martinwa

"

Had dinner a deux here just before Christmas. I need to go back with more people so we can order all of the appetizers. We only managed four. The parmesan custard is one of the best things I've tasted in ages. Loved it. Service is still a bit sloppy and slow and the rice pudding which should have come with my wife's fruit didn't arrive. However, £120 for 2 with Camparis, champagne and a good bottle of Nebbiolo didn't hurt at all.

Gordon ramsay has appointed a 26 year old female chef as head chef at RHR. Apparently he is refusing to give more details about her other than her ange and the fact that her name is Clare. All very interesting! He's not very good at keeping secrets then. She's on the cover of yesterdays Observer Food Monthly. Clutching leeks and taming a pumpkin underfoot. Pretty scary stuff. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly...2226110,00.html ....must learn how to do that quote box thingy.....

http://www.teddingtoncheese.co.uk/acatalog/index.html

Blacks, directly opposite the dreadful Groucho, has been my hidey hole for years. Perfectly good grub at lunch at about 12 quid for two courses, a bit more in the evening. Best though is a cracking and not exorbitant wine list full of interesting and unusual bottles put together by Giusseppe. Blacks is in an old Georgian terraced house and the interior has a preservation order on it. It's dark and cosy and definitely more a winter place. Completely different from those awful glass and chrome places. It's also very camp in the evening, especially at the weekend. Those scary birds from Vogue would love it.

Spacca Napoli is good but...... How can you not mention that round the corner in Noel Street is the best pizza in London at Pizza Maletti? Sold by the slice, everything is good but the spicy salami is stunning. There's pasta and risotti too and it's either standing up, sitting in Soho square or taking back to the office to piss everybody off who's just bought a healthy salad. The servers at Maletti will not stand for people trying to order whilst talking on their mobile. A rule which, in my opinion, should be universally adopted. Buon appetito!

Thanks Dave.....great idea.

We'll be near Carcassonne, Castres for 3 days and then down near Perpignan for another 3.....

Popping down to an area of France I've never visited before......does anybody have any hidden gems to recommend?

They must be doing good business if they can't be arsed to answer a booking enquiry email I sent last Saturday

Surely not! I've lived in London for 25 years and have never seen tipping in pubs. If you're talking about "bars", where you get your change slid to you on a saucer in the forlorn hope you'll leave some of it or forget it, then maybe, but never pubs. In agree with an earlier comment. If you walk to the bar, buy a drink and walk back to your seat with it, what are you tipping for? On the other hand one of my local pubs does table service. Anything that saves me scrummaging with the nutters at the bar is worth a quid to the waiter(ess). Cheers.

Ripponden, Yorkshire, white rose. Ramsbottom, Lancashire, red rose. Big hills between, war of the erm, roses.

There's also Arthur's on by the traffic lights on Twickenham Green. Pleasant enough outside in the summer though you're surrounded by roaring traffic on 3 sides. Grim in the winter. Just around the corner though is Austini's which claims to have nicked the chef from Riva. Anyone checked it out yet?

As with any other form of employment, "you pay peanuts you get monkeys", waiting staff are not exactly the highest paid people around and no-one is really serious about making a career of it. And why should you get excited when your already wealthy boss gets another award? None of the stars or bibs adds to your pay packet. That's why students "wanting to earn a bit of extra cash" are as good as it's going to get until pay improves.

Locatelli for me too. It's open on the kitchen table more often than the old River Cafe books which is praise indeed. The ragu in the oven is genius and delicious. Watching Heston doing spag bol the other night just made me wonder what the hell the point is. For gastro porn though you can't beat the French Laundry.

Oatcakes are an easy one. Serve them with your cheese. And a glass of Irn Bru!

Last time I was in Scotland you could get deep fried pizza. How about making malt whisky ice cream? Get a good single malt and enjoy the rest of the bottle together.

Just had spaghetti vongole by the beach in Liguria in NW Italy. It's 20 degrees and the sky is blue. No chillies in the dish here just superb oil, a bit of white wine, parsley at the end then the whole thing swirled into perfectly cooked pasta. Get here!

My mate Paul got very excited about cooking a double rib of beef for 18 hours a la Blumenthal....he couldn't get his oven down to the required 50 degrees and so left the door slightly ajar to achieve it...he got up at 4 in the morning to check only to find that "someone" had switched it off....so reducing the cooking time to a mere 12 hours. My question is, would it have made the slightest bit of difference especially when at the end of the roasting period the beef is carved and then seared in a pan? Haven't got the book yet so can't read the recipe.

Try a lump with a glass of Port or Sauternes....make a Welsh rarebit.....a salad with chicory, walnuts and vinaigrette....slather it all over an oatcake and.....oh you know... That was my first ever post and I apologise to matthew for hitting "reply".....I'll work it out before long!