beepop

sue, good luck. first you need to go to your doctor with a stoole sample. They will have it tested and if the results identify something that could have come from the restaurant then they will hand it to the local food hygiene officer. They will then contact the restaurant and request a traceability report and hopefully a sample of whatever your doctor identified as the source. If not they will examine working practices in the kitchen and take samples of other food to see how clean it is. Once they are happy that everything is being done by the book there is not any further action that can be taken. If here is any evidence of malpratice then the officer will adivse them what to do to rectify and worse case senario, close them down until they do - but this is rare. If the scallop was the cause then you probably could have smelt it before eating it. Also, you would not have been sick for 6-8 hours. You could have had an allergic reaction but if you have eaten scallops before and been fine, then it won't be a reaction. The restaurant are under no obligation to do anything. They do not have to offer anything nor should they until it can be proved that it has come from them. As Tim has suggested, you could have picked up an airborne bug during the course of the day. If a restaurant gives a free meal when someone reports food poisioning then the likely hood is you will be posied again so why bother with it. Also, if offered a free meal, do you really want to eat somewhere who is not following due procedure. Tell the restaurant by all means so they can check everything but until your doctor as some poo, nothing can be proven!

Very hot oven, big baking tray with cake cooling racks placed inside. Rub Maldon Rock salt into scored skin ensureing there is no excess salt on the surface of the skin. Place in oven. Cook until you have crackling. The cake cooling rack allows the excess fat to disappear. The salt going into the cracks enables it to become crispy. Sometimes I pouring boiling water over the skin and leave for ten minutes before rubbing the salt. Enjoy

why? are you mark donelly in disguise? would you like his booking ← not that i know of. if you don't like or agree with an establishments policy and in this case the social status of the owners, why attempt to book in the first place and then not cancel when they confirm your ill-concieved ideas about how to run a restaurant. Have you ever made a mistake sunbeam or are all your rays precise? I mean, how long have the River Cafe been going? Do you think they wake up one morning and think 'how can we fuck our customers off, ah yes, make them confirm their commitment to a booking, not with money, but with an easy email or fax, which can be broken as long as we are informed.' Because it is not like you can call BA or Virgin Trains or the Opera House or Odeon Cinemas or book a caterer for a private do or even order a take away without handing over some money or payment details, which should you forfit your order, you will loose out to some extent. You all know this so why the incredulity?

so presumably you cancelled your booking and rebooked at Pizza Hut!

4 large hand dived ← does that make you a gp of 76%? (last week scallops were £22.50 per kilo)

just send them this from your website.......should do the trick.......... 'Simon having continuously sought to initiate, develop and deliver cuisine of the highest standard in the course of his hectic and widely varied career to date, then returned to his home Country in search of a new challenge that would enable him to take the next major step forward in making his name synonymous with a restaurant of the style and dimension seldom seen in the UK. This has now brought him together with the innovative talents of Patricia A Douglas proprietor of the startling new venture Alexanders at Limpsfield where Simon has absolute control over all matters gastronomic. Simon has developed an individual style incorporating all the classical factors but with a modern and unique elegance which he intends to continue to shape and mould as his reputation at Alexanders flourishes.'

Apparently, there's a notoriously stern dominatrix based in Whitley. ←

well done blacksmihs inn.....i'm sure you will be packed after this review. It was a thoroughly good read as well. In fact, I also thought AA Gill's review of the Fish & Chip Shop in Whitley was also brilliant and I never thought Gill would get to a place like this, let alone review it.

okay, on that basis.... there is a pie shop in walton-on-the-naze in essex. They do two pies, all served with mash and peas. Drink offering is basic and averages psend per family of four is £25. They make the pies every morning, starting at 4am. They have a farmer who naturally rears the meat specifically for them, another who grows potatoes specifically for them and another peas (which they freeze themselves for use in winter). The team in the kitchen are split between what they are good at - one mash, one peas, one pastry tops, one meat. They open at 11am and close at 5pm and serve approx 2000 people per week in peak time (seats about 50 people). All the staff have worked there from year dot, are well paid and happy within themselves. What they do is exceedingly good for what it is. If you were passing and needed someone to eat, you would be happy to have eaten there. Are they in Michelin. No. They are not even recognised by anyone. But take my word for it, they are exceedingly good at what they do. So I think comparing like for like is important, but one has to accept that one should not get bogged down in Michelin as there are lots of good places not in it, in it without comendation and in it with comendation that is above what the likes of say Harden's, Jay Rayner, Terry Durack, Matthew Norman, Good Food Guide, AA Guide. In the age of egullet and other reference to web opinions, it seems Michelin is being used as a league table/ofsted guide...in that those that subscribe to it think it is great and reliable and those that don't, don't bother with it but rely on what they see/witness for themselves. Which is why I get so irate when I here people say 'I'm was/a Michelin starred chef so I know what's best.' As for most undeserved Michelin star my vote goes to The New Angel in Darthmouth, two stars Midsummer House Cambridge and three stars...haven't eaten in any! Bib is the Mistley Thorne. And finally, someone asked me to give examples of Italian/French not rocgnised by Michelin over England - Chateau de Montreuil, France and Matricianella, Piazza San Lorenzo, Rome.

The great thing about restaurants/pub/eateries is that, as long as the establishment is generally sound, which is demonstrated in a number of ways - how succesful it is, atmospher, reviews etc - then anyone choosing to work there, whether it be for a short term fix or long term career, will be drawn into the general conviviality that goes with such places. It is the same in any job as in any walk of life. If he culture at the top breeds a general sense of well being, this should filter down. Everyone knows what is expected of them and for what purpose. It is all a means to an end and everyone is to gain if every cog turns. Those that don't believe they will gain finacially should move on if financial gain is all they are after. If they are working for an amount that does not sustain them, they should not start there in the first place. But when they are there, they should give everything that is asked of them. If they have no clear direction, are not trained or informed then their impact on the customer will be limited. Of course there will be rotten apples who slip through but it should not rot the barrel. Which brings be on to Michelin. This forum seems to get carried away with who has been awarded stars or bibs when this only represents 5% of entries. I eat regularlly in non-starred, non-Michelin included places and feel they superceed Michelin entries. Have Michelin been there? When did they go? Can one individual assessing a premises on a cold January Monday lunchtime evaluate what this establishment might be like on a busy Saturday night in June? Sure they go to the starred places regularlly to ensure they are getting it right but I doubt a place will perform in the same way on Monday in January as they do on a Saturday in June? Why are some new places awarded so quickly....where is the proven consistency. I ate in a place today that gave my wife and I a small cup of delicious soup while we waited for my roast Partridge and braised lamb. It was not the sort of place that sent freebies or amuse bouche and I did not see anyone else recieve this. When I asked the waiter what it was for he said the chef/propietor had sent it to help our wine (a big red) go down while we waited. No ceremony, no fuss and no Michelin.... just a sense that something was needed for the 25 minute wait. In my view, Michelin in England is overratted. Places with 1 star in Italy and France are better than English 2 or 3 stars. We're getting better but we are not there yet.

I like the look of this - especially cod & chicken skin. Had a look at your site/forum and look forward to visiting. Have you come accross a sweet red wine from Italy - Moscato Rosa, Franz Haas, Alto Adige. It is available from Liberty Wines. It is the most perfect match I have come accross for chocolate desserts - smells of rose petals and tastes like a decadent muscat. Your choclate pudding on your latest menu made me think of it. beepop