Kropotkin

Interestingly, we had exactly the same experience Harters. The first time at Juniper was excellent and we went home raving about it; the second time (about three months before PK left) was a little flat.

I'll second (or third?) Da Francesco for a pasta or pizza and a sense of a bustling, Roman place. It's not changed much in the near-20 years I've been visiting and a pizza about a month ago was better than any previous visits (that I could recall), and certainly better than the famed Da Baffeto the next night. Bar Fico seems to have been closed for over a year now (if my increasingly infrequent trips to the city are any judge)... which is a shame, as I used to like it.

I'd never been to Hibiscus. I always fancied visiting in Ludlow but never made it, and then a London visit was waylaid by some mixed stories upon opening. But I was at a loose end last week so scheduled a quick lunch visit and while I knew it would be good, I was very pleasantly suprised... Lunch began with an soft-boiled egg and soldier: simple but rewarding. I'm a boy, so perhaps I would say this, but the only improvement here would be more soldiers in the ranks. The starter was a royale of rhubarb and parmesan with a veloute of toasted rice. I love these elements, but this combination was new to me: together they produced a muscular, brusque, startling dish that was particularly memorable. It's with me again, as I tap these words out: very impressive. A pile of rose veal chunks with goats cheese and black truffle risotto was very good too - although a little over-shadowed, for me, after the punch of the starter. It was nevertheless a compelling dish that was scoffed down sharpish. A good lemon tart with clove ice cream concluded lunch but this was augmented by an Austrian Reisling-blend dessert wine (that I can't name now) that one of the staff was eulogising. I was sceptical, but gave it a try and the balance of sweetness and minerality sat beautifully with the lemon. Well recommended - indeed, top marks to all front of house staff who were excellent without exception. All this, plus a glass of wine and tea / coffee plus petit fours for a set £33.50 (plus c. £8 for the dessert wine): a real steal, and a real pleasure that left me very impressed. I was meeting someone around the corner at Claridges for tea afterwards - and although the room was grander there, the same money brought us little more than good tea and some lacklustre finger food. Underwhelmed by Claridges; very enthused by Hibiscus.

It was £40 a ticket actually, but very good value at that price - particularly given all the top-notch seafood on offer, champagne, mulled-wine and some very tasty, tiny haggis, tatties and neeps tartlets that kept on coming... what's not to like???

I'll echo Gary's comments too. The Pipe and Glass is very local for me and it's been a pleasure to see their standards climb ever-upwards these past three years. We were last there on New Year's Eve and their buffet was both excellent and extremely generous - and an event enjoyed by most of the village, as far as I could see. The best accommodation options are in and around Beverley (Lazaat, just south on the A164 is the best bet). Driffield is mired in a late-1970s time-warp... which some may like, but I don't think I could stay there either!

...but if you are struggling with the 'phone and / or language, you can always book in person earlier in the week. An alternative is to show up early in the evening (c. 7.00-ish) as any spare tables should be available then. But steel yourself to try a few places if this is your strategy - as many will be booked-up for a Saturday

Sorry - it used to be called 'The Tour', but now it has become 'Menu 2': a dozen or so courses for £70, which, with extra coffee and petit fours, took us from 7.00pm to 11.45pm... so plenty to keep you going. I think the £90 menu offers another four or five dishes - so we demurred on that one. Let us know what you think of the place - it seems to divide opinion!

A quick note about some excellent service at L'enclume at the weekend. Mrs. Kropotkin is pregnant and the staff were particularly helpful and accommodating: re-orienting various dishes on the Tour and, it appeared, providing a couple of especially constructed dishes also. And this amidst a virtually full service too. Well done to them: attention and service deserving of praise on here. On another note, this was our first visit since their redecoration. I thought I’d miss the linen, but the cool, minimalist makeover works nicely – especially in contrast to the dark, damp, earthy weather outside as the big freeze crept across Cumbria.

I'm no expert on legal and business matters and for all I know, there's a (perhaps dubious) rationale for calling in administrators as TA has done. But as everyone is noting, this hits the suppliers while he carries on debt-free (for now)... It's a small gesture, of course, but perhaps we should avoid his 'new' restaurant? It won't make much of a difference, but it does signal our disapproval (for those of us who are unimpressed by this tactic). And, scurrilously, it might also be interesting if Michelin were to withold their 2009 award (as a 'new' restaurant needs to prove itself over the years - or so they argue when it suits them). I'm sure they won't take such a contentious position... but football clubs are docked points when they dodge their debts via administration, so why should high-end restaurants retain their stars when they've stiffed small suppliers thus? And as these are the gongs they seem to crave, losing a star might make some chefs try a little harder to avoid administration...?

Of those taking the tasting menus (c. 90%), I'd say it was about 60/40 in favour of the Classic menu. One couple, however, had the a la carte Guinea fowl option - which was presented on a trolley before serving and looked fantastic.

As far as I understand this, this is the meaning - with the additional notion that these elements all therefore render the food unique and distinctive.

We did take the 'Modern' menu: mainly because we thought we'd prefer the components and we liked the look of it. But also because we often like to try innovative, experimental, challenging styles rather than more traditional cooking (which is, after all, more widespread); and partly because we'd heard that Wissler is one of the foremost German exponents of a modern / molecular style (whatever that really is). The additional costs didn't put us off the 'Classic' menu, but we did notice the quite marked differential (c. 25%). This might be enough to dissuade some (although I guess anyone visiting a 3* knows it won't be cheap)?

Thanks to all Stephens for your interesting comments! We'd visited neither place - so we selected Vendôme based upon the menus and a quick skim of this thread. I suspect we'll try Muller's next time, but I'm interested to hear the views of those who can compare both. An additional tip for Cologne is the Chocolate Museum, which is more interesting than you'd suspect. It has a decent cafe too, right alongside the Rhine, to provide the chocolate fix that Mrs. Kropotkin was craving after touring the galleries! This may be of use to others planning a trip: taxis from the city out to Bensberg were c. €30 - so staying in Cologne is very feasible.

Thanks for the clarification, Stephen. Just for my interest, if you had to choose one of Muller’s or Vendôme for dinner, which would it be? And on reservations: I’d never paid much attention to no-show fees until travel chaos almost left us facing a €150 per head fine at Vendôme. If they’re prepared to levy these amounts on non-appearing punters, then they were surely obliged to sort out their reservations system!

Restaurant Vendôme, Bergisch Gladbach (27th August 2008) Restaurant Vendôme is housed in a reasonably large, sturdy, squat building, but one that looks absolutely tiny next to the huge, muscular Schoss Bensberg which engulfs it. The Schloss sprawls across a forested hillside overlooking the Rhine valley; it houses a 5* hotel and Vendôme is intended to compound the luxury. First to say, this place delivers the highest quality without question. The cooking is as highly precise and technical; the flavours are as clear, bold and complementary (aside from one glitch); and the presentation, service and surrounds are all exemplary as you’d expect. More distinctly, the pacing of our dinner was also very clever, and the pauses were perfectly judged. This was all very impressive. There are three menus on offer: the carte, and a ‘classic’ and a ‘modern’ dégustation. But we’re here because we’ve read that Vendôme is one of the most exciting German 3*s, and one pushing a modern deconstructed cuisine – so the modern menu it is. After some promising amuses, the first dish is startling: a succulent, pink shark-steak (despite changing climates, presumably not from the Rhine?) swimming in a shallow puddle of three complementary oils. This was packed with flavour that was further emphasised by the oils – indeed, pouring fresh, light oils at the table was a recurrent theme for the seafood courses. The next dish was crayfish with pork cheeks in jelly with a cabbage salad and caraway foam. This was a stunning dish – with six generous stacks of crayfish, jelly and pork complemented by the acute taste of the excellent salad. The very generous portion impressed still further. The meat and fish combination extended to a carpaccio of tuna with almonds and goose liver ice-cream – a clever combination that worked well. This preceded roasted calves head, served in cubes and with its subtle flavour augmented by a tremendous horseradish sauce. We returned to fish again with a Danube salmon resting on chanterelles and next to the concentrated flavour of onion gnocchi in a rich onion sauce. While this dish looked comparatively unspectacular, it worked well enough - if not perhaps delivering the excitement of some earlier offerings. All of these courses mentioned were matched neatly by a Diel Reisling (2005) recommended by the very thoughtful and rigorous sommelier. A breather next (when we noted the clever pacing again) as a ragout of snails arrived in two small cones topped by frozen yoghurt and cucumber that bounced off the richer snails and the crunch of the cones to make this a surprisingly good dish. A small wait again while building the crescendo for the final dish… that stuttered unexpectedly. It was composed of excellent elements: it offered perfectly cooked lamb matched with meaty grilled red pepper chunks and some of the excellent, spiky cabbage salad from the crayfish course. This was all very good and worked perfectly well, except for two additional flourishes that made little sense to me. The first was a small side-bowl of tea-infused green olives – which was intriguing by itself, but I couldn’t see how the tea flavour worked with the lamb. Likewise, some small ricotta gnocchi in a brown, meaty sauce seemed still more alien to the lamb than the tea-flavour. Joachim Wissler’s palate is, of course, in a far different league from mine - but these little side-shows did nothing for me or Mrs. Kropotkin. And the shame is that this dampened the impact of the prior courses slightly. That said, the main desert was a peach and raspberry and ice-cream dish that zinged with these summer flavours. The kitchen was back on form now, and splendid petit fours followed - including a milk-skin effort that the waiter emphasised especially (presumably as they’ve recently crept South from the new Scandanavian cuisine). In sum, this was an excellent meal as anticipated, although the excitement one secretly (and perhaps unfairly) hopes for with every dish at these places was a little variable. The atmosphere was relaxed throughout and, although not cheap at €418 for two, this meal provided decent value for the standards it reached. Indeed, the only thing intimidating was the huge Schloss outside, and the collateral costs we’ll probably accrue exploring other peaks of the new German cuisine.

We were quoted a taxi fare from Sorrento to Torre del Saracino in April 2007: I can't recall the exact sum, but it was very, very pricey (so much so that we drove instead - and driving across the coastal plateau through Piano di Sorrento can take an age). It's better to take the Circumvesuviana train and get off in Vico Equense - you've a chance of a taxi there, or a c. 15 mins walk through town and down to the coast. You could alight at Seiano - but there's no taxis and you'd have a 15-20 mins walk (?). I'll also commend Piazza Aurora and Il Buco - both very good in their own ways. Further afield, if you have transport, Marina del Cantone (on the South side of the peninsula) has a growing foodie reputation.

I’ve seen no thread nor much discussion of this place on here or elsewhere. Perhaps unfairly, I’d thus imagined it as a rather dusty, staid country house pile until I saw Aaron Patterson cooking up some interesting stuff on the latest iteration of the Great British Menu. Given that Mrs. K likes her fancy lunches in stately country houses during the summer, we pencilled in Hambleton for a day-visit while Kropotkin junior was incarcerated in nursery. And overall, I’d say it easily justified the drive. They offer a good range of options at lunch: the good value set lunch options (at £25-30); a larger ‘special lunch’ (£32); and the taster menu (£60) plus what appeared to be some of the full evening carte (at appreciably steeper prices). Given this surprising range of choices, Mrs. K ditched the idea of a modest lunch and promptly demanded the full tasting menu. This commenced with an amuse of essence of watermelon: a shot of neat liquid with a robust flavour, but this was gone in a second and therefore, ultimately a little underwhelming. Better -and better than it sounds- was an assiette of tomato which included beef tomato with a tapenade; basil foam; a tomato soup; and a goat’s cheese and tomato flan. While not technically flawless, these elements were all good individually and together made for an interesting plateful. Next up for me was a Mosaic of foie, chicken and veal with orange and hazelnuts that was all pretty decent - although the rationale for the hazelnuts was lost on me. Mrs. K asked to substitute this dish and was impressed to be offered the full run of the menu. She opted for a lasagna of seafood – I can’t remember the exact components, and only that Mrs. K pronounced it excellent and was loath to share. The fish dish was sea-bass on a bed of cous-cous and a foam that I couldn’t identify, with small tiles of pickled onion, courgette, and red-pepper. This dish was fine, although at this level I would have liked to see something more ambitious in the preparation and presentation. The meat was a saddle of lamb and the deconstructed plating saw the supporting elements scattered across the plate. This was a solid, contemporary 1-star dish – competent and well constructed. But much more excitement arrived with the assiette of deserts to share. This was a real winner: a gleaming and generous range of little treats for us to scoff down, with special mention (since you ask) for a sphere of nougat, a passion-fruit soufflé and a perfect slice of custard tart. We sloped into the splendid gardens for coffee and slightly-disappointing petits fours (the best of which was a raspberry cream pf). However, these were included in the price - which makes a pleasant change from the additional fiver some places levy at this point. Throughout the service was good and the setting was indeed uber-grand country-house-hotel. Yet the stuffy disdain that these places sometimes perfect seemed alien to the smooth and impressive sommelier and the consistent, unforced charm of all the staff. The only problem was the low beams beneath the table-tops, disguised by the linen; both myself and an adjacent diner crashed knees into these, sending water flying. This is a tiny quibble though, and I suspect we’ll be back: I thought it was very good (if lacking a little of the ‘wow’ that would push it onwards), while Mrs. K was most pleased with the whole episode. A mercy-dash up the A1 saw us liberate Kropotkin jr. just before nursery closing time: a good day all round.

Ah, as I thought! Thanks for the comments all - I'm re-affirmed in my practice (including the 'no tips for no receipts' rule of yore)...

Not trattorias, I'm afraid, but other suggestions for the region: Caseificio Vannulo is worth a visit to see their pampered Buffalo lounging in 5* accommodation, and to sample the organic yoghurt and ice-cream produced from their milk. They have been expanding fast of late (and tour buses have started arriving), but it’s nevertheless worth a visit. They also have a fancy new website, since you ask: here (I'm assuming they haven't been affected by the Buffalo disease that's striken parts of Campania). Likewise, Azienda Marino are also worth a call. Just on the edge of the National Park on the hills South of Agropoli, they have a stunning views over the towns and the Gulf of Salerno, along with good wines and oils. They too have a fancy new site here, (and these sites suggest the region is gearing up more coherently for foodie tourists - in contrast to the rather halting efforts of a few years ago). There are some excellent Agriturismi emerging in the hills East of Eboli also (one just off the road leading up to the old town of Contursi Terme), but I wouldn't know where to find them, I'm afraid. It might be good fun looking for them, though!

I’m off to Italy this week and my longstanding, low-level but persistent confusion over an appropriate level of gratuity will surely exercise me once again... I’ve worked in Italy in the past and I visit for at least a month each year, so I’m no stranger to the country and its cultures. Over the years I’ve heard many different assertions about how much one should tip (beyond the coperta – although this confuses the matter additionally). In truth, the majority tend to advise that a few € suffices for the table for a standard meal in a trattoria, with more for a ristorante. However, some argue for much less, a few insist on more; some suggest it should be per group, others say it is per head; and one friend argues firmly against anything more than the coperta (although he is a staunch communist...). I’m delighted to tip for excellent service and always leave something. And of course, we each have our own tipping practices that, in Italy, may also be inflected by region, level of establishment, party-size, occasion etc. But the persistent level of conflicting advice I’ve encountered had convinced me that there is no general formula for tipping to show appreciation without offending… unless somebody can advise me otherwise? (Apologies in advance if there is a thread somewhere already – I couldn’t find it).

A more recent experience – I’d never visited the Box Tree due to some ambivalent reports, but we tried it for lunch last month whilst en route to elsewhere and I was pleasantly surprised. A scallops and apple starter was excellent, and an assiette of strawberry was also very good. As Bertie notes, the lunch is good value. Mrs. Kropotkin also liked the decent portions, but not so much the tweedy clientele (as she's worried she’ll be one of them in 20 years time if she’s not careful…)

Ah, I see your point. I don't have Goths scrapping outside or borrowing my toilets; but we did have a Sea-Shanty festival outside the door recently - another form of needless pollution and public bad-behaviour???

An academic friend of mine who studies issues of public space complains that the Goths are now sometimes ‘moved on’ for simply hanging around their old haunt (geddit?) of the Corn Exchange... I’m probably alone here, but while I like the idea of the planned foodie-heaven in the abstract, I’m a not thrilled at the sanitisation of space this entails (of Goths, alternative subculture shops and the like) – particularly given the potential of the splendid nearby covered market to host quality food stalls…

The June 2008 UK issue of Condé Nast Traveller magazine offers a list of the ten best places to eat in Rome. Their contributor, Lee Marshall, talks of a revived culinary culture in the city and his ranking, it seems, represents the best of this. I reproduce it here for your interest (with the request that you don't shoot this messenger)... 1 - Trattoria Monti (Via San Vito, 13a, Monti) 2 - Baby, in the Aldrovandi Palace Hotel (Via Aldrovandi, 15, Parioli) 3 - Il Pagliaccio (Via dei Banchi Vecchi, 129a, Centro Storico - Campo dei Fiori) 4 - La Gatta Mangiona (Via F. Ozanam, 30, Monteverdi Nuovo) 5 - L'Altro Mastai (Via Giraud, 53, Centro Storico) 6 - Antico Arco (Piazzale Aurelio, 7, Gianicolo - Monterverdi Vecchio) 7 - Primo (v. del Pigneto, 46, Prenestina) 8 - La Pergola, in the Cavalieri Hilton (Via Cadlolo, 101, Mote Mario) 9 - Da Felice (v. Mastro Giorgio, 29, Testaccio - v. Marmorata) 10- Palatium - wine bar / deli / restaurant (Via Frattina, 94, Ventro Storico - Spagna)

If we believe the June 2008 UK issue of Conde Nast Traveller magazine (and, more particularly, their correspondent Lee Marshall) Il Pagliaccio stands as the third best place to eat in Rome these days. It’s not clear what criteria produced the list (which I guess I should post elsewhere), but Chef Genovese was pleased enough with the recognition to pose for a portrait while holding a huge cabbage…