Jon Tseng

True. The theme park metaphor is very spt. The difference between Fat Duck and a Pierre Gagnaire is that PG turns out new dishes at a drop of the hat where as the Fat Duck menu never changes. For all the innovations behind the scenes in the lab its a shocker how few seem to make their way onto the degustation. That gap is what puts the top notch Paris ***s on a different level to the UKs (the same argument can be applied e.g. ADPA or Ambroisie versus Gordon-will-you-have-lamb-canon-or-beef-fillet-on-the-degustation-again-this-time-Ramsay at RHR). I guess the difference between a theme park an a real park is that a real park you come back to again and again. A theme park you only ever go once. Although in his defense Heston has always said the dishes undergo constant tweaks, even if the menu descriptive never changes - I'm sure many backroom innovations creep in this way. Also NB the Chez Nico argument. Nico Ladenis always argued that he figured out the perfect dishes and once he had them figured he put them on the menu and never really changed them (or words to that effect). It's also churlish to dismiss Heston as a flash in the pan. I'm sure Paul Bocuse was a flash in the pan once everyone had figured out nouvelle cuisine. Hey once everyone had figured out how to systemise cuisine along Escoffier's lines what new was there to add? And once you knew you had to make a big piece montee what was the point of keeping Careme on the payroll? Chef makes innovation. Innovation becomes accepted and commonplace. So what? Takes nothing away from the initial innovation. J

I have read this, but it is in John Campbell's Formulas for Flavour I believe.Never tried to cook it though so would be interested in the results - although I can only assume its pretty bloody good judging by the rest of the book. ← Ah, good spot. GR's Passion for Flavour I was thinking about. Basically cooks risotto til 75% done, spreads it out thinly on baking tray to cool, stores, finishes at service with more stock, cheese etc. I got this impression this was the method used at Aubergine in the day. J

Don't no what their method is, but NB it is also possible to part cook a risotto, leave it to cool and then finish for service. There is a good description of this method in Gordon Ramsay's first book, Formulas for Flavour. J PS Leaving aside the food and concept I wish the Ooze folks the best of luck. It's a big risk taking on the financial and personal burdens of opening something like that in the West End. I'm sure enormous hours of effort have been put into it. All the best - I wish I could be as brave as them!

Ahh, there's nothing so pleasing on these boards as the gentle sound of fellatio. ← wuz discussing this chap over lunch yesterday actually I find him obsequious to a fault. Never forget him sliming to mum "so nice to see you again" on her first visit to RHR. Duh. My brother quite likes him though and thinks service always very warm. Credit where credit's due though. He' QB'ed the FoH for what a good decade or so and taken it to the top of the pile in London. No mean feat. Each to his own I suppose... J

yes but however much its awesomeness emma will always be first and foremost a college which is named after a jane austen movie and is from cambridge to boot

Say the book in Borders the other day. To be honest it didn't look remotely interesting Bought the Nobu West instead. Outstanding book, but pricy at thirty quid. J

Its an idea that should work in theory - almost exactly the same model as a pizza restaurant right? (in fact ooze menu very similar to chain pizza joint menu except rice not pizza) ie high gross margin fill-em-up-with-cheap-carbs dish. make money on high volumes, starters, wine. In practice you do wonder given thought whole point of good risotto is its NOT quick and instant cos of importance of lots of stirring etc. yes you can take shortcuts but then you often end up with a rice bake a la works canteen (although NB delia smiths oven baked risotto - effectively a savoury rice pudding isn't bad apparently) which is fine, but its not risotto. Basically I worry if they can make risotto "instant" without compromising its quality. Then again crap quality of product not necessarily bar to success - cf Square Pie "spot the microcosm of meat in the pie if you can" Company. We shall see. One-trick ponies do sometimes work (e.g. S&M cafe, square pie company, pizza express). So long as they're not too gimmicky (e.g. the infamous Blue Belt) J

Ye, as I said Macaron is more than decent as a local caff, but as far as being a serious patisserie its definitely a case of Could Do Better If They Tried. Which makes the Time Out award for best patisserie look a bit silly, I'm sorry to say. J

Yes and I think the crab tortellini (basically the degustation version of the famous crab lasagne) was simply that. One tortellini. Heck if I want pay seventy quid to be underfed I'll just go to Atelier J ps grabbed a quick bite at the bar at Maze last nite. very nice - remarkably unovercooked fish - and unlike atelier you actually get fed. Maze is to Atelier what Racine is to Galvin Bistro Moderne - the same thing just a bit earlier and a bit less "in".

This is effectively a riff on chefs consulting on in-flight catering (e.g. charlie trotter for united; shaun hill vineet bhatia et al for british airways; tetsuya for aussie airline or sing airline or something I forget), just a step up. One-upmanship right and, as has been pointed out, good branding. expect to see vac-packed AD "space meals" (viz the Fisher Price Space Pen) popping up in an upmarkey epicerie near you... J

How loud is it nowadays? Only thing I remember about the old room is it was so crowded you almost had to shout to make yourself heard across the table. perhaps some anechoic mirror mdf calfskin panels wouldn't go amiss... l8tr J

Good point Judging panel member: Kate Johns, Nudge pr. William Curley's PR: Nudge pr. Hmmm..... J ps although WC chocolates ARE awfully nice though...

He's a legend.

Had a slice of sacher from kipferl once, which i suppose should be good given its london's only austrian deli! actually always find it a bit underwhelming. i have a problem with the sacher torte recipe - all that sponge and only a thin layer of apricot jam. the balance just never seems right... J

No, as I recall the recipe is actually relatively simple. Off the top of my head its largely chocolate and water (warm maybe? cant remember). I think as you mix in the water the mixture really seizes up midway thru but later becomes looser and smoother. its really very interesting to make Pick up the book and see - its going for a song on amazon, and also has an interesting selectin of savoury recipes which use chocolate: ta J

If you're not after the offal I sort of agree - St John (in my experience anyhow) certainly gives you some of the best technical execution in London, but the food is very "does what it says on the label" simple. The same argument, however, could probably be applied to many Italien places e.g. River Cafe or Locanda Locatelli where if it says "piece of meat on a plate" on the menu description that is precisely what you get... I guess the simplicity is part of the beauty of it. How would you describe it? "post modernist dining"? "nouvelle nouvelle cuisine"? "retro nouvelle cuisine" even... l8tr J

They are remarkably good, it's true (especially the lemon and raspberry ones), but for the record I must say the best I've had -- or at least, the most indulgent -- came (iirc) from Melt. Massive ones made with chocolate, of course, and fresh ginger, extremely dark in the middle and you couldn't tell where the ganache-like (but not over-rich) filling ended and its casing began... wonderful. There weren't any there last time I went though, perhaps a one off? ← Thanks interesting. Not very familiar with melt. Nice website http://www.meltchocolates.com/kitchen.htm One interesting thing is that they mention they use water rather than cream-based ganaches. How unusual - I've seen water ganaches mentioend ni Chantal Coady's Chocolate book (and tried the recipe - amazingly it does work!), but never seen them deployed professionally before. l8tr J

Matthew I'm gobsmacked! I guess if u spent less time hanging out at Arbutus and Bonds you might be able to get out a bit more... Stephen: Ta! Yes pop me a pm when ur in town. Probably need to get some recs for good chinese in vancouver off you. I have a shocking void space in my knowledge on that front... l8tr J

I always remember the comment on the board from Canadian uber-chef David Hawksworth who worked with Jun at MPW and said he was one of the most talented chefs he had worked with (or words to that effect) Definitely an underrated talent. J

bugger that I've got arse all idea about racine. never been there in my life. though i hear portion size is generous, which is always a generous fallback. the other think to note is that racine is the archetypal "bistro modern" where talented chefs take a step back from haute to lower key more rustic cooking, recently aped by Galvin on baker st and Arbutus. I also think Chef Kristof is an example of this sort of offering, although it doesn't have a "name" chef. And as probably know this is all a rip-off of a similar trend in paris a few years back, I guess started by Christian Constant at Violin d'Ingres (always found it hugely amusing michelin gave him ** for it anyway even though that was exactly what he was tryign to avoid) l8tr J

and whats the odds ur gaff gets a gastropub star in the next couple of years... ? d'you reckon the boys from bibendum read eG?

bloody tourists! someone buy this man a copy of larousse...

for no research you managed to choose pretty well. always consider oranger (along with aubergine - note the ex-ramsay theme!) one of the more underrated of central london haute. Patara ditto for thai - never been in the London but the Singapore branch is very well regarded. And the wolesey is just a lovely establishment glad you enjoyed it J

Note however Gavroche got downgraded when Roux pere stepped back, but Waterside did not. And as we know Mich are never consistent - d'you reckon anthonys will finally get their star this year? l8tr J

By ricer I assume we mean big chunk thing with a lever you pull ("giant garlic press") rather than a vegetable mill where you turn the thing round and round (which I use - its good) Reblochon (being le grand fromage) would almost certainly the a sieve/tamis. Theres chat about it in Tom Aikens new book. Someone posted details but I can't remember for the life of me which of the multiple atelier threads on multiple foodie internet chat sites it went on! ta J