malcolmwilliamson

The chart at http://www.birminghamplus.com/inc/year_stats.asp gives graphical illustration of the dramatic downturn since August 2008 in the number of people seeking information on restaurants in the Birmingham area. The lines plot the numbers of monthly site 'hits' on the Birmingham Post restaurant website pages (right hand y axis) from the site's 2002 start. The bars plot the cumulative 'hits' over the course of each year (left hand y axis).

I completed a 'Have Your Say' comment updating the srticle's reference to recent changes in Aiken's businesses. I reported the change of ownership, via administration, which has left suppliers to the previous business with unpaid bills. I.e. simply repeating information that has been carried by other newspapers recently. Needless to say my comment has not been posted on Sunday Times online.

In my search for a lunch venue in or near Bristol in a few weeks time two restaurants not mentioned above get good reports elsewhere: Ronnies in Thornbury, and Casamia in Westbury-on-Trym Does anyone have any experience of either?

From my experience there are some good restaurants on the list. However, with no information given on the criteria used in its compilation, it lacks overall credibility. A specific example which illustrates this for me is the inclusion of Alex Aitken's Simply Poussin and the non appearance of his superior le Poussin.

The new regime at Juniper have clearly inherited the email address list from Paul Kitching, complete with my details. For anyone interested, the re-opening under Michael Riemenschneider is scheduled for next Wed 8th Oct. Other snippets include: Diners not seated at Chef’s Table will be able to watch the kitchen action on screens in the main dining room. Non alc offers will be a 5 course Menu Surprise @ £69 (£95 with wine), 12 course dégustation & £79 (£99 with wine, £125 with ‘iconic’ wines) and 18 course extravaganza @ £95 ( £125, £150). The three courser lunch with amuse and pre-dessert will be ‘ a bargain’ £25. The six strong kitchen team includes Gordon Ramsey and Nigel Haworth trained chefs.

According to today's Daily Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2675023/New-generation-of-chefs-challenging-Gordon-Ramsay.html ) the 2009 GFG- out today I believe- reckons we are witnessing the emergence of serious young challengers to Ramsey, Roux, Blumenthal et al as the top UK chefs. The newspaper article says the GFG, more specifically Elizabeth Carter the editor, reckons contenders include Nathan Outlaw,Marcus Eaves, and Jason Atherton. Adam Simmonds, of the Oak Room at Danesfield House, is said by the guide to show elements of "pure genius". Clare Smyth is also mentioned. Are these the ones to watch? Any others?

Today's Guardian reports that the Fat Duck has been awarded a perfect 10 in the 2009 GFG (due out on Sep 4th). It has an interview with Heston http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/200...ston.blumenthal .

My choice for our celebratory family lunch last Friday was Farsyde in Ilkley. All eight of us were well satisfied by the £14.95 3 course (3,3,4 choices), lunch menu from which all selections were made by at least one of us except for the cheese. The wines chosen by my eldest son were also good considering their prices of around £13. The friendliness of the waiting staff was accompanied by attentive and efficient service. My wife rated it better than the more expensive holiday lunches eaten in ’06 and ’07 at the GFG higher rated Lewtrenchard Manor, Devon and Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo. Although I didn’t agree I did rate it amongst the best QPR lunches I’ve had in the UK. My sons decided that it was proof that a more reliable result was obtained by asking Wooster than from Ask Jeeves. Thanks for the recco Bertie.

The latest report online appears to be this March piece from caterersearch: "Michelin-starred chef Paul Kitching is to launch a new venture in Edinburgh after his departure from his current restaurant Juniper in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. Kitching and partner Katie O’Brien, who are leaving Juniper after 12 years, told the Manchester Evening News they plan to open a hotel-restaurant venture in the Scottish capital and gain a second Michelin star. Backed by a private investor, the venture will be called Hotel Angela, after Kitching’s mother who passed away five years ago. The couple are currently looking at three possible sites in Edinburgh’s Georgian New Town and plan to launch a six to eight bedroom property with a 35-cover restaurant serving classic food."

According to today's Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-...ays-881385.html the government are to introduce legislation next year, after consultation, to a) ban restaurant owners from using tips and service charges to bring staff wages up to the legal minimum and b) demand transparency on how customer tips are distributed.

The recent Independent newspaper's revelations and campaign on tips coincidentally came between two lunches, at Storm in Poole and Lucknam Park in Wilts, where a service charge was neither mentioned nor invited on the menu or the CC device. As a result, and in recognition of very competent service in both restaurants, I tipped more than the standard amount and felt good about it. A sort of win-win situation. Are these experiences unique to me?

Thanks guys. We'll need to extend our visit to do your list justice Bertie. Googling reveals that most of your reccos have an Internet presence with sample menus and a few diner comments and reviews; all very useful. Two other Ilkley eateries enter the frame via this googling. Any form on either?: The Box Tree http://www.theboxtree.co.uk/ has a thread on this forum http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=44939&st=90 but no posts since '05. Food offer by Simon Gueller seemed well appreciated back then. Has food standard been maintained; did they sort the front of house or have egulleteers stopped eating there? Martha & Vincent http://www.marthaandvincent.com/ has a seemingly decent lunch menu, 3 courses with wine for £15.95. It's Yorkshire Life restaurant of the year '07-'08. Being down south I don't know whether that is a worthy achievement. Jay Rayner had some reservations in his review http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/s...2272314,00.html BTW Mrs W, who hails from Leeds, wonders which Dales town wows Wooster more than Grassington?

My family, 9 adults in total, will be spending the first week of August in a self catering farmhouse near Grassington. Any suggestions for good QPR lunch venues (pub or restaurant) within 45ish minutes drive will be gratefully received.

I assume Lucken is a typo for Lucknam PhilD. I'm booked in for lunch there mid July. Anyone else been recently?

Until the exchange rate turned against the pound I used to visit Calais a few times a year on one day booze/ French food cruises. A 3 or 4 course Prix Fixe lunch was always factored in. The most memorable meals within Calais were at the two restaurants David lists plus http://www.aquaraile.com/ which majors in seafood and has the advantage of an extensive channel view from its location at the top of a seafront residential tower block. On a fine day you can see Old Blighty . If I had to select my favourite it would be le Channel. IMO it wins on QPR and its extensive wine list.

Didn't it close in November? ← A visit to its website http://www.seafoodexperience.com/ suggests it is indeed closed. The web address is currently being used by a blogger.

Allium's success in the SW is reported on its thread. The following are the other regional winners. London – Pied à Terre, Fitzrovia Midlands – Perkins, Plumtree North West – Ramsons, Ramsbottom North East – Weaver’s Shed, Golcar Northern Ireland – Bay Tree, Holywood South East – Hungry Monk, Jevington The East – Great House, Lavenham Scotland – Ee-Usk, Oban Wales – Fairyhill, Reynoldston I ate a very enjoyable and reasonably priced Prix Fixe lunch at the Great House http://www.greathouse.co.uk/index.html a couple of weeks ago and feel its success is warranted. It was very much a good rural French restaurant experience delivered in rural East Anglia. I had a brief conversation with Thierry the French front of house manager. He was dismissive of the current fad for celebrity chefs. The hotel/restaurant is owned by the Crépy family. They have a sister restaurant in Bury St Edmunds where the emphasis is on sea food, and a brasserie on a boat in Ipswich. Has anyone else ate at any of the regional winning restaurants?

If emsny (or anyone else) wants to experience a very good gastropub meal in an Oxfordshire village (albeit south west of Oxford) I would strongly recommend the White Hart in Fyfield (http://www.whitehart-fyfield.com/default.htm). I had lunch there with the family on Saturday and we all found the quality of the food outstanding. Local sourcing, flavoursome dishes, efficient service from young staff with smiles on their faces in an historic building. For me gastropubs rarely warrant the name but this one did.

Jasper Gerard gives Hix's venture a strong thumbs up in today's Daily Telegraph :http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2008/05/16/edready116.xml

I was pleasantly surprised to find Label Rouge chickens available in my local (Hatfield, UK) Tesco yesterday (@ £4.29/kg).

There's an 'exclusive' interview with Ferran Adrià in today's Guardian (http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2275500,00.html.) in which he reveals that the restaurant doesn't make any money.

People were saying the same (its boring, shouldn't the rules be changed?) about the International Wine Competition in the nineties when Oddbins won the top merchant award for many successive years. The changes that have happened to Oddbins and in the wine market since then made the correction. Doubtless the same will happen with El Bulli. Nothing lasts for ever.

Anyone else remember the Post Office Tower in London? It had a public revolving restaurant and cocktail lounge near the summit; the restaurant made a revolution every 22 minutes. Butlin's Holidays Ltd provided the catering. Their lease expired in 1980 and the restaurant never reopened for security reasons.

Matthew Fort - M Norman has a bit more hair! ← i can never remember which one it is, though i know they look completely different! ← Matthew Norman is the one who writes amusingly, Matthew Fort is the one who writes about a subject he actually knows something about. Hope that helps. ← I think the two gentlemen may be related. Pembroke Castle in Wales is just one example of a building which was at one time a Norman Fort.

I had lunch at The Arrogant Frog (http://www.thearrogantfrog.com/ ) a few weeks ago. It was good enough to warrant a return visit in a month or so.