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chefsimon

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Everything posted by chefsimon

  1. No that came later. Nico's *** were when he was at the Grosvenor House. I'm talking about the mid-eighties when he had ** in London (I think Lordship Lane, but it could have been Rochester Row) and tried to ship out to Reading. At the same time I think he help running some of the previous establishments as Simply Nicos or thereabouts. But the whole empire-building thing never worked. Eventually he sold out entirely (although bizarrely they kept the Simply Nico brand name... I still remember one up Clerkenwell/Barbican way int he late nineties) and in time retrenched back to London, and the glory that was Chez Nico at Ninety. Richard Neat I am thinking of when he had * at Neat in Cannes (yes he did previously have ** at Pied a Terre) and then tried to migrate that back to London. I think he said he was going to be commuting madly between Oxo Tower and Cannes but again without the support it never really worked out (did Neat at Oxo ever get its * before it closed? can't remember). J PS yes Aikens retained the ** Richard Neat had, but I always think its a bit tough to deny him the honour of retaining them. Similar logic to whether Alain Roux has inherited his *** at the Waterside and Phillippe Rochat has inherited his from Girardet. Can argue about this til cows come home. ← I agree he did retain them but he still would of been inspected, probably more closely the year he took over so i dont think you can take them away from him Where as i think at winteringham fields when the young lad took over the 2 stars they did take one away from him On the Tom Aikens subject i eaten there five times since it opened and the first meal blew me away about 2 months after it opened and since then then they have got worst and worst!!!
  2. Yes i would like a star next year but no where have i said that that would mean all worries are over, a michelin star doesnt necerrsarrily mean a successful business, and i d definatly rather a successful business, and whats all the superstar crap at the end?
  3. Well i ll definatly be taking advice from averybody here. i m not to proud and i do appreciate it, i want to make it clear though i wasnt justifying prices by the staff i have, i ll take in to acccount what people say and push on from there Regards Simon
  4. 4 large hand dived ← does that make you a gp of 76%? (last week scallops were £22.50 per kilo) ← Large hand dived scallops £1.60 each!!!!Not a GP of %76 thats for sure
  5. Thanks for the advice its in the same building, main entrance then to the right brasserrie and sofas for drinks and then the main dining room is off to the left, same toilets etc etc People who try the brasserrie do get a sencse of the main restaurant and then the majority of brasserrie customers will book a table for the fine dining, which we hoped would happen Regards Simon
  6. Dear Matthew I do agree were not cheap, and thats why we offer the cheaper brasserrie aswell I m intrested in your opinions on Limpsfield, because it is one of the most affluent areas in Surrey and we are surrounded by money Also your shock at the price of Scallops do you know how expensive hand dived scallops are? Maybe i need to offer more explanation on the tasting menu as its more like 10 course you would get Yep we do need to get some reviews and i had a michelin star before i went to work in Shanghai so hopefully one will come next year, all the brigade have got michlen experience, 2 of them 3 star and the restaurant manager who starts tuesday, fingers crosssed (dont get me on to restaurant managers) is ex manoir, waterside and Ducasse, so hopefully we have got things in place to move forward I am also looking at the pricing to put on a couple of cheaper starters
  7. Sorry everybody web site been delayed and will not be finished toatally till next week should of beeen done yesterday, pictures etc and more info to go on there Will be getting better!!
  8. make sure that every time that you come on places like this you mention the name of your restaurant and where it is - "just outside of London in the Surrey commuter belt" is teasing, but people could spend a long time trying to find you. ← Dear Algy Its Alexanders High Street Limpsfield Surrey RH8 0DR 01883 714365 Hope you find that a bit more exacting
  9. Without wanting to debate the definition of advertising (after all what is PR?), I'd be very wary of direct advertising. I always think ads are a last resort for a restaurant and a piss poor substitute for good word-of-mouth. From a business perspective a full restaurant should be a successful restaurant, even if many chefs consider anything less than an eponymous TV show as a humiliating failure. ← Word of mouth is definatly getting round Zoticus, just could do witha bit of a boost, new business, January and all that!!!
  10. Thanks Claire I definatly wouldnt offer them anything for free, but i like the idea of throwing them out, The reason i wan thtem in is for the national coverage as i ve had a bit before and the affect it has on the business is amazing, we, ve settled in quietly since nov getting all the staff stable etc, finally got a restaurant manager on thrid attempt, terrible luck and really want to crack on now with the guides etc and increase the business
  11. Just opened a new restaurant just outside of London in the Surrey commuter belt, whats the best way to get the critics and writers through the door? For some publicity This is without using a PR agency as they are ridiculously priced!! All suggestions would be welcome Regards Simon
  12. Yeah not really i dont know him personnally but i heard the same from a good friend who still does a bit of work for heston but from what i been told he wants to do his own pub thing, so not really sure how this is helping unless he now has a financial involvement,
  13. i believe it is is it close to holyport?
  14. i ve been told he has gone to micheal parkinsons pub, The Royal Oak, near Holyport i believe,i was also told he just decided he d had enough at the hinds head
  15. Really? I thought it was one of the best restaurants I've been to in ages. ← Totally agree Scott
  16. that's a fairly controversial view, especially seeing as how well documented the erratic nature of italian "starred" restaurants is. were there any in particular you were thinking of? ← Totally agree scott, when there is a lot of people that would say its easier to get a star in france with rustic french regional cooking! I think michlin is going to be one nobody can ever understand totally!!
  17. I find that quite ridiculous, course people are serious about it everyone has to start some where where do think the restaurant managers of today at the 12 and 3 star places started? They didnt just become a 3 star restaurant manager, of course you get excited when you get awards, your part of that team, i ve been in teams and i ve had teams that have won awards and believe me i got excited when i was part of a team that won a star and also when i won a star as head chef, Also not all bosses are wealthy and something very important a michelin star does not neccerssarrily mean a successful business!!!!!! How do you think people get to be the boss who wins the awards,which they can only do with a core of staff who want the same thing, again you gotta start somewhere, i can only imagine you have never worked or ever had an insight into restaurants, which seems a bit strange as we are on a restaurant forum martin wa
  18. i ll re iterate what i said when you get to a level you need to have staff there who want to be there and for the right reasons, not part timers or students wanting to earn extra money, you need people who want to make a career out of it, so as you rightly say if you not got those people you going to have problems bertie
  19. Totally agree Ravelda, just look at aubergene when everybody walked with him, thats loyalty and the people that were with him then, where they are now, Neil Ferguson, Mark Askew Angela, Sarge When you get to a level at a restaurant the staff need to be there for the right reasons, not just people wanting to earn a bit of extra cash I use to work at royal hospital road when he only had that restaurant and the staff loyalty was phenominal, he was there every day then and did most service, he d be in in the morning and shake everybodies hand ask you how you were etc, he cared, i m not taking anything away from him but i believe its a very different story now for obvious reasons, Tv
  20. This is very true. To an overworked staff, an important award like this just means yet more work. ← Well if they dont want to be there there in the wrong trade!!!!!so leave
  21. The Tasting menu at Petrus is £80 for 8 courses - A la carte is £60 and it was by far and away the best meal I ate in London last year simply outstanding, the wine list has plenty of choice on it for those of us who cannot afford Chateau Petrus (yet!) too, We had a table at 7pm and left at nearly midnight what with ordering a middle course on top of cheese and a tour of the kitchen.Cannot recommend it highly enough. ← valentines day for my girlfriend it is then!some funny day in feb bein a chef, she can have a special one on the 19th or something!!
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