ameiden

Today the Michelin guide promoted Sven Elverfeld (Restaurant Aqua at the Ritz-Carlton in Wolfsburg) into its prestigious three-star league. At the same time, Heinz Winkler from the Residenz in Aschau loses his third star for a second time (after the initial loss he had regained it in 2001). This means that the number of three-star places in Germany remains unchanged with nine restaurants. There are also five new two-star chefs - Christian Jürgens at Restaurant Überfahrt in Rottach-Egern Peter Maria Schnurr at Restaurant Falco in Leipzig Diethard Urbansky at Restaurant Dallmayr in Munich Christian Grünwald at Restaurant August in Augsburg Wolfgang Becker at Restaurant Becker's in Trier

Just got my rejection too. To put it into perspective - if really 2 million diners apply for 8000 seats every year, the chance of landing a reservation in the El Bulli lottery is less than 0.5%.

I do get the Paxton & Whitfield box on a monthly basis (£30 including delivery). It's always four cheeses, mostly there is a blue, a soft and a hard cheese in the mix. Countries can vary between Britain, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and even Scandinavia. I never have a problem finishing the four pieces, all together is usually less than a kilo and comes well packaged in a parcel with cooling elements. A nice way to taste different varieties, specially since they also send detailed information on every cheese. Only one time I had to through an entire cheese out as it was absolutely inedible. But that was personal taste, other people may have enjoyed it.

According to Zagat, Ducasse at the Dorchester is also the "Best New Restaurant" ...

The latest news I heard is that Pétrus will close and move out of the Berkeley hotel, reopening in a nearby location early 2009, but remaining within the Ramsay group. This is how a lady of the central Ramsay reservation bureau explained it to me over the phone. Looks like Wareing will not be able to keep the name Pétrus if he plans to reopen his own restaurant at the Berkeley hotel.

Does anybody have any details when the divorce between Ramsay and Wareing will come into effect? I am asking because a very nice lady from the central Ramsay reservation bureau rang me to say that they are unable to honour a reservation I had made at Petrus for November this year. The hotel would be undergoing major renovations and therefore the restaurant Petrus would be closed at this time. She was nice enough to offer alternative reservations for other restaurants within the Ramsay group! My (unproven) suspicion is that this was an attempt to divert diners from a restaurant that in November will no longer be part of the Ramsay group. Can anybody shed any light on this?

Why don't you try and get into Robuchon, just across the square from Louis XV? I had a terrific dinner there recently and in direct comparison found it almost besser than Ducasse.

All right, if nobody reports from the Waterside Inn any more, let me step in and tell you how things are at Alain Roux's place these days, more than 35 years after this institution came to life. According to the Michelin guide, it is still one of the three best restaurants in the UK - but even the sky above Bray can be partly cloudy at times ... Lunch started with a glass of champagne (Ruinart Blanc de Blancs) in one of the pavillions outside. The canapés were quite nice, some pastry with baked-in olives, vegetable bruschetta, steak tartar and a skewer with king prawns. The three course Menu Gastronomique (48 pounds) started with a cold minted pea soup with some quail in it. Nice, refreshing, but nothing I couldn't easily have done at home. The Waterside Inn still employs loads of people front of house, I guess there were about 20 waiters in the room at all times, not to mention the charming Diego Masciaga who assured everybody how nice it was to see them. Although it is great having that many people looking after you, it creates a hectic atmosphere and one sits in the middle of dozens of busy maitre d's, sommeliers, simple waiters, even some rather insecure young girls. Mostly, they definitely know what they are doing, some even display great skills in carving ducks. But there is simply too many of them for a relaxing atmosphere in this not very spacious room. Unfortunately, there is so many of them that they are not very well coordinated at times: Once I had received the wine list from one sommelier, 60 seconds later another one came and asked if I had made my choice. Or after I said I don't want another bottle of water, three other waiters came and asked the same question. This picture shows a bit of the hectic going on in the service most of the times: Main course was a poussin with asparagus, girolles, green beans, beetroot tagliatelle and tarragon sauce. All nicely executed but again lacking the "wow factor". As I know from prior visits, a la carte dishes like the duck for two or the rabbit in Armagnac sauce create far more excitement (but also cost three times as much). On to a marvellous, all French cheese selection, interestingly enough served with Prince Charles's "Duchy Originals" oat biscuits! This is where the lunch menu would have ended, had I not ordered the famous and delicious, perfectly cooked raspberry souffle in addition: A wonderful end to this lunch, followed by coffee (all you can drink), cognac and petits fours on the terrace. Total damage? 220 pounds per head, including a half-decent bottle of claret and, of course, "Service".

Overall, prices in say the 50 best restaurants in Europe are pretty similar. In this category, the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy have almost identical prices. So if one does visit a place like this, one knows roughly what is to be expected on the bill. However, what drives me crazy sometimes is being ripped off in places like this for reasons other than food. Basically, you end up paying for a posh location, for high rents, for dozens of unnecessary waiters, etc. Parisian three-star restaurants tend to be more expensive than provincial ones, for example. Restaurants surrounded by a media hype tend to be more expensive than "forgotten ones". I don't mind paying a lot of money for excellent food (give me the Gavroche a la carte menu every day!). But if I have to pay 30 Euros for a glass of ordinary non-vintage champagne or 50 pounds for a mediocre main course, this clearly spoils my dinner.

I would definitely go to Paul Bocuse: L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges, 40 Quai de la Plage, 69660 Collonges au Mont d'Or, Tel.:72429090. You could, of course, try out some of his Brasseries too. Or some of these other restaurants in Lyon which I all found good: Le Cazenove, 75 rue Boileau, Tel.: 78 89 82 92; Christian Têtedoie, 54 Quai Pierre Scize, Tel.: 78 29 40 10; Daniel et Denise, 156 rue de Créqui, Tel.: 78 60 66 53; Nicolas Le Bec, 14 rue Grolée, 78 42 15 00; Mathieu Viannay, 47 Avenue Foch, Tel.: 78 89 55 19; Pierre Orsi, 3 Place Kléber, Tel.: 78 89 57 68; Le Potager des Halles, 3 rue de la Martinière, Tel.: 72 00 24 84; Brasserie Georges, 30 Cours de Verdun, Tel.: 72565453 Les Adrets, 30 rue du Boeuf, Tel.: 78382430 Aux Trois Maries, 1 rue de Trois-Maries, Tel.:7876728 Le Tire-bouchon, 16 rue du Boeuf, Tel.:78376995

Standards falling? At the Gavroche? You have to be joking.

I have also been to Robuchon Monte Carlo last year and I totally agree with your comments. Nice atmosphere, very decent food, good service but at no point did I have a big wow experience. The famous pommes purée, in my case served with suckling pig, were so heavy on the butter side that I could not finish my little bowl, and that means a lot if something is as delicious as this. I remember the purée at Jamin back in 1992 being a little bit lighter.

Boissons inclus = Drinks included.

Are you sure this was the shy and modest Paul, not his brother Jean-Pierre? As the obituary rightly states, Paul "spent his whole life in the kitchen. One would never see him. He was very discreet." During my four visits at L'Auberge de l'Ill, I only saw Paul once, and that was more by accident when I walked past the kitchen door. Unlike Jean-Pierre, he would certainly not come to every table. This is a tremendous loss for all food lovers. Paul Haeberlin was one of the greatest French chefs of the 20th century, and one of the most European at once. Rest in peace.

I also had the baby eels at Extebarri as part of a tasting menu a few weeks ago. (You can read my full report in the Extebarri thread on the Spain forum.) When we initially asked for our tasting menu, the waitress went into the kitchen and came back with a list of things on her note pad that we could have. As we are fairly open-minded and our Spanish was not good enough to understand every single dish she was proposing, we said yes to everything. Once the eels arrived, my wife immediately refused (but then so she did with the oysters earlier), so I had two of the dishes that you see above, totalling 100 Euros for this course only. They were served with a very precious looking mother-of pearl fork. Had I been familiar with the smoky taste and the crunchy texture in advance, I would probably not have spend this kind of money. Reading now how rare this dish is, I am glad I did. Beansprouts "al dente" with tiny black eyes and flavours from the grill sums it up rather nicely.

Still very good is Lea Linster at Frisange, a village near the German border. Very good food, great atmosphere and a lovely summer terrasse.

If one is honest, Ducasse's wine list at Louis XV is no different from a broking list either. You get everything that is famous and expensive, but there are no "finds" on it that could surprise and excite the connaisseur. Just compare the Dorchester list to the Gavroche list a few yards down the road, and you know where I am coming from.

Etxebarri still has no Michelin star but is now amoung the Top 50 restaurants of the world, according to the British restaurant magazine. One reason more to report from our recent tasting menu here, in the beautiful mountain village of Axpe: The weather wasn't too brilliant but even before we arrived the whole market square smelled of Victor's smoky grill. For my birthday, I want a bottle of that burning wood and fresh mountain air smell, please! We were quite surprised that, apart from a table of four Japanese tourists, we were the only guests having lunch. A couple of tables were filled later but there was still about 70% of the restaurant empty. We then discovered that a separate room was filled with local guests (speaking basque and all heavily smoking) on some kind of a function. The usual starter of Chorizo - Butter as a course in its own right - Gamba Oysters on seaweed salad Sea cucumber with beans Baby squids with spring onions Bone marrow with baby peas Poached egg, purple potatoes and sliced cepes Baby eels, by far the most expensive but in my view not the most delicious dish we had (costing 50 Euros for the half portion you see). All I could taste was a smoky flavour and the spaghetti al dente texture, the eel taste wasn't really developed in these little creatures (or if it was, it was overrun by the roasting flavours from the grill) Some kind of porc pâté with paprika, an excellent choice And finally, the famous chuleta with green salad When Marco Pierre White says "mother nature is the true artist" it almost seems to me like he is talking about Etxebarri. The ingredients they use are truly outstanding, the best and purest. Tremendously enjoyed our lunch here, and it is fascinating how the smoky aromas complement each of the ingredients in a different way. The secret of this place is best produce, the mastery of the grill, simple presentation, and last not least an impressive location. Bill came to 380 Euros for two, including a bottle of Chivite Chardonnay, a bottle of water and two coffees. Unfortunately, we couldn't manage a dessert and besides that, we were booked into Arzak for dinner!

It was the 2004 and she gave the impression that it was her favourite too. In the end, we got the bottle and were glad we didn't give in.

I know I'm being thick, but what would be the advantage of the restaurant hanging on to the last bottle of a particular vintage rather than making the sale of a £100 wine? ← Keep the bigger selection on the list and steer the customer to a wine that costs the same but that they have cases of.

Had a fairly unpleasant experience here recently. Lasagne and pigeon main course were wonderful but a Bresse chicken breast was RAW in the middle. My wife ate a bit of the cooked bits on the outside before getting to the uncooked center. When we pointed this out to the service, they took the plate away without a comment. No replacement, no apology, no free drink, nothing. Not good enough when they could potentially have poisoned her, I'm afraid. Also had a bit of an argument with the sommeliere who tried to talk me out of my wine choice, a Silex from Didier Dagueneau. I insisted in getting the bottle I had chosen and it then became clear why she had been reluctant. Not because of food matching or any possible customer-oriented aspect. It was the last bottle she had in this particular vintage, and, unlike many of the other bottles on the list, it was rather good value. (The folks on the other table with their Romanée-Conti will have made up for it. )

One can well imagine that El Bulli is not a profitable business but I have heard rumours that it is heavily sponsored by the food industry, large enterprises who are interested in what else is possible and who will seek Adria's advice on a regular basis. I cannot imagine that he would go into all this stupendous trouble to then just live off his booksales.

My most memorable lunch dates back to the late 1980s and was prepared by the late Jacques Pic in Valence. We sat in the front-side garden that has now been replaced by the courtyard of the hotel, at 30 degrees heat in the shadow of some old trees and enjoyed the Menu Rabelais. As the name suggests, this was not only highly enjoyable quality-wise, but also the largest amount of food I ever came across during one single meal. I have kept the menu - Filet de Loup au caviar (amuse bouche) Filets de Rougets a la Provencale Mosaique de Turbot et Saumon au Fenouil Petit Homard a la creme de Basilic Sorbet au Marc Fantaisie de Pintadeau et Foie de Canard au Miel et Amandes Fromages Desserts - Friandises When it says "Desserts", what really happened was that the waiters kept serving sweet things until we stopped them. I remember three "pre-desserts" in a row, and then a massive trolley was rolled to our table with cakes, tourtes and ice creams. No doubt that this gargantuan feast was the most substantial meal of my life, both for quality and quantity. Very enjoyable also through the fact that fine Rhone wines were still very affordable at the time. We had two bottles of Hermitage by Jean-Louis Chave, one white and one red, for very little money. At the end of the meal, Jacques Pic and his wife came to our table for a little chat and I even remember seeing a teenager called Anne-Sophie.

Am I wrong in thinking that Paul Haeberlin is also an ancien élève of Point's? (I know that his son is now the chef at the Auberge de l'Ill, but I think, and hope, that Paul H. is still alive and involved in some way or other.) ← I admire Paul Haeberlin a lot and love him for his terrine of foie gras, his mousseline of frog legs and his peach poached in champagne. He and his brother are still alive and well but none of them have been élèves of Point, as is sometimes wrongly stated. Paul learned cooking from his mother, his aunt Henriette and from Edouard Weber, a chef who used to work for the tsar in Russia and then opened a restaurant in Ribeauvillé. This is where the Russian influences in the Haeberlin repertoire come from, the lobster Prince Vladimir, the blinis with caviar, or even borschtsch.

I have also experienced that if you travel somewhere for the food, you want to make the most of the short space of time that you are there. That is why I usually go for both lunch and dinner, usually at multiple-starred places. The other point is that after the third or fourth meal my body gets used to it and on the third day both stomach and liver are almost expecting the next three star meal. Happy days ...