malcolmwilliamson

Mark Palmer scores it a mere 5/10 in today's Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml.../edorder103.xml However he suspect's the Michelin men will like the food more than he does.

Hardens' online guide reports that Nicola Canuti has been replaced as head Chef by Jocelyn Herland, 36, from Paris’s Plaza Athénée.

Food hygiene reports for inspected London restaurants can now be viewed online at www.yourlondon.gov.uk. As with reports on food outlets elsewhere in the UK, which have been accessible for some time, London restaurants are graded on a zero to five star scale. It would be invidious of me to name and shame, but at least one of this forum's favourites rates just one star :"A poor level of compliance with food safety legislation. Much more effort required." Am I alone in being concerned about poor standards of hygiene in restaurant kitchens?

His 'gastronomic hit list' includes: Le Château de Beaulieu, Busnes Guy Savoy, Paris La Coupole, Paris Léon de Lyon La Bastide de Moustiers, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie La Farigoulette , Tourtour La Table , Tourtour Aubais Pizza Bus Market Café, St-Martin-de-Ré Auberge de la Grenouillère, outside Montreuil-sur-Mer The article giving a brief description of each recommendation can be found at http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_styl...icle2209410.ece. When does he find time to cook?

I have been giving some thought to wine markups and have jotted down a list below of suggestions which, in my mind and experience, justifies them. I have deliberately avoided putting a value on the size of the markup: I believe that will vary according to restaurant location and other circumstances. For simplicity of expression I've directed my 'advice' directly at restaurant owners. I'm an amateur and don't know the trade beyond working as a barman/wine waiter in Sheringham and Cromer hotels years ago when a student. My perspective is that of a food and wine lover who is far more often impressed by the quality and QPR of the food than the wine when eating out in the UK. In too many UK restaurants I've eaten at wine appears a poor relation or afterthought to food. The wine training of staff has too often come over as deficient. In extremes I’ve either not eaten in a particular restaurant, or had one glass or no wine, to avoid being ripped off. I'm sure there are big gaps/misconceptions in my understanding of restaurant management evident in the list that follows. 1) Given the relative cost of the wine and food on the menu, you as a restaurant owner should ensure that you, plus preferably at least someone else on your staff, are as qualified in wine as you/your Head Chef are/is in food. 2) Put yourself and a member/members of your staff through the WSET Higher Certificate course or similar. When I did my course about half of my fellow students were, like me, there out of personal as opposed to job related interest. The other half were working for wine shops or supermarkets. There was no one from a restaurant. Why, when restaurants are in the business of selling wine and there are far more of them than wine retail outlets? Perhaps mine was an unrepresentative sample. 3) Select your wines carefully. By all means employ the services of a consultant but don't hand the selection totally over to a wine supplier. He will have his own agenda which won't coincide with yours. 4) Avoid listing wine brands that are available in supermarkets, unless you are prepared to price them accordingly. The majority of wine purchased in the UK is on offer in supermarkets/high street chains. A large proportion of your customers will know the BOGOF price of e.g. Hardy's Crest and will expect to be charged accordingly. 4) A short, well selected for food matching purposes, wine list is far more preferable than a long one. Cheaper too in terms of storage space and having money tied up in bottle stock. Wines have a 'best before' date, some have a 'best after', which are unfortunately not stamped on the bottles. All have a 'best at' range of dates. A long wine list is bound to have bottles well past their drinking windows. Someone will have tasted all food served to your customers. Can you say the same about your wines? You wouldn't be seen dead selling out of date or undercooked/unripe food. (On reflection you would.) 5) Describe the wines accurately and without spelling mistakes on your list. Vintages are essential. Make sure you include brief tasting notes. A wine just listed as 'Chablis' invites a price comparison with the customer's last supermarket purchase of that popular choice. Few of your customers will be aware of the different Chablis appellations, growers, drinking qualities and prices. 7) Keep your wine list/menu up to date. You can use a hand writing font to make the list a more varied read. All of this isn't time consuming on a PC. Being presented with a wine list containing numerous crossings out and dual vintages doesn't instill confidence. If you food menu is online put your wines there too. They're just as important for selection purposes. 8)) If you are selling wines which are stoppered by natural corks (increasingly unlikely from some regions) remember that a sizeable proportion (10 %?) will be corked. Accept complaints from your customers with this in mind. Make sure your supplier accepts returns on the same basis. 9) Your customers (just like mine in school) will have a range of knowledge and experience of wine (education). They have a right to expert advice in return for payment for your wine . Some will, like my 'parents', know nothing. Some will, like my pupils, totally lack confidence. A few will be more expert than you (me). Make sure that you +someone on your staff have the interpersonal skills to deal with these extremes and with customers in between. Just as I shouldn't be in school management, you shouldn't be selling wine without this confidence that only comes from education and expertise. After all you have these in food. If I had reasonable confidence that you met the above criteria I would view reasonable markups on your wines as well justified, book to eat chez vous and drink copious quantities of your wine. Unfortunately I can’t say that about a lot of UK restaurants.

There is advice on restaurant wine pricing which considers consumers' expectations and different approaches at http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2005...e-mark-ups.html.

The following, shamelessly lifted from a wine forum I frequent, gives one high end restaurant owner's justification for his huge mark up on wines: At Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, Oxford, Domaine des Comtes Lafon's 1999 Meursault sells for £220 - more than four times the retail price at Farr Vintners. Mr Blanc said it was unfair to compare a retail price with the wine list price. "They'll have a warehouse of concrete, steel and glass against what I own at Le Manoir - expensive art work, an enormous garden to maintain, fine chairs and tables," he said.

Thanks for that update Andy. Jessica's has closed as a consequence of Purnell's move. It has been bought by its former restaurant manager Pascal Cluny and has reopened as Pascal's. http://pascalsrestaurant.co.uk/. Pascal's head chef is Jennifer Gough, ex- Haigs Hotel Balsall Common, and a semi-finalist in Gordon Ramsay's College Scholar 2006 competition.

According to this report http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2007...nt-in-july.html Glynn Purnell, Jessica's head chef, is to open Purnell's this month. The good news is “At Jessica’s I was responsible for developing the menu and it was really fantastic to see how well diners responded to new and adventurous ideas. There’ll be more of that at Purnell’s.” The bad news could be its location, 55 Cornwall Street, in the heart of Birmingham’s financial district. Prices elevated by expense accounts?

I was impressed by my simple two course lunch on Monday at this fish restaurant http://www.stormfish.co.uk/ in Poole. Very relaxed, friendly but efficient service. The menu changes daily according to the catch by the co-owner and his mates. The room is rustic with exposed brick walls, chunky old-school desk like wooden tables without cloths and with paper napkins. Another positive sign was an almost full restaurant . Most seemed to be going, along with me, for the steamed mussels starter and baked cod rarebit on cabbage leaves and mash main as a £10 for two courses restricted selection from the menu.

FWIW The Yorke Arms was recently announced as the winner.

Is the menu accessible online? + anyone know the telephone number for booking (assuming they're doing lunches later this week)?

Did anyone else catch R4's Food Programme at 12.30 today on the economics of the current UK restaurant business? I probably needn't have asked restaurant/pub owner egulleteers. You will have been serving Sunday lunch in order to earn your cut of the £>8bn total take. As a once-a-week eater out I found it an interesting listen. I wasn't previously aware that less than 30% of my bill goes towards the cost of ingredients. I was pleased to hear of some recommended strategies (cutting down on the linen) but not of others (excessive mark up on wines; buying in prepared dishes). I'd be interested to hear other peoples views, perhaps when you've 'listened again'. (Colin Kelly is a major source of information in the programme. Given the success of Arbutus he clearly knows what he is talking about).

10 each in the following categories: FABULOUS FISH STYLISH HAUNTS GREAT OUTDOORS CLASSIC ACTS TASTE OF ITALY TAPAS BARS CHEAP EATS WINNING WINES COUNTRY PUBS VEGGIE TREATS Details can be viewed here: http://www.independent.co.uk/living/food_a...icle2648340.ece Should I trust a list that doesn't have French food as a category?

Which? online/ GFG have just published this list of the regional winners in their UK Restaurant of the Year competiion. Voters were GFG readers and online subscribers.: Wales – Tyddyn Llan Scotland –Linen Room Northern Ireland – James Street South The North West – Ramsons The North East – Yorke Arms The Midlands(East and West Midlands) – Perkins The South West(including the Channel Islands) – Culinaria The South East – The Plough, Bolnhurst The East(including Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridge) – The Swan Inn (Monks Eleigh) London – Canteen (Spitalfields) To qualify, restaurants had to be independently owned and offer regional dishes and/or use locally sourced produce. The overall winner will be revealed at a dinner on June 27th. Only one or two of these restaurants get (scant) reference on eGullet. Does anyone have any unreported experience of eating at any of them? Should eGulleters be dining out more?

This page http://www.london-eating.co.uk/28170.htm indicates that El Faro has been well appreciated by others and currently offers 25% discount on the a la carte.

His first wide ranging column is here:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2007/03/10/nosplit/edmark110.xml I'll lay odds its the longest he'll ever get to write.

My Telegraph "eat out for £5" lunch menu in London yesterday was identical to the restaurant's £12 two course prix fixe offer. Last week, in a different restaurant on the Times Bordeaux "Dine with Wine" offer (2/3 courses + glass of wine for £10/15)), lunch was eaten from a menu that was almost the same as their £11.95/£15.95 (without wine) standard lunch menu. Both £2 supplements, on steak and cheese, were removed on the Times version. The newspaper deal thus provided me with a roughly half price meal. My prior research had indicated that both were good restaurants with 2.2.4 and 1.1.2 Harden's scores, 5 and 1 GFG levels, and very positive customer feedback on london-eating . In my experience both restaurants' reputations are justified. Has anyone else had similar experiences? (Or am I the only cheapskate egulleter? ) Does anyone know the economics of newspaper offers; is money exchanged between the newspaper and restaurant? What motivates good restaurants such as these to participate?

Could Jon or someone else kindly enlighten me on which sites OA and MF are abbreviations for? Are there others that people would recommend for the UK and France (in English!)?

Welsh Assembly Government? Mick ← Excuse my Americanism but is that a Wild-ass guess? I'm sure that Wag, a medieval province and now a highland district in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia , has some interesting lines in food.

The 2007 Harden's guides are at http://www.hardens.com/restaurants/uk/index.php and http://www.hardens.com/restaurants/london/index.php. The 2006 guides were, and the 2007 are, accessible via the Waitrose site. The advantage of Harden's own site is that there are useful search facilities.

My top 3 from across the price range but all excellent QPR IMO: Morgan M, Islington Lewtrenchard Manor, Devon Inside, Greenwich

Finding a dud clearly wasn't that difficult, courtesy of the Evil Empire. But has anyone ever found a decent UK supermarket cassoulet? I mean of, or close to, the 'proper' version found in SW France with duck confit, Toulouse sausage and pork as the meat ingredients? I must admit that I haven't tried that hard. Following advice on an earlier thread I stock up on French market days in my local area between trips to France.

Thanks truffe d'ete, and your friend, for the ref. to Perry's lunch menu. It's on their website http://www.perrysrestaurant.co.uk/ whereas it wasn't when I looked a week or so ago. I wasn't impressed by the QPR then but the set lunch certainly seems excellent value. Definitely the front runner at the moment.