sbb1979

There are so many out there that it is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack - or should I say, looking for the oyster knife in the kitchen drawer... As far as food apps go, I love FoodSpotting. So great for getting the appetite going - it makes it so much easier to choose where to eat when you can actually see what's going to come out of the kitchen. Spingredients is really cool - select one ingredient, shake your phone and it picks three other ingredients that not only go with it, but also with each other. You can also personalise it by adding your own ratings of flavour combinations, but there's loads of them in there already. Epicurious and AllRecipes apps are reasonable for recipes, but I prefer to browse my cookbook collection or the internet rather than apps for recipes. I quite like the idea of iPairings, but there's not that much in there, and it looks like an early 90s website. Cocktail is quite fun for selecting what to drink whilst out and about. Spin through the photos of the cocktails in the random selector and where it stops decides how you're going to feel the next day! One that I really love that's not food related at all, but that's helping me to be better organised is "2Do". It is a to-do list app, but is so much more than that. Word Lens (translation) is also amazing, but I'm not going to Spain in the near future, so its of little use to me right now. Has anyone had any luck with Chef's apps etc? Or are they just cheap marketing ploys?

We're heading to San Sebastian in a few weeks for 4 days. During this time, we're going to be taking in many of the small local places to try all of the specialities, however, we'll also be able to make it to one of the big names in the area... I've been reading about them all for years, and am therefore very much looking forward to getting there finally, but am having difficulty choosing which. Budget is unfortunately a factor in this, but we're happy to push it if it's worth it. Can any of you who've been recently to SS please let me know roughly what a decent lunch for 4 would set you back at each of the big names? Also, what my chances are of getting a table for four on a weekday with three weeks to go?

There's a great recipe for the chestnut equivalent of a Chocolate Fondant in this book called Great French Chefs. I've always wanted to make it because I love chestnuts and love chocolate fondant, but have never gotten around to finding the flour. Its a really lovely book anyway: http://www.amazon.com/Great-French-Chefs-J...24065717&sr=8-1 (if someone can link this through egullet then please let me know how...) Don't know if it would work at all in chestnut soup - I love this when made with puree, thyme and good chicken stock. Other thing is - as people have said - pasta. You have to be more careful with the dough though, and don't replace all of the 00 with chestnut - can't remember the best proportions. Amazing to think it was a peasant's ingredient isn't it!

YKL, thanks for your report and wonderful photos. I'm heading there for dinner on Friday night and am more than a little excited about it! I take it that you get so many snacks and extra courses because you're a regular diner there, or is that the current menu? Either way, it looks pretty amazing. I'm particularly looking forward to the shrimp and the squid - hope they do them. Do you always get the wine menu there, or are there any wines particularly at the more modest end of their list that you'd recommend? I'm debating which to go for, and could go for the wine menu, but would also be keen to save some funds to be able to splash out elsewhere during our weekend in Copenhagen. Are there any bars near to Noma for drinks afterwards that anyone would recommend? I'll endeavour to report on my experiences next week.... can't wait to get there!

I was just writing "Can I throw Culinary Artistry into the ring?", but I see that someone beat me to it! Anyway, I definitely agree.... Not so much a recipe book (although there are a few), but a book of lists of what goes well with what... When you get to the stage where you're not following recipes so much, this book is fantastic for dish creation inspiration. As much as any experienced cook knows the good flavour combinations, this is a fantastic prompt for when you can't think of anything suitable.

I'm booked in for dinner in August and very much looking forward to it (although, slightly worried by some of the reports on here). We won't be staying at Bras, so does anyone have anywhere else nearby that they recommend - we're looking to keep costs for that bit down as the rest of our trip is proving to be quite costly. Having said all of that - and assuming that I can only make it to one top restaurant this year (and that I'm based in London), would any of you Bras doubters recommend an alternative restaurant? We have friends in the area there, so that was one attraction, and I love his book and recipes, but we could be tempted to go pretty much anywhere else in Europe.

Exactly - you can always add salt, but you can't take it away. If you regularly cook savoury and sweet dishes, then you only need one type of butter in your fridge and that's unsalted. Gives you more control, and fewer ingredients necessary, therefore the question should be, "Why would you not buy unsalted butter and add the salt later?"

Don't bother with Fifteen. Royal Hospital Road is great but expensive. Maze has had some great reviews. If you're in town for a weekday lunch, then book Le Gavroche for the best value 2* set menu in the world including half a bottle of wine & coffee! Bacchus do some very interesting/MG food and have a good deal on TopTable. Maybe tea and pastries at Yauatcha followed by a beer in Cafe Boheme. Go to Borough Market on a Thursday or Friday afternoon, or get there early on a Saturday morning - loads to try. Go for a Sunday lunch at The Engineer and have a walk on Primrose Hill.

Tino, You're missing the soup group that includes pretty much all the soups that I make. Puree based vegetable soups. Soften mirepoix in a little oil in a pan (onions, leeks, celery and carrots - omit carrots for 'white' soups), add the veg that's the basis of the soup (e.g sweet potato, chestnuts and thyme, cauliflower or pretty much anything else), add a complementary stock (or water will be fine as you get so much flavour from the mirepoix etc), cook for a while, blitz, then check seasoning. They're very healthy, extremely tasty and there's no dairy which could limit the longevity of the soup in the freezer. Hope your Grandfather's recovering well. S

Rousillon used to do a tasting menu for children that sounded fantastic (Alexis Gauthier seems to actually care about these things) - may be worth asking about - and the staff are so lovely there that I'm sure they'd be delighted to accomodate you.

I'm heading to the Perth area for 2 weeks in May and am looking for some interesting meals ranging from reasonable to the very top. So far, my only choice is Star Anise. There's very little new on here at the moment so I was hoping to initiate some discussion before I head out there. There must be some Perth based eGullet members out there - come on, show me what you're made of!

I think that's very different. Have a look at the pictures/recipes in here: http://www.cookingconcepts.com/PDF/Espumas_elBulli.pdf Much easier for service and presentation too.

Go to the National Starch website as listed above. Find the N-Zorbit product and request a sample. You should have it within a couple of days.

www.Toptable.co.uk is worth a look for the offers. They have a wide range of restaurants listed and some are complete bargains, others not so much.

Me too! :-( That was much quicker than I expected...... Oh well, hopefully some of the friends in my group will get lucky..... S