ajnicholls

I remember a couple of years back, an el Bulli reservation being sold on eBay. The restaurant found out and pulled the reservation as they felt it to be against the spirit of their booking system. The Dinner by Heston reservations weren't hard to come by when the restaurant's site went live. It was all done via OpenTable and didn't even involve calling.

For some reason, Modernist Cuisine has vanished from the Amazon UK site.

Website now live with menus: http://www.dinnerbyheston.com/ Adam

I do feel it's well worth it's one star status. I've had flawed dishes in other places at this kind of level and I believe that it's things like this that stop places moving on to 2 and 3 star. I had the worst thing I've ever eaten at a 3* restaurant as well. I did feed back about the duck; not at the time which I should have done really. The rest of the dish was fantastic; it came with crisped gizzards and duck sweetbreads, which were divine. The breast however was tough. The head chef was surprised by this and said that he would look into it. Adam

You can buy them in Sainsbury's here! Was at l'enclume for lunch today. Will write up when I get more time. Some excellent dishes. Some serious flaws such as a near inedibly tough duck that had been cooked sous-vide. Safe 1* cooking but personally found Sat Bains food more progressive and interesting. Adam

The Fat Duck Cookbook, Alinea and el Bulli 1998-2002 would be my 3. Pure food pornography. Adam

My vote goes to Boulud as well. Tried the piggie and the Frenchie and both are amazing. There's an article in this month's Esquire, who put Boulud 2nd and Hawksmoor as the best. Adam

The Ledbury was my meal of the year by a country mile. I didn't see it as a 3* place though. The risotto of squid still lives long in the memory. I'd love it if they did get that kind of recognition but I would be surprised. Adam

I did the two restaurants over successive days. I loved both but for different reasons. Bar Boulud much more low key and relaxed. Koffmann's was more fine dining; we did ALC but the prix fixe lunch is incredible value. I think Koffmann's is outstanding and would be my definite choice if it's either/or. Adam

Aumbry seems very non-Michelin in my opinion. Great food but not what they seem to be about. I've not been since Mary-Ellen had her baby so can't comment on whether there's been a change in quality. My meal at Koffmann last friday was easily 1* standard and many parts were 2* quality. Adam

Been for the past 4 years; not sure if I can make it this year though. It's a fantastic weekend.

I went a good while ago and am overdue a trip back. Especially as it's about 2 miles away from me. Adam

My friend, the first time he went, adored the place. A recent trip back there didn't convince him at all. He felt that Simon was running out of ideas.

So to dinner on Wednesday night. And a first date. Recommended the Ledbury by a number of people and the lady in question is Australian, so it seemed an appropriate choice of venue. After a trip to Selfridges for a glass of champagne to ease my nerves, I set off to Notting Hill. First impressions were good. I loved the neighbourhood and the restaurant has a very pleasant atmosphere. We were greeted straight away by Sarah, the Maitre'd and we had a glass of the house champagne. A rather fine growers champagne that I haven't tried before. Very good indeed. Canapes arrived, which were foie gras with a broad bean puree and a carrot macaron filled with goats cheese. Both excellent. We opted for the tasting menu (a shock of course to anyone who knows me). Salad of Spring vegetables with a warm pheasant egg, walnut oil A rather delightful and very colourful salad which summed up the best of spring vegetables on a plate. Individually cooked so that each retained the desired character. Asparagus, broad beans, mange tout, carrot, radish and kolrhabi. A rather fabulous start. Bread came with this and I opted for the bacon and onion brioche. The lady chose sourdough. All the bread prepared on site. Both good. The brioche not in the class of le Champignon Sauvage, but I've never encountered one that is. Cerviche of hand dived scallops with seaweed, herb oil, kohlrabi and frozen horseradish An incredibly delicate dish. The natural sweetness of the scallops were retained The seaweed was as a powder of nori. The frozen horseradish was a sorbet of sorts and was as mystifying on the palate as the mustard ice cream at the Fat Duck Flame grilled mackerel with cucumber, Celtic mustard and shizo A definite Japanese influence on the dish. The mackerel came two ways. A flame grilled fillet and a tatare of mackerel wrapped in a thin sheet of cucumber. Accompanied by a lightly-vinegared slice of cucumber. The fish was wonderful, but cucumber is just about the only thing I don't like and this didn't change my mind. "Risotto" of squid with pine nuts, sherry and cauliflower The dish of the night and was, in my opinion, in 3* territory. The play on risotto was using finely chopped squid as the rice element. Combined with a veloute of cauliflower, it looked and was texturally like a risotto. The cauliflower didn't overpower the squid flavour. A rich sherry reduction was around the outside of the risotto which lifted the dish beautifully. There was also an espuma of something on the plate, but I must confess that I can't remember what it was. Despite that, I was blown away by this dish. Celeriac baked in ash with hazelnuts and a Kromeski of wild boar Some theatre from the kitchen. The ash baked celeriac was brought to the table encased in pastry. It was split in front of us, allowing the smoky smell to permeate the room. This was then taken back to the kitchen for plating. The celeriac was the star of this dish. The boar kromeski was a small patty of the boar meat encased in breadcrumbs and fried. It was very rich and worked well with the celeriac. The hazelnuts were on an incredibly strong black truffle mayonnaise, which were at risk of overpowering the dish. All in all, good, if not superb. Roast monkfish with padron peppers, oxtail and rosemary Two pieces of monkfish tail, cooked to absolute perfection, were combined with a very rich and effective oxtail jus, The sauce also contained small pieces of ox tongue. Brett had served this dish with a puree of padron peppers. I love these as part of a tapas, fried in olive oil with sea salt. However, when pureed, they were intensely bitter and I avoided the rest of it. The fish though was beautiful. Well matched with a rather fine burgundy recommended by the somellier. The Ledbury Kebab More kitchen theatre. A smoke filled glass cloche was brought to the table. Inside lay two small kebabs on liquorice root. A kebab of the highest calibre. A piece of cured pigeon, a cube of seared foie gras, the pigeon heart and crisped wing meat all came skewered. Utterly fabulous both in terms of presentation and in flavour. Loin of lamb with glazed aubergine and wild garlic Perfectly pink loin of lamb was served with a miso glazed aubergine, wild garlic and wild garlic puree. This was simple but perfectly executed. The meat was unbelievably tender. I thought it had been sous-viede'd, but I was assured that it was seared and finished in the oven. Given how short the wild garlic season is, I'm happy to eat it as often as possible. Truly loved this dish. Pre-dessert of olive oil panna cotta, apple and vanilla doughnut A cute little pre-dessert. A shot glass containing the olive oil panna cotta had a thin layer of apple puree on top, served with a tiny vanilla flavoured doughnut. Caramelised banana galette with salted caramel and peanut ice cream Not the sort of dessert I would have ordered, and if I had the choice, I would have changed it. But never mind, as it was still very good. Beautiful base to the galette with crisped, caramelised banana slices. The salted caramel ice cream had tiny pieces of peanut through it. This was beautiful Chocolate cremeux with walnut ice cream and warm chocolate madelines We were both on the point of exploding by this point, but still ploughed on through this. A tasting plate of chocolate would be more accurate. The madelines were light and perfect and this rounded off a bloody good meal. Followed with a coffee and good petit fours including a hibiscus marshmallow, white chocolate macaron and blood orange jelly. We spent a good half hour or so chatting with Brett after dinner and he showed us around the tiny kitchen. I found the whole experience excellent and feel that the Ledbury fits in perfectly with its 2* status. It's more relaxed than it's sister restaurant The Square and Sarah ran the front of house perfectly. They insist that they want to remain informal and this comes across very well. I will definitely return. Adam

Well, I'm off there tonight. Have heard some very good things, so I'm hopeful of a great meal. Will write up after Adam

I have all of his books; Appetite was the first I bought and probably the one that taught me the most. I was 18, starting uni and it gave me many a building block and technique to work with. I love the Kitchen Diaries as it's a beautiful read as well as having some great recipes in it. They all have their merits. Real Food, Appetite and the Kitchen Diaries would be my choices.

One of the great political (and drinking) moments.

It's been nearly impossible to get a dinner table at noma for over a year!

I bought this book when it came out; mainly as a friend of mine is in it on the recommendation of Fergus Henderson. I really like it; as with most of Phaidon's recent books, the presentation style is stunning. It gives a good insight into what some of the up and coming chefs across the world are doing. It is particularly interesting to see the different likes and styles of the nominating chefs. The recipes are a tad brief on the whole. They are restaurant-standard dishes, summarised in about an inch for each one. But the book is lovely and I'm a big fan of it. Adam

Certainly one of the better food shows to be broadcast on the BBC. When you see how large his brigade is and the size of the prep kitchen, you realise why a meal at Le Manoir can bankrupt you. Does the voiceover drive anyone else mad though? She sounds bored!

I've just bought a deluxe. So far, I'm very pleased with it and it's miles more powerful than my old Braun stick blender

All of mine are from the Vinum range. The XL are, as implied, larger. The extreme have a slightly more contemporary design. The Vinum range is the largest as it's the most well established. I went for these as they are the easiest to pick up from different shops and the only ones I've seen available as single glasses; vital when you break the number I have over the years!

My last experience of this place was OK at best. Shame as I was really looking forward to it. 49th best restaurant in the UK according to the Good Food Guide. Not a chance in my book!

Not going to be offal themed, but Rob does know how to cook the stuff well. Fergus has massive respect for ROB; he put him as one of his recommendations in Coco, the Phaidon book last year that showcased up and coming chefs from around the world. The Mark Addy seems to be doing what Rob's been aspiring to do for the last few years.

The news from Madrid fusion is that el Bulli will be closed for 2012 an 2013, making this year and next the last chance for a while.