Jon Tseng

Coren is making the classic mistake of confusing abuse with eloquence. Common hallmark of a second rate mind and a third rate writer. Actually, I make the same mistake frequently. You bunch of morons. J

Although Hibiscus and Tante Claire both lost stars when they relocated...

Well my bet it it'll called "Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley" Just a hunch... What will be interesting will be whether the two stars follow MW, petrus, neither or both... J

Whatis up with this place? It does seem to be something of a troublesome site. Too grand for its own good perhaps? (let's face it I doubt they get many walk-ins. The same would be true of any country house restuarant, but I assume its exacerbated by the grandeus). Reminds me of the old Ortolan site (that also seemed have issues getting to work pre and post -JBR) J

to be honest I wouldn't believe much of what I read in the mail nowadays (viz the recent Murat settlement or try reading Flat Earth News) Given the outraged tone of the article I think its likely either untrue, highly exaggerated or at he's hugely one sided. Don't fall for it... J

Think I've seen em in selfridges before. maybe harrods too? obviously silly pricing. not convinced end of the day its just an egg right? (this argument definitely applies to ducks eggs versus hens eggs. scramble the b*stards and you'd struggle to tell the difference) * J * although i would add that i've had doves eggs and they are quite different. the white is a bit weird sort of translucent and gelatinous rather than, er, white.

Jean Sulpice, Veyrat alumnus who won his first star at L'Oxalys (Val Thorens) aged 28ish. Not your average ski resort chef.

I've been a few times - not in recent weeks as theres always a massive sodding queue. But I have positive opinions of the place. The food is generally tasty, noodle based. Yes its not "authentic" hk noodle bar (or taiwanese snack joint for that matter) but to be frank it was never going to be, given mr yaus penchant for putting his spin on things. I've been pleasantly impressed by the stuff I've had there - noodles, dumplings etc. I noticed mr coren takes a bit of a crack at the guotie dumplings. I was actually quite impressed - you will notice (well he doesn't seem to) that they take the care to cook them with water in the frying pan, which then boils off and lets the bottoms pan fry. This gives you crispy bottoms and chewy dough on the top, which is as it should be. That contrasts with virtually every other asian fast food joint I know (Wagamamas being the obvious offender) where they just deep fry the "gyoza" whole, which leaves them dried out and leathery. Am actually quietly amused that the first time mr coren actually writes about food in one of his reviews he merely highlights his own limitations. Also good they have maintained the 3.50 price point. The cynics (and I admit I was one of them) were muttering they would dump that after the first few weeks (a la gordon ramsay joints opening at suspiciously low prices) but actually they still seem to be holding the price point for the time being. Good for them. Worth going if you can be fagged to wait for the queue and if you accept it for what it is - tasty-asian-canteen, not hakkasan-on-the-cheap. J PS am also slightly puzzled why mr coren seems so pleased to have spotted that on a fixed price menu some items are loss leaders and some items are cash cows. clearly his sort have never have to encounter pound shops...

She also wrote a Passion For Chocolate which is an excellent translation of the works of top Lyon patissier Bernachon for the home cook. Really well rounded selection of cakes, patiesserie, chocolates etc. J

patricia wells "cuisince actuelle" (aka "simply french") does a good job of translated joel robuschon late 80s full blown smells and bells *** french cooking for the home kithcen.

Is this it? "Of course one can 'go too far' and except in directions in which we can go too far there is no interest in going at all; and only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out just how far one can go." quoting T.S. Elliot on page 191 Kate ← The other option to try in future is to search with the Amazon search inside the book facility. Often it'll find it and let you view the relevant page ta J

I dropped in earlier this week. It's ok but the food so far is somewhat undistinguished. I think the chef has form but he will need time to adapt from being a regional french ** to the big city lights. J

Correct - that's the principle behind English fry-up right? A bit of everything on the plate, leave the diner to make his or her own combinations... On the "jumbled mess" style of haute cuisine yup, its increasingly common in cutting edge restaurants to bung a load of different ingredients on the plate (often involve some sort of avant-garde combinations). This is the stylistic opposite of, say, a Locatelli or a St John where "Grill mackeral" will often mean exactly that - a piece of grilled fish, unadorned, on a plate. That's not to say this style is necessarily a bad thing. Nuno at Bacchus is brilliant at chucking together four, five, six different things on a plate which, remarkably seem to meld well together. The chaps at Texture are also good at that. But I quite agree if you're not careful it can become a bit of a mess. The other issue with this approach of food is that you often don't seem to get as much variation in cooking method - no outright crispy-deep-fry or slow-braised dishes or obviously grand roasted piece of fillet. everything seems a melange of general soft, sous-videy type mush with the ocassional bit of indeterminate crunchy stuff thrown in. J

Well my first thought is order the alinea book on the US site amazon.com. Its listing for $31.50 (abt £16) at the moment. Even with international postage thrown in you'll be streets ahead... J

I didn't say they wouldn't be able to tell the difference, merely that they would enjoy just as much a lesser restaurant, simply because they wouldn't know any better. Most people of limited dining experience tend to be impressed by the surroundings, service and pretty plating of dishes, as well as the food (IMO), things that you can get at places less expensive than RHR for instance. As you point out yourself your first experience was le Manoir and it was a world apart but where had you been eating prior to that? How do you know that you wouldn't have been as impressed eating the £35 lunch at the Connaught for instance? I racked up £500 at the Waterside Inn once, it was a fabulous meal and lives long in the memory however, impressive as it was, in hindsight and with more experience I reckon that foodwise it probably falls outside my top ten meals. ← I suspect this is a rehash of the expectations versus enjoyment argument. You derive more joy from a cheap meal that beats expectations than an expensive meal that only meets them. Or your first crack at a * cheapo lunchtime prixe fixed with have more wow that your fifteieth *** a la carte later on in your career. Personally I would add I had a storming garlic mayo burger from GBK for supper today. Cooked lovely a rare inside with smashing garlicy mayo - I expected BK, got GBK and for six quid eighty I was well pleased. Case in point. J On the pricing front the most I've got to is the EUR200-250 going rate for a *** French tasting menu (don't really want to know what that is in pounds) - but NB I normally order tap water rather than booze...

Haven't been for a while, but word on the street it isn't what it once was (recently sneaked onto a list of UKs most overrated restaurants by an alternative guide). My experiences in the past have ranged from the solid to the good, but not necessarily overwhelming. As you allude, Bruce's style of cooking doesn't lend itself to the fireworks of the old Harveys. Having said that I suspect Chez Bruce still retains the dubious distinction of "Best Restaurant South of the River" (especially with the departures of Glas and Putney Bridge), although Magdalen may be pushing it close. I wonder if we will ever see a two star south of the thames but north of the M25 ever again? J

Been a few times recently. The food is imaginative, exquisitely presented and well prepared. On the debit side however portion size is small and its overpriced for what it is. As I see it, it's the only establishment in the GR stable which has its own distinctive voice. Or to put it another way if you were served a plate blind from Savoy, RHR, Petrus (for the moment), GR@RHR or any of the miscellanous foreign ventures you'd be hard pressed to tell where it was from. If you had a plate from Maze (even full a la carte size) you'd know straightway. I'm also impressed how the front of house have adapted to the small plates regime. Given the number of covers its no mean logistical feat getting that many plates out of the kitchen on time in a busy evening service. Having said that, for my money, I'd still prefer to go across the road to Texture (which I revisited recently) where the food is edgier, not quite as immaculate but much better value. Any where they have parmesan crisps to die for. But that's just personal preference - I'd take a client to Maze, but I'd take a foodie to Texture. J PS also NB Maze is a two services, seven days a week operation, which is convenient if you want somewhere for a sat lunch, sunday or a bank holiday...

if by politely, you mean he fawns and drools over you while asking? he should pay my dry cleaning. ← Have to say I'm with Scott on this one. Remember him obsequiously welcoming mum back to RHR, despite the fact she'd never been there before! (although to be fair we had gone to aubergine once) J

As people have pointed outs not exactly standard operating procedure, it is something you come across at higher end places, particular the very gallic sort (am thinking Gavroche, Waterside etc.) Actually in practice its not that arbitary. A half decent front of house should be able to figure out who is the nominal host, either from the booking or from the behaviour of the guests when they arrive, how they interact, when they are shown to the table. Or to turn the issue round, if there IS a particular host (e.g. if its a business dinner) it is generally pretty apparent if you're a maitre d' with a reasonable set of brains. Of course when theres not an obvious host - particularly its a couple - that when the restaurant falls back on giving the prices to the bloke. Thats why the practice is often misidentified as "prices for the blokes" rather than "prices for the host". And sometimes they do simply ask who is the host - have def had it happen to me but can't quite remember where (maybe it was JC at RHR). ------------------ On a slightly seperate note I'm slightly disconcerted by peoples' willingness to think the worst of poor ms darroze. I'd be the first to admit coming in and setting up shop in a corporate deal in a strange city would be a challenge for the best of us (ADNY springs to mind). Nonetheless I prefer to show the common courtesy of at least letting ms darroze show her colours before letting rip. Or rather turn it around. If you had the stress of coming in and setting up shop in a corporate deal in a strange city, would you like it if people were taking pot shots before you'd even fired up the piano? Just my point of view of course. People are free to differ. J ps and that isn't to say it couldn't be a complete f**king disaster - ducasse at the dorch springs to mind. on a philosophical note, half the secret of making a fist of a big opening is to set expectatations at the right level before you launch. Much of the remainder is knowing your market. Ducasse failed on the first point with his london launch and on the second with his nyc launch.

Look up Fuschia Dunlop's two books on Sichuanese food and Hunanese food. Both spicy and good.

Clearly someone who's never tried to cook a recipe from Larousse Gastronomique before. Great encylopaedia of French cookery, absolutely unworkable as a cookbook. In the UK the River Cafe cookbook is also notorious for its recipe for "Chocolate Nemesis", a wonderful-looking flourless chocolate cake which never actually set if you followed the published recipe...

Have def seen asparagus and raspberries on menu at RHR in the depths of winter...

Yes I've noticed that too. I've been to Maze/Maze Grill a couple of times in the last week and I noticed the doors on either side of the lobby were emblazoned "MAZE GORDON RAMSAY". It struck me as a little odd at the time, give Maze is the probably the branch of GRRH which is most associated with its chef de cuisince rather that GR himself. It seems odd that Angela Hartnetts Menu is distinctively branded while Jason Atherton's Maze isn't? I suppose it makes sense from a franchising perspective (GR is still by far the dominant name in the group) but I do wonder what Jason Atherton thinks of that? After all Jason could have created Maze without Gordon. No way Gordon could have created Maze without Jason. J

I suspect the solution is to shop abroad. Interesting that when Macaron opened in London a couple of years back (not a great pat, I hasten to add but better than nothing) the pastry chef was from France. J

Sketch lunch (lecture room) - amazing variety of doodads. Three or four mini starters, two or three mini deserts plus main course. The Capital lunch - unlike most cheapo lunches they offer a decent number of choices - five or six for each course. And they serve on Sat and Sun. Gavroche set lunch is slightly out of the price range at 48 quid but includes half a bot of decent wine plus mineral water and is excellent.