Fibilou

Will there be pictures ? ← And if there are, then who is going to go first...? Cheers Thom ← I don't have one so you will have to

I also do not see the point in the government legislating against battery farming in the UK without banning the sale of battery produced products in the UK - because all that will happen is that the market in UK battery eggs will be replaced y eggs from Argentina and Spain, where they have no qualms about animal welfare - which will be really great for the already kiboshed british farming industry.

Quite agree with you Lapin on the dearth of anything mid range - it's either a £2.50 fluff ball Tesco Economy Frozen Chicken or a £14 corn fed poulet d'or. Indeed, I am so appalled by the price of free range chicken that I have pretty much abandoned buying it as it's so dear. We now eat more lamb and beef than chicken. Which is probably very bad for us

Will there be pictures ? I wish I could bring myself to watch that programme, simply to make my husband realise why I won't buy cheap meat and eggs. He is starting to realise the difference in quality between economy and cornfed chicken, though it's been a slow process ! However, unless we all stop buying stuff like egg sandwiches, and items from the supermarket with eggs in, insist on only eating desserts in restaurants made with free range eggs, etc the free range market in fresh eggs and poulty won't even touch the top of the iceberg. There are so many foods which have an egg content in them, and the producers aren't interested in chicken welfare, just cashflow. The market for battery eggs and chickens is massive, and raw poultry adn eggs sold direct to consumers is only a tiny bit of it. Every time we go to buy something like a pancake, a glazed sausage roll for lunch from a baker, or meriwhite, or a bun in a cake shop or an egg mcmuffin, we should really think again. I am trying to wean myself off buying anything from the supermarket or other ready-made foods with an egg or chicken content, but it is really difficult.

Make sure you book your Taittinger tour well in advance - most of the houses will only take pre booked visitors. There are plenty of places to eat in Reims, leave it and just have a wander. there is an EXCELLENT boulangerie in the Boulevard Foch, just up from the Place d'Erlon. I can't remember its name - if you are going up the boulevard wtih the Place behind you, it is about 200m up on the right. Very modern looking, chocolatier et al. totally agree with Piglit on the Lallement tip ! You might scrap Sunday meals in favour of a brunch ? Crillon is wonderful (we stayed there when I got engaged) and very central. My random Paris thoughts... Don't bother with Laduree. The cakes are not that great, it's very expensive and the service is not good G detout on the Rue Tiquetonne (in the Les Halles are) is difficult to find, but a wonderful paradise of professional bakery ingredients to die for Get an ice cream at Bertillon on the Ile St Louis - not at one of the shops advertising the ice creams, but at the Bertillon shop itself. they have wonderful flavours, get a cone and then go and sit out on the little embankment under the bridge by the Tour d'Argent. The salted butter caramel ice cream is out of this world. It's in the Rue St Louis, a trick to find but persevere. I am sure I will have more throughout the day

Thankyou all. Clotilde, I would like to say a HUUUUUGE thankyou for your blog entry which lead me to this wonderful establishment to start with, you are a star ! Can't wait to come back to Paris soon

Does anyone know if it's open on a Monday ?

I have had to ask people to control their foul children (5* hotel - and they were residents) restaurant on two separate occassions. Occasion one was a screaming baby. I informed them it was spoiling the occassion for the other diners and maybe she would like to take it up to their room to calm it down, please. Occasion two was three toddlers running around the restaurant on a sunday lunch. Fun when there's hot carving trolleys and waiters carrying large, heavy trays of hot food on their shoulders. I informed them that there was likely to be an accident with their precious little brats unless they sat them down. On both occasions the parents were embarassed into making the children behave and I received thanks from the nearby diners. Piccawicca, the concept of forefeeding a child forcefed liver is delightful. Imagine what that child's liver could be called "free range foie gras-fed foie d'enfant" On the flipside I have also defended a breastfeeding mother from a nasty old man who was making a real fuss over it. You couldn't see a thing, and as far as I'm concerned, if I haven't noticed it while I've been in the lounge the whole time, it's not a problem. He said she had to leave so guess who left ? It wasn't her... For the record, when and if I have children, I will take them to good restaurants as soon as they will enjoy it. I was taken to restaurants as a child and loved it. But I was very well behaved and although I was a very fussy eater as a child (hard to believe now) I always enjoyed the experience, without having to be given a childrens' menu. I believe that the only way children are taught to socialise and behave appropriately is being taken out and shown how to behave, so if they are not allowed into restaurants, how will they learn ? For me it would be No badly behaved children (of ANY age). Good children welcomed for half portions and my biggest fantasy "all mobile phones will be confiscated and destroyed on sight"

Thanks for those piccies Julian ! That cocoa pod makes me smile. We were the only people when we were there that ate the candy floss - such a shame ! You had exactly the same candies as us. I still have the lollipops in my baking cupboard at home.. I also forgot to mention that Chef Lallement came out at the end of service to speak to every table. I wish him every success with his 3 stars.

Mmm, likewise. Any updates on the Ambassadeurs ? I know the breakfast we had there when we stayed was pretty delicious, so my tastebuds are salivating on all cylinders at the thought of brunch.

i love the really salty, sour Finnish salmiakki, especially those made by Fazer, it's toe curlingly savoury but addictive ! http://www.memoriesoffinland.com/product.a...roductid=RMS104 there are corner sweet shops all over the place in Finland with loose sweets, 50% of which are liquorice based.

We rarely have a mediocre meal out any more as we tend to save our restauranting for "splurges" on which we do very careful and drooling research. I can safely say every restaurant meal we have had in this last year has been highly memorable. I guess we all think there's no point in posting about the duller meals - after all, does anyone on Egullet want to read about the Office Christmas Party turkey dinner at Beefeater ? Maybe that's why people only post highlights adn lowlights - in the way that "police, camera, action" shows don't show the reality of being a copper (filling in endless forms) cos it's boring to the audience ? We save mediocre cuisine for home !

Sounds great. But can you open it in Eastbourne please, not Cambridge ? The only place I can get a decent hit is out of my own kitchen. Ta !

It's so true to life though. Late for shift ? You're bringing in doughnuts tomorrow It's your birthday ? You're bringing in cakes Forgotten half your kit ? You're bringing in doughnuts Made a cockup of a job ? You're bringing in loads of doughnuts and cakes tomorrow. Seriously, the life of a police officer in the UK revolves around food and the next food break !

we never got the chance to have kaiseki in Japan and are unlikely to go again. I i would really like to try it and wonder if there is anywhere that serves it in london or elsewhere. I appreciate that it's never going to be as good as the japanese experience, but I live in hope.

mmmmmmmmmmm my mouth is watering here !

i think no news is good news, Simon. We didn't get a table and we heard in October. Lucky you if you do get one.

you could easily make an apple pie in the small size. i have to say that I have never heard of a savoury irish apple pie thingy.

The thing is, where do you draw the line ? If you take the argument to its logical conclusion, then every vinaigrette, garnish, fumet should be credited to its original. So much copying and borrowing goes on that it would be impossible to list everything. In which case Heston Blumenthal should be up for theft of concept from Ferran Adria.

if what you are wanting is a traditional British apple pie then I beg you - don't bother with all the sugar, zest, raisins etc. It doesn't need all the fiddle. A traditional english one is made with a shortcrust pastry (half white fat eg. trex or butter to plain flour, rubbed in and made to a dough with cold water) and cooking apples such as bramleys. Nothing else, ok, maybe a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg. The apples are peeled and cored, then sliced. If you are feeling especially flashy you can top the pie (it must be a pie, not a tart) with sugar before baking. You can also make the pie with cheddar pastry, which is essentially the shortcrust with some cheese and a yolk. You may wish to sprinkle some sugar over your slices as you make the pie, but this depends on your sweet tooth and I find it uneccesary. Enjoy hot from the oven, preferably with Birds custard.

it's in Tinqueaux, the suburb of Reims - 40 Avenue Vaillent Couturier.

when are you going ? if you are going round a holiday period a lot of the parks have food stalls in them to get things like octopus balls, sweet potato chips etc, yakitori. they're great fun.

Sea Urchin. Vomit. Raw tomatoes Poached eggs. Even more vomit. I have never even eaten one, the thought of all that slippery white makes me physically retch Tea with milk in it Avocados

Although if he was referring to Grinsters, maybe "Grimness of New York" would have been more appropriate Dougal, I think a contest for the most Laundy-fied Cornish Pasty would be amusing.

You take pictures of the food at YOUR OWN WEDDING RECEPTION because you want to show off your macarons and candies to the fellow gulleteers !! Your honeymoon is planned around restaurants you want to visit. You no longer visist "tourist attractions" on holiday, you visit food markets, bakeries and restaurants. But not before thoroughly researching on E gullet first. You think "ooh, my best friend will luuurve this site" and can't wait to tell her