Tom Roberts

I would second Pizzeria Aurora and would also strongly recommend (in order of expense, highest to lowest) Il Buco, La Lanterna and Da Emilia. Il Buco and La Lanterna are in the centre of Sorrento and Da Emilia is down in the old fishing port (marina grande).

Looks like a pretty good list already. Maybe also consider Dos Pallilos and Tapac 24. I'm also very jealous - I need to get to Cinc Sentits for that suckling pig in the near future! Not sure if you have already been to Jamonisimo, but if not someone posted this map on another page which may be useful: http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=jamonis...li=lmd&z=14&t=m <http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=jamonisimo&near=Barcelona,+Catalu%C3%B1a,+Spain&radius=0.0&cd=1&cid=41387917,2169918,11306889112942706484&li=lmd&z=14&t=m>

If you find yourself near spitalfields, Market Coffee House on Brushfield Street deserves a try. Not freshly roasted beans but damn good coffee. Unlike a number of independent shops in the area I think this place has actually benefited from the influx of chains - it remains busy but the starbucks has diverted those who go to coffeeshops for frozen yoghurt and diet muffins and because they have a sofa like the one on Friends. Roger - how do you roast the beans?

I had an excellent lunch at Roussillon recently. £35 for 3 courses (decent choice) amuse, pre-dessert, coffee + pfs, wine and water. Amazing value given the quality. That said, you can't go far wrong with the set lunch at Gavroche either.

I would second the Sampler and Vinoteca, particularly if you want to try a selection of wines before purchasing.

Apparently the official opening is today. I have just booked for tomorrow night.

I suspected that my attempt to classify those restaurants may be woefully incorrect - I have much to learn! Il Fico is my choice for Sunday night so the options are more limited - I am more than happy to eat good seafood. I was put off Monti by all the hype and a few negatives reviews, but I may give it a try for lunch. Taverna del Capitano sounds promising - I have just found Kropotkin's favourable review from a visit last year. Do you think it is feasible to travel from/to Sorrento for dinner by taxi as we will not have a car? It does not look that far on a map, but I am conscious that looks can be deceiving (and, in the case of taxis, expensive). On a more general note (and this should perhaps be a seprate thread), I often struggle with the boundaries of upscale trat and restaurant (as with upscale bistro and restaurant) since in the UK we do not really have these disctinctions (although I suppose, more recently, we have the gastropub/restaurant distinction). Obviously some places are clearly restaurants and some clearly trats even to the layman, but closer to the boundaries what are the key distinctions? Food, atmosphere, history etc. (or a combination of these elements)?

I am heading to Rome and Sorrento at the end of this week (4 nights Rome, 4 nights Sorrento). My eating/drinking plans are roughly as follows: Rome: I plan to make dinner my main meal of the day and have provisionally decided on Il Fico, Antico Arco, Colline Emilaine and Uno e Bino. This is my attempt to get a mix of classic tratoria (Il fico, Colline Emilaine), upmarket trattoria (Antico Arco) and inventive Roman (Uno e Bino). Obviously this is driven by my personal preference of what and where I think I would like to eat, and there are endless other inviting options out there. Notably absent is Jewish/Roman and michelin*, for which, if I had time, I would probably have selected Paris and Agato e Romano respectively. No specific plans for lunch and snacks but I am hoping to get to at least Da Baffetto, Da Michelle, Antico Forno and Volpetti. Gelato - San Crispino, Giolitti and anywhere else that looks good. Coffee - Tazza D'oro, Sant'Eustachio and others. Wine - Cavour 313, Cul de Sac and Palatium. Sorrento: Less defined plans but I intend to eat at Il Buco and Da Emilia in Sorrento. I am also considering Don Alfonso up the coast. In terms of resources (other than the various forums on egullet), Maureen Fant's website (http://www.maureenbfant.com/) is excellent (and has other useful links). One big caveat to the above is that I have not actually eaten at any of these places yet so please view them as informed suggestions rather than recommendations. Howeverm I will report back before your trip in May. As always, any comments on my plans and additional/alternative suggestions for others in this forum would be very welcome. In particular, I would be interested in recommendations in Sorrento, Positano, Pompei or Capri (whether for lunch, coffee, gelato, wine etc).

I may as well be the first to say that Arbutus or Wild Honey would fit the bill. Not strictly central London, but I would also consider the River Cafe, particularly as the weather might be good enough to sit outside by then (might push the budget though depending on your plans for wine). That said, I wouldn't discount The Wolseley - excellent room, good atmosphere and from my experience (although i havent been for around 6 months) decent food. Yes, you can get better food elsewhere for the same money but it sounds like you are looking for more than just good food.

Thanks, Adey. I'm in Manshester over the Easter weekend so I think a trip to the Wirral may be in order. Interesting take on the pebbles, I have had the Mugaritz version and, while they were certainly a novelty, taste wise they were not much above eating a real pebble. The black rice and squid ink sounds more promising. Marc - out of interest would you always recommend the bespoke menu over the signature? When faced with the dilema between "standard" tasting menus and a suprise/bespoke menu (life can sometimes be cruel), I would instinctively go for the latter but I often wonder if (particularly for a first visit) the normal tasting menu would give you a better overall meal since this will contain the signature dishes perfected over time (both in terms of composition and execution). Also, I assume from Adey's posts that there was no (or little) wine involved - do you go in for a wine pairing with your menus?

Surely the arrival of Gilgamesh was the answer to your prayers for a decent, relaxed local restaurant? Anyone know the phone number for Market? I'm keen to give it a try despite my reservations about the lack of a retractable roof.

Is there a tasting menu yet, or any intention of having one in the future?

Despite recent moves there is still some truth in Heston's statement in relation to "cutting edge" restaurants - Sat Bains, Anthony's, Juniper and he may have been including the Fat Duck since it is (just) outside London. That said, while I have no first hand knowledge of the reason behind any particular moves to the SE, I would be suprised if the desire to achieve greater national/international reputation, michelin recognition and perhaps ultimately financial sucess on a larger scale were not key factors. In terms of enhanced reputation and media coverage, the proof of the pudding has been in the eating for Hibiscus (or at least will be shortly) - as some on this forum have reported there have been more critics visiting in the first few days than a few years in the old location and I'm sure we will be seeing numerous high profile reviews in due course. As for L'enclume, if it had been in Henley rather than Cartmel since the start you would have to think that Heston would be sharing his limelight with Simon Rogan by now. Michelin recognition is more tricky, and everyone on this forum has there own view on this, but the recived wisdom seems to be that London and the SE is favoured. In my view there are many examples of restaurants outside London which would have some or more stars if they were in London and vis versa. Financial sucess of restaurants (or not as the case may be) both in and out of London is a hornets nest with which I am not intimately familiar and therefore will not stamp on it, although I would be interested to hear any views on this.

Petrus for me. Never been on a Friday but I suspect the vast majority of business lunches/dinners are midweek so you should be safe. Also worth considering Hibiscus, it will definately tick the box for quality of food but you will need to wait until it is avidly reviewed on this forum and elsewhere to see if it will be sufficiently romantic.

Mark - we stayed at La Villa for a week at the end of August (sadly pre-truffles, although apparently someone in the village had found the first truffles of the season the day we left). Chris and Nicola are excellent hosts and I have no doubt that they will be able to source good product if you want to eat at La Villa and will also be able to direct you to the pick of the truffle menus at local restaurants. I would recommend eating at La Villa at least once - the food is simple but relyies on the quality of the local ingredients so the results are good and the communal dining approach works surprising well. Nicola also has a good and well priced selection of local wines - it is very easy to end up drinking much more than you planned, particularly as driving is not an issue. Given that dining in was so enjoyable we didn't eat out as much as I had expected but icaffi in Acqui was the pick of the restaurants within easy driving distance (15/20 mins). Enjoy.