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chefmatt

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Posts posted by chefmatt

  1. As far as I remember Le Gavroche has a minimum spend, I assume this applies to a diner eating nothing. I would definitely ring the restaurant, it is inconsiderate not to when you know that your partner won't be eating. A diner not eating is not really any different to a no-show, a booking for a single diner is very different from a booking for two when one person isn't eating. Lastly I wouldn't enjoy a dinner either if my partner wasn't eating.

  2. Sounds like they were trying to make the service of the cheese less formal and introduce a little humour. I would have thought that for every customer they offend with their "patronising" comments there are 99 others who appreciate the lack of formality traditionally associated to cheese service in 2 and 3* restaurants. Don't bet that anyone has eaten in more top end restaurants than these guys, I know for a fact that a lot of restaurant staff in london spend their lives and a very large proportion of their wages eating in top end restaurants, to say that you have probably eaten in more, now that is patronising!

  3. Wsa going to start with Roux brothers French Country Cooking but should stay British, there are plenty of good ones.

    Richard Corrigan, both.

    Henry Harris Fifth Floor

    Nose to tail

    English Puddings, Mary Norwak

    Shaun Hill, Merchant House

    Le Gavroche (British?)

    If we do allow Roux then Desserts or Patisserie

    Of course Roast Chicken, I am fond of the second one, he begins to rant a bit which I love.

    Rowley Leigh, No Place Like home

    Alistair Little, Soho Cooking

    Leith's Cookery Bible if you need to find any trad english recipe quickly.

    My dad used to cook lovely recipes from Josceline Dimbleby, in particular some chicken, cashew and ginger number baked in a pumpkin and a lemon bombe wiVh loads of grated chocolate hiding in the middle.

    Lots more but these spring to mind right now

  4. Chilled “Kiwi” Gazpacho

    - Chicken Breast wrapped in parma ham with a salad of kiwi fruit.

    - Kiwi crème brulee

    that made me laugh :laugh:

    chicken wrapped and with various stuffings certainly seemed to become popular in the eighties.

    from what little experience i have of dining in the eighties i certainly remember my father cooking from josceline dimbleby such exotic recipes as a whole pumpkin filled with some sort of gingery, cashewy chickeny mix, it was delicious! a bombe with grated chocolate in the centre and lots of pavlovas.

    i made crepes suzette the other day and it was awesome. more sweet sauces should be mounted with butter and loaded with alcohol!

    the rise of m & s party food?

  5. Chilled “Kiwi” Gazpacho

    - Chicken Breast wrapped in parma ham with a salad of kiwi fruit.

    - Kiwi crème brulee

    that made me laugh :laugh:

    chicken wrapped and with various stuffings certainly seemed to become popular in the eighties.

    from what little experience i have of dining in the eighties i certainly remember my father cooking from josceline dimbleby such exotic recipes as a whole pumpkin filled with some sort of gingery, cashewy chickeny mix, it was delicious! a bombe with grated chocolate in the centre and lots of pavlovas.

    i made crepes suzette the other day and it was awesome. more sweet sauces should be mounted with butter and loaded with alcohol!

    the rise of m & s party food?

  6. Chilled “Kiwi” Gazpacho

    - Chicken Breast wrapped in parma ham with a salad of kiwi fruit.

    - Kiwi crème brulee

    that made me laugh :laugh:

    chicken wrapped and with various stuffings certainly seemed to become popular in the eighties.

    from what little experience i have of dining in the eighties i certainly remember my father cooking from josceline dimbleby such exotic recipes as a whole pumpkin filled with some sort of gingery, cashewy chickeny mix, it was delicious! a bombe with grated chocolate in the centre and lots of pavlovas.

    i made crepes suzette the other day and it was awesome. more sweet sauces should be mounted with butter and loaded with alcohol!

    the rise of m & s party food?

  7. as regards to critics, just take that facts and try to find a guide or person who tends to like the same restaurants as you. just be aware that critics need to be entertaining in what they write, hence the need for the critics in the larger publications writing less about food. it has to be accessible to non foodies who have other reasons for choosing a restaurant.

    also they dine out all the time and can get very tired of eating in a certain kind of establishment. if they have eaten in a string of michelin style places they are going to think the next trip to the anchor and hope is just the ticket. i know i have come back from trips to paris jam packed with 2 and 3 star places and the most welcome meal is the lamb chops and jacket potato i eat when i get home, if i had to write about it i would be telling everyone to get round to mine!

  8. the metro review of arbutus: http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/article.h...25&in_page_id=9

    please indicate where you got 'posh' from?  and your bizarre pizza-express-romantic-evening assertion?

    Apologies for the bad wording. I remember reading it on the tube about a month ago. Maybe it was the London Paper/Lite, which would explain the expression being used (as opposed to your far better written online review).

    I know plenty of people who think Pizza Express is a fantastic place to dine. They are great people, they just don't care about food. To them Arbutus would be elBulli.

    I think what you say here is that people who think pizza express is a fantastic place to dine (me) are great people (thanks), they just don't care about food, hence I don't care about food according to your statement, you do not leave room for exceptions. Then it follows that when "them" (me) goes to Arbutus I obviously think it is El Bulli ! and you are moaning about my logic!

  9. oh yes very pleasurable when you are surrounded by midges, i have no problem with old fashioned but i do have a problem with being ripped off. also there is a very big difference between old fashioned and outdated. do they still come round and show you plated versions of the desserts with plastic balls of ice cream where the real ones would normally be? hmmmmm classy

    i also understand having a certain sentementality for a restaurant, i have several now that i have in my memory as wonderful even though i know now that they have gone down hill and i would try to avoid going back to ruin the memory, but if i did i would be nothing less than completely objective.

    perhaps i went to the other waterside inn in bray, you know the crap one!

  10. on the subject of Hakkasan and music and atmosphere etc etc, it would be interesting to know how far you could push the boundries of comfortable eating whilst still serving michelin worthy food and gaining a star.  could you serve it in a greasy spoon and get a star, in a night club with hard house thumping all around, in a strip club?  i am not sure if michelin really know and just seem to pick and choose

    Well every year I am miffed that Michelin never pay the kitchen in my house a visit. For years now I have been serving consistent cuisine, using the best ingredients, with both classic and modern techniques. Although I double up as front of house, service is excellent. The guests that dine there rarely complain and I have had some amazing feedback. I think the fact that Michelin do not visit my kitchen, shows a real bias.

    can i get a table tonight for 4 at 8 pm please, i would like the tasting menu :raz:

  11. on the subject of Hakkasan and music and atmosphere etc etc, it would be interesting to know how far you could push the boundries of comfortable eating whilst still serving michelin worthy food and gaining a star. could you serve it in a greasy spoon and get a star, in a night club with hard house thumping all around, in a strip club? i am not sure if michelin really know and just seem to pick and choose

  12. cauliflower/capers, originally jean georges with scallops, the capers in the form of a puree with rasins, later lifted by gordon

    i'd say more originally the sicilians who produce wonderful capers and have been combining cauliflower and capers for centuries.

    oooooh aren't you the clever one! i stand corrected on the history of cauliflower and capers, except that i am pretty sure jean georges introduced the combo into modern haute cuisine menus, and knowing brett i reckon he has more knowledge about jean georges than the history of sicilian cooking!

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