GastroChick

Personally I would go to the Gavroche because it has a real sense of occasion about it. I went there for my mothers fiftieth birthday, ten years ago and can still remember it being a wonderful experience.

I was in this region over Christmas and New Year. I ate at Jacques Chibois's restaurant, Bastide St Antoine, which was memorable. The truffle menu is exceptionally good, based around simple, fresh products with a distinctive provencal flavor. On New Years eve we went to La Reserve de Bealieu, they put on a magnificent spread which was also fairly truffle centric. A popping candy desert will always remain with me. The dining room is grand and tres chic so if you go dress for the occasion. If you go to Nice make sure you get a reservation at La Petite Maison, a nicoise institution, which serves one of the best truffles with scrambled eggs around. The whole roast chicken stuffed with foie gras is also sublime. La Merende I can also recommend, southern french, peasanty food which has a strong tripe emphasis.

If you are trying to lose weight/drop fat I believe the best thing to do is workout first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I know it sounds radical however I have spoken to many personal trainers about this and as long as you are not exercising to maximum capacity i.e. sprinting or lifting heavy weights it is the most effective method.

I will never again strain my stock or soup down my kitchen sink.

You're right, those were the days.... However the Kemia bar another of Mourad's establishments (underneath Momo's) was still hip when I visited a year ago.

Don't you have restaurants of your own to go to?

I don't know whether it is still hip but Sketch was fun a couple of years ago. After midnight the dining room changes into more of a dj bar/club. My main advice would be not to go on the weekend as it will be infiltrated with out of towners. Other recommendations Lounge Lover Bistrotheque Rivington Bar and Grill Medcalf Great Eastern Dining Rooms

My moneys on Digger Dean

ps gastroC never thought sainsburys angel that bad... has advantage of being 24 hrs doing the week which is dead useful plus borders across the road (though the road its on is well dodge). if you're that neck of the woods, have you been to the angel mangal yet? ←

You should consider yourself really lucky. I used to live very near a Waitrose however when I moved away was stuck with a Sainsbury's which is absolutely diabolical - I'm referring to the one in Angel - Dirty, crap produce and once a member of staff told me to f off when I gave them my American Express card. I actually found shopping in Waitrose an enjoyable experience and would strangely look forward to it (sad I know) Now I do a weekly shop at Borough market which whilst expensive is still good.

Favourite Smells Truffles Ripe tomatoes Simmering marsala Chicken soup Morrocan tagine Coffee Epoises Petrol

I'm in total agreement regarding the fish from Applebees, not only is it not great quality, I once bought red mullet from there which was inedible, the staff are also rude and unhelpful. My favourite place is next door ( I think) the chicken place, where it is consistently good produce and the people are always happy!

Thanks for everyones recommendations Re. American food writers. Actually I recently read 'Fork it Over' by Alan Richman, which was intensely funny, I also enjoyed it because it wasn't just restricted to dining in America/New York.

I loved Tender at the Bone and Comfort me with Apples so it's likely to be a real treat. Her books sadden me though - they're a constant reminder of how the US continues to take foodwriting seriously while we seem to have turned it into a branch of lightweight celebrity/lifestyle journalism. ← That's is a very interesting point re. food journalism. Perhaps its something to do with the dumbing down as we lurch further and further in to a celebrity obsessed reality show based culture. I'm not too familiar with US foodwriting - any notable examples I should look at?

Yes, as a matter of fact. Please see maggiethecat's essay in the Daily Gullet. You might also find the recent eG Spotlight Conversation with Ruth Reichl to be interesting reading. ← thanks for that I'll check those links out

After many weeks waiting my copy of Garlic and Sapphires has finally arrived. The author Ruth Reichl scored the enviable job as the restaurant critic for the New York Times and it is her account of the experience. I was wondering if anyone else had got their hands on it and if so what they thought. Maybe some of the American Egulleters have already read it?

Prune in the East Village is always a good bet for brunch, however it gets really busy at the weekends. They are renowned for their bloody Mary's - excellent if you are hungover! I don't have the exact address but I'm sure if you google it something will come up. Good Luck

Olive is a brilliant British food magazine - I highly recommend it.

It would be enormously helpful to report just what dishes you found inedible at Mugaritz? How did you learn of Mugaritz? What do you know of his culinary efforts? Tell us of your experience in sampling various Spanish chefs? Did you order the tasting menu at Mugaritz? I would like a better understanding of what dishes were exciting to you at Arzak? A careful reading of your experience at both Arzak and Mugaritiz would be helpful. I am an unabashed supporter of Mugaritz. I have only had ONE disappointing dish at Mugaritz after 5 years of dining at this remarkable establishment. Were you informed about his "vegetable coal" dish? I would like to understand your ambivalent response. I am also a veteran supporter of Arzak. I personally think the future of modern Basque cooking is in the hands of Andoni Aduriz. There are other chefs and critics that are even more eloquent about his talents than myself. Ferran Adria's brother, Alberto has hailed Chef Aduriz as the most outstanding (cannot recall his actual comments) innovative chef in Spain today. Your detailed comments would be appreciated. I can understand having decided taste treats, preferences about preparations, and other individual proclivities. I have never heard anyone characterize a menu item or dish as inedible in any Basque fine dining restaurant. Our most recent visit to Mugaritz was February 1, 2006. It was an extraordinary dining experience. Rut Cotroneo the new sommelier is the best we have encountered to date anywhere in Spain. Her contribution to Mugaritz is phenomenal and so welcome. She comes from the Fat Duck. Her English is excellent . The depth of her wine knowledge is thrilling. She only wanted to work at Mugaritz. The fit is perfect. Mugaritz is better than ever!!! Judith Gebhart ← Hi judith We sampled the tasting menu comprising around 8 different courses. I had done a lot of research prior to the visit and had chosen Mugaritz as its chef seeemed to have an interesting philosophy towards cooking and food, similar to Michel Bras who I deeply admire. He also seems to take a scientific approach, exemplified by his stint at a liver research clinic , which I find intriguing. Not that any of that matters when assessing a meal on its merits. My only other experience with Spanish haute cuisine came the night before, when I visited Arzak. It was one of the best meals I had ever had. Every single bite was sheer poetry and I can't say that one dish was better than another, although I particularly loved the foie gras wrapped in zuchinni. The service was exemplary and the ambience was relaxed due to the predominance of locals who were dining at the restaurant. There was nothing pretentious about this restaurant which is amazing considering the greatness of the food. Whilst I enjoyed certain elements of Mugaritz I felt it was slightly contrived and did not flow. The dish that I found particularly inedible was the lambs trotters - I did manage to plough my way through it however my fellow diners put their cutlery down in unison and refused to eat more than a bite. Incidentally I don't feel that I am the first person to air such sentiments I have read other threads on this very forum regarding Mugaritz which closely mirror my own http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...635&hl=mugaritz. The fish and seafood courses whilst not inedible were distinctly bland - hake above a saffron infusion was disappointing, as was sea scallops with amarynth in a clay sauce. Novel touches such as silver gilting didnt work - the silver and gelatin just sticking to your fork. It's interesting to note your thoughts on Ruth, we found her to be lovely also - she actually gave us a lift home. However we found her wine knowledge to be limited, she gave us a sweet wine she thought was dry and her knowledge outside of spanish wine seemed limited. She is young though.

How about tea at the Berkeley- after all afternoon tea is a quintessentially British tradition. You could also try Claridges which is equally as good. Both cost in the region of £30 per head.

I recommend Pham Sushi - tucked away at the back of the Barbican on Whitecross Street. The chef is ex-Nobu and it shows. The crunchy tuna roll is magnificent. It is also reasonably priced.

I recently returned from a trip to San Sebastian - on the way on home we stopped in a town called Getaria and had lunch at a fish restaurant called Kaia. The wild turbot was amazing as were the baby eels - it is definately one of the best fish restaurants I have ever eaten at. I've heard tha El Kano is also good too

Gordy always takes his top off! Or are you being sarcastic?

John Torode is the most miserable man on earth and I can say this is from first hand experience. He happened to be in the same fishmongers as myself at Borough market and had a permenent scowl on his face!

thanks for the warm welcome and also the link to the thread- it seems like the reviewer has similar sentiments regarding Mugaritz as myself.