gnoos

So I checked it out, triumph of marketing over substance me thinks. Was surprised to see that not all produce is organic or local and majority comes from Europe or US - not what I expected?! Did buy a melon and parma ham though, not as good as what I pick up from my local Tesco Metro when I'm rushed.... And AA Gill gave the eat in food there a good hammering today in the Style mag (Sunday Times).

I'd agree but would add I think they've also done it to try to help smooth out some of the kinks with the service which has been my main gripe for my last few trips.

So what does everyone think about the changes at Bacchus? http://bacchus-restaurant.co.uk/Forum/index.php?showtopic=79

3 words. Weber One Touch. I have one and its great, about 2 years old now, solid as a rock and well designed. Just works.

I was out of London and stayed at South Lodge a couple of months ago. Very nice hotel and the food was good, I cant remember much more than that but do recall it was a good meal.

i remember going near the time it first opened. was awful, food was ok then but seriously overpriced, decor (back then) was cool but that whole look is over now I think. We ended up on a table next to a loud foursome of essex types. nuff said. loungelovers used to be quite good during the week, but weekend nowaways its pretty dire.

Padstow? Are you in Padstow? We'll be there for a week on the 24th March so all recommendations welcome!

Have you eaten at Moro - how does it compare to that? I've eaten at Fino a few times and was impressed though hated the west end dining room. I think Barrafino is by the Harts too?

This is true, though in my experience eating at Smiths maybe 5/6 times I've never had a truly great steak. Certainly nothing like I've had at home from Northfields. I'm dying to find a good steak place, hopefully Hawksmoor will be it....must get there soon....

You could say the same about the innovative proprietors biog. I dont want to go to a restaurant run by someone in IT.

The comments about the website are spot on, it would have been the one thing that would have put me off visiting most. Smacks of ego with long bios and cheesy photos. The most grating thing is the constant mention of "innovative proprietor Patricia A Douglas". Middle initials for some reason just seem wrong. What exactly has she done that innovative? Bring "together style, elegance and a gastronomic experience of the highest level". Isnt that just what restaurants do? I certain she wasnt the first to try this innovative concept. Other than that as other said at least its early in the restaurants life to take account of some of the brilliant advice offered. Good luck!

oh dear.

hi, just got back from having the aventura menu, my first time for that menu but had had the regular tasting menu many times before. only new dish for me was the squid which I thought was fantastic and worked really well with the chapel down wine. only thing i would have changed would be fresh tea rather than teabags, a simple change that i think says quite a lot. and different bins in the toilet would be better but i'm nitpicking now.

I hate Valentines day as I dont like the feeling that I have to do something for my wife - I do plently of my own accord! Having said that I do do something near to the time in lieu of Valentines days to avoid a hard time! Why not do what I do and go out this week, hence avoid the couples out under pressure. We had the Capital book though I just cancelled as I facied Bacchus again!

That is so fucking heartwarming, it could almost have been written by a PR. ← I nearly cried.

I'd like to add: that's not true. The world does not need another business running at a loss in the false belief that it can put its prices up once the competition go to the wall. Given two-thirds of Britain's M3* restaurants happily co-exist in one village, then I'm sure the Tandridge area can cope with a posh place and a Pizza Express. All you need to do is show the punters that the former provides value equal to or better than the latter. ← Sure some people/writers think its a myth. Pick any subject/statement and I can find a book on amazon that put forwards the opposite case. See how well you do with no market though. I wasn't saying run at a loss and certainly wasn't saying wait for your competition to go to the wall. But it would be sensible to build up a client base (market) at the expense of high margins imo. If those high prices stop people coming through the door you'll have nothing.

I'd add that like any business the first thing you need is market share. Get your margins after that.

Just my $0.02, checked the website and you definately need to rewrite the copy on the first page. Also I'm pretty loose with my money but would agree with all comments re price.

Ok, so I'm starting to get an idea of what we're going to do. Eurotunnel to Calais. 3 nights in the loire here http://www.domainehautsloire.com/ 3 more here in the loire http://www.chateaudesormeaux.fr/promo_en.php 4 nights wine/cookery course in bordeaux http://www.bordeauxsaveurs.com/default.htm 2 nights here http://www.chateauxmirambeau.com/ then drive back to calais stopping somewhere nice for one night. i'd be interested to know what you all think - my points of concern are can i get to loire in one day easy enough? and maybe the 2 places in the loire are too close? thanks in advace for any advice.

Thanks all for the advice (and offers of tea!). I have some ideas starting to crystalise now, loire, dordogne, michel bras, bordeaux and home. Will research those more and try to keep this thread up to date so it may be helpful to others. Thanks

Hi thanks for all the advise, i realise it was a bit of an open ended question! Focusing on regions does seem the best idea - where can i find details on each? Off the top of my head i am thinking Loire and Bordeaux as two to perhaps focus on. We've spent a lot of time in the south (Grasse/Nice/Cannes) and south west (Languedoc) so will probably not go there this time. I did want to get a trip to Michel Bras in also... Thanks

Hi, Just decided to take 2 weeks at the end of June to drive and eat through France. So need some suggestions, whats great to do? I imagine quite a few people have done this? We're thinking we need to focus on a few regions as france is a pretty big place... We'd like to get some great restaurants in and some vineyards too, steering clear of Paris. We'll be coming via Eurotunnel and were thinking maybe driving down through central france, the loire and up the atlantic coast. All suggestions welcome! Thanks in advance

Click here to see inside Gordon Ramsay ← Yep, he has horrific interior designers!

Yep, that review was spot on, the foods dependable but boring and the decors worse. Mind you I've not seen the refurb but if its anything like any of his other efforts its not going to be exactly cutting edge.

I had Business Plan Pro software once that was pretty good and had loads of demo business plans and costings. Could be worth a look. Best of luck.