucumber jelly with almonds and sardines with tomato seeds and balsamic ice cream mussels with riesling artichokes with sunflower and orange reduction crisp artichokes and orange segments aubergine foam with sardines and smoke veloute of prawn with cocoa onion and mint sole with citrics pigeon with summer berries beef with olives and anchovies then dkny lactic dessert carolina herrera which is passion fruit mousse with rose jelly and tonka beans chocolate souffle with ginger ice cream bread was stunning by the way brilliant marc

had a great time at roca on saturday, spent the day in the kitchen with jordi and the team, was lucky to get a show round of the new restaurant, and it is stunning, with a much larger kitchen holding a bonnet central island suite and the dining room designed by the same team as moo, so very open and airy with the centre piece housing a glass triange holding a modern garden area, jordi said all was great for begining of october, so must return to see it from a diners view. had suprise menu also while i was there and food is as strong as last year with only one weaker dish,a beef dish served as last savoury didnt really hit any heights, sardine and aubergine foam is stunning, alongside a tomato and balsamic ice cream dish with anchovy. bread and pastries really are fab at the moment, dont know if anyone else noticed but lactic dessert here is quite similar to a dish at bulli i recieved on sunday.

hi does anybody know of any foodie spots still open in august, as i`m there for a couple of days second week in august and ive tried all the usual suspects, moo,abac, cinc, lasarte, commerc, alkimia, and im running out of ideas, i know its not the best time to visit but its tied in with an el bulli booking any one help please?

SORRY MENTAL BLOCK ITS http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=entry1407544

IM GOING BACK TO ROCAS THE DAY BEFORE MY MEAL AT BULLI AND AFTER EATING AT BOTH CAN FABES AND CAN ROCA,TAKING INTO ACCOUNT YOUR EATING PREFERENCE ROCA HAS STRONG FISH DISHES, WHERE AS ALREADY POSTED FOIE GRAS AND PIGEON ARE VERY STRONG AT FABES, THERE IS A PLACE DOC WENT TO ON THE WAY UP IF YOU LOOK ON THE MAIN PAGE

i would be very interested to hear what reaction the set menu has created as here in the north west, i get enough grief when i do a senses menu evening and people ring for just ala carte though it is great for food control and turning produce over,so you have only the freshest materials in your fridges id love to do it, but first i must hire somebody to take the calls though lol

hi john just wanted to ask did you manage to buy any of the chocolate panettoni? ive been reading his cookery books and emailed them they can send a box of them to barcelona when im there soon, are they worth it do you know? thanks marc

that settles it i was debating to eat at cinc or sauc,or epai but ive made my mind up look forward to seeing the pics, im going in august if i can get table day after i visit the bulldog up country.

there is also alkimia to think about which is open on mondays as i went few weeks ago, very solid meal with nice touches of flavour and lightness to the menu and great service

Wow, that is big news, but that beats them closing altogether which has been rumored. ← im so glad ive got my table this year and not hoping for next year boy its going to get even tougher but as doc says glad its still running even on shorter weeks

Alan, The lunch menu was £38 per head. Yes, you are quite correct saying the prices compare to Michelin starred London pricing. The a'la carte menus at The Samling and Gilpin Lodge were both around the £55 per head mark with the Gourmand coming in at around £60. I know there is a lot more competition in London which will keep the pricing very competitive. Fine dining can be as expensive in the provinces as in the capital, but in my experience the quality equals and often exceeds in the provincial restaurants. At the end of the day, if the quality of food and service is there, then I am prepared to pay for it. Whether this view is shared by the wider public is open to debate, and i only hope that there is enough demand for the quality provincial establishments to survive. I've never eaten at any of Tom Maxfields north-east restaurants, although i've heard good things about Seaham Hall. ← hi patrick, nice to hear good report again about samling, not heard many of late, and i love the setting of the samling and the rooms. how about your meal at gilpin lodge was that good experience?

Can Roca is not open on Sundays and I believe Can Fabes is open for lunch only on Sundays, but I may be mistaken. Even if they were open, to do either on the same day as elBulli would be madness ← did i dream it or is or should i say has sergio arola opened up near rosas? looking forward to my sunday visit to bulli going to do roca the day before! excitement starting to build now

there is also sosa through wild harvest, covent garden which includes the textures range from bulli

hey there just to add that arola is open on sunday nights until 11pm if thats any help

trip to hisop, this was my first time at this small restaurant hidden of diagonal and very much liked the subtle exterior, but on entering was a little less impressed, as it feels a little cold with such high ceilings and a long thin room, liitle distraction to break up the tunnel effect except roses on the far wall which didnt do much for me to the left is a serious red cabinet with sliding doors holding everything and i mean everything hoovers glasses the lot, nice tables and comfortable seats, and friendly front of house staff in a styled uniform that did make me wonder how they could cope with, in the heat of summer as its 3/4 length jackets,hey ho onto the food which was offered in a menu written in english a nice touch( does make you wonder about the uk in that respect, im guilty of this too but with capital of culture on our doorstep here we do expect menus to be understood in english and nothing else or even poor english ) i will learn english one day bouche avocado mousse, tomato seeds and roasted chicken shreds fresh avocado, nice but nothing more then a foie gras pan fried with mango tatin, balsamic ice cream and salad, a very generous portion i must say again nicely seared good foie, the ice cream didnt do anything for me as it didnt give enough to cut the richness of the liver octopus with lemon grass had a nice stock and well balanced with the lemon grass kept well in check. suckling pig confit with braised salsify and foie thickened cream sauce, had a lovely crisp top and very good salsify, one of my favourite veggies this one. a good dish but god it was rich i couldnt finish it perhaps it was all that bubo financiers id been snacking earlier! had pigeon with spiced skin and roast whole pear and anise sorbet, the bird was very good tasted a little like the coating you get at can fabes on his pigeon dish, though for me the combo didnt work so enjoying the sorbet as a cleanser before the bird was better and the jus again very deep and rich pre dessert quite acidic lime soup with a mint granite certainly made you sit up, on looking around the room the 2 tables close by didnt eat this as it was too much acidty for them dessert ok went for the pistachio cake with lime ice cream, got the feeling the milk was infused with the zest, the cake was light almost like a fondant style preperation executed well petit fours and coffee and teas, well im sorry but they were rubbish gin and tonic in a test tube with out the gin the waiter smiled whats the point?????? there was also a panna cotta with light cardamon jelly yuk! and a truflle( dear hisop please buy these from bubo) as for service was ok not great, had the feeling they needed one more on the floor to cope better as tables had long lapses before attention including our own and then the dreaded happened which drives me bonkers- the aliens come down and whisked away all the front of house staff to wash glasses in a little place left of mars I just couldnt get anybody`s attention and trying to pay the bill became too long an affair, we began joking with another table in the same situation, my god runners would be so easy from here so this tainted my view of hisop i must admit though it is good value for money and friendly place to dine with some nice ideas and good produce icouldnt choose to dine here over alkimia or moo or cent or even abac if on avery short stay perhaps be a good lunch stop

no problem corinna if you can bear with me il write about my meals have pics from moo and alkimia, couple from hisop and drats none from abac, are you going over soon?

I have been at Can Roca and Can Fabes 4 times. Presently Joan Roca seems ovewwhelmed. The new restaurant project, combined with catering business, combined with his teaching schedule and cook book projects seem to be taking a toll. The dishes are simply not well conceived or hastily conceived. He is also letting his youngest brother Jordi cook main dishes. He may learn in time but the only dish by Jordi was a disaster. Santi, on the other hand, has been better than ever. He has a certain rigor which in general is missing in top end Spanish restaurants. ← i have also eaten at both can fabes and roca and their siblings, soon to return to roca for dinner in a few weeks and pop in for dinner at mr adria`s little place in rosas but isnt santi also in the same boat with diluting to outside work, taking him away from evolving his cuisine like his books? evo in barcelona and madrid taking time and energy, perhaps its a safer fine dining experience at can fabes i grant you but for me its a little more exciting to eat at roca, in my own humble experiences,and the other great thing is roca has three people behind it. this is like in paris in the sense that if you dine at ducasse the execution will be sublime, service without fault, but il be down the road sitting at gagnaires table to ride the rollercoaster

Restaurant Moo in the Hotel Omm. Moo is is restaurant by Joan Roca, i had a great experience there. ← id like to second that, just returned from barcelona and had the best meal in town at moo, closely followed by abac and then alkimia although hisop was a let down for me compared to the above, a little too rough around the edges and attention to detail was lost in the execution in most of the dishes,some nice ideas flavour wise but no polish i,m,h,o anyhow, and service way behind the others, they do that annoying habit of all vanishing into the kitchen at the end, oh and try to get to bubo pastry, nice chocolates and rather good opera have pictures of moo and alkimia if i can figure out how toload them lol

thanks will look in to it much appreciated

though the food you ate at l’Olivier sounds great could you hop on a train to the restaurant by any chance? thanks marc