jayrayner

Rayner, if you rate Everitt Matthias so much, why don't you get him to write something for OFM? Michael, the reason I don't get him to write for OFM is because (and we may be about to get to the crux of something here) I AM NOT THE EDITOR OF OFM. I just write for it. I can, like one of baghot's old queens, advise, encourage and warn but that's about it. I was kinda wondering why you thought OFM's 'inevitable failure' as you put it, would be down to me. It's all a little clearer. You have imbuded me with more power than have.

tragically it's about 18 months since last I went so this is from memory it's a two/ three/ four course deal - going from around £23 - £30 at lunchtime and £27 to £45 in the evenings. That's full choice from the carte. I'm terrible at wine lists. Have no memory at all. Still - all in for the works I would be looking at £150 for two for dinner.

I am a huge fan and when ever I hear bad reports - which do occurr occasionally - I question the sanity of the reportee. David Everitt Matthias is, I think, one of the unsung heroes of the British restaurant world: he's been doing his thing for the best part of 15 years, turning out remarkably intense and earthy yet precise food from a tiny kitchen, with very little fan fare. Ask people to name England's 11 two stars and it's probably the one that will be forgotten. (He recently increased the size of the brigade by 50%; there are now three of them). He likes robust ingredients - slow cooked shoulder of lamb roasted in caul; black pudding; richly smoked bacon; 'risotto' of pearl barley, lovage soup - and combines them in a way which makes total sense. His wife, Helen, does front of house with unstudied ease. All round it's what a great restaurant should be. I'm sorry. I appear to have dribbled into my keyboard.

The restaurant in Harrow is (drum roll)... The Golden Palace and it is rather fine, particularly for Dim Sum. 146 -150 Station Rd, tel 020 8863 2333 Also give big up on hunan. I think, Tony, Mr Peng took an instant dislike to you (to save time.)

It is Tel 020 7734 5144

I can reccomend the chef's food, but only from an experience at Lords of the Manor, where he was prior to the Vineyard. Well on Blumenthal teritory (with whom he spent a few weeks I think): slow cooked meat, savoury ice creams etc. V precise. v good. As to the hotel, have heard mixed reports - along the lines of dynasty amid the berkshire countryside.

Er, no. Im just looking for a displacement activty from what I should be doing which is working up a proposal for a book which will drive you nuts if it's ever published. BTW - what's an analogy?

And liking the Little Chef All Day Breakfast makes you the perfect choice for what exactly, apart from a stomach pump and a handful of anti-psychotics?

I tend to go to Yo Sushi for all the things that aren't sushi: the little bowls of teriyaki chicken that aren't really, the gyoza that are too deep fried (if such a thing is possible), the crispy fried shards of salmon. All this said I do of course eat the sushi too. As I said, no shame.

I WASN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR POINT IT. I WASN'T RESPONSIBLE. NOT ME. HONEST. Mind you, it was terribly useful when I needed to buy some very bad food in Freiburg recently, 'an I got myself a boy too. It's exactly the kind of thing you want from a fine liberal newspaper, so stop whining. I'm guessing your ridicule is just a cover to disguise how helpful you've found it. You're probably to found on Bessborough Road every evening, clutching a copy, stopping passers by and pointing madly at the pictures of saveloys, as the saliva dribbles down your chin.

Okay. Burger King Onion Rings. THey're so round and soooo crunchy. KFC, natch - but only those scrawny wing pieces so I can chew all the bones. I also used to like the bright red spare ribs they used to do and which you can still find occasionally in those KFC's that aren't but have names like DFR (Dixie Fried Rat) or some such. THose big smoked sausages they throw in the deep fat fryers north of the border. A 12inch American hot from my nearby Pizza Chalet. And finally Yo Sushi. Oh the shame of it. The shame of it. I'll never be paid to eat lunch in this town again.

You don't actually believe what you read in the papers do you? We love lists in the public prints though most of them, obviously, are more than a little specious. That list was five 'elegant' restaurants - top or otherwise. And, of course, the definition of elegance is entirely fluid. I did nominate Petrus - and wrote the piece afresh - because I think it has a particular formality and style which, while not always endearing, is certainly striking. They know the mood they are trying to create and I think they pull it off. And Wareing is a very good chef. I was asked to provide the one in London and that was the one I chose. If I opened the floor to suggestions from among the hyper knowledgable here you would I'm sure come up with a whole bunch of competing reccomendations. But hey, I'm the one employed by the Observer so I'm the one who got to chose.

Simon can we have 'actually terribly well written' for the paperback? I'll be walking on air all day after that; it's the kind of boost slithering stomach scrapers need. j ps. don't expect me to get involved in this one. After getting into a fight at a party and being accused of dissing my own paper, both because of my posts here, it's more than my expense account is worth.

Simon. Would you become my publisher please? The wash down with the oily rag sounds awfully inviting.

THis is excellent stuff. Keep it coming. My own contribution: City Rhodes at about 65 covers instead of usual 110 at lunch, but GR put that down to half-term-post jubilee slacking. have my own table shortly for Lolas (job demands discretion) but had to be flexible to get it.

As, pace my Gary Rhodes thread, i am trying to co-opt your on the ground intelligence for my own research purposes, I have generously decided to frame a few questions for you all. I am attempting to put together a piece on the state of the restaurant business for the magazine we shall not name. It is clear that at the top end things are tight but finding out how tight is tough. restaurateurs keep their cards close to their chest, and records at companies house only tell you what was happening then, not what is happening now. So... I was intrigued by the post about Petrus which said that only four tables were full at a recent lunch. I'd adore any more reports like that. Big name restaurants full or empty? Anybody able to get a table at RHR within 24 hours? Are places that were once turning tables not now doing so? Any new cheap deals. I would love to hear your expert opinion. Unless of course it sticks in your (real) gullet to help a stinking running dog of the press with his research.

The Connaught kitchen will be under Angela Hartnett, currently out in Dubai for Ramsay, and should, therefore, be some version of Italian of the Locatelli variety. Weird as it may sound.

Riverside restaurant, West Bay, Dorset for very good simply prepared fish dishes down by the sea. Not a picturesque seaside town; more of a small working fishing port. Though beware: I supsect it's th ekind of place that would overdose in bunting this weekend. Anyway, think of me. I'm spending the bloody weekend in the West Midlands with the inlaws. In the Black Country eating out means a bag of chips scoffed while wlaking along the Hagley Road.

Use slightly stale brioche instead of white bread. (Too fresh and it will fall apart in the egg)

Yvonne, reading my book on a plane seems a very good idea indeed. I mean, what are the chances of your plane crashing while you are reading a book about plane crashes? Simply by carrying the book you'll be upping your chances. You see, fate just hates irony.

Thankyou. All brillant stuff so far. Wilfrid, which programme was the Nolan sisters 'event'? Samantha - how come you looked after his kids? (You can do this by messenger if you prefer.) And re the dairy question you raise, watching him cook it always strikes me that what he's doing is restaurant kitchen food without any compromises. ANy one who has stood in a top flight kitchen for even 15 minutes will know that they use vast amounts of salt, butter, cream. That's one of the things I like about him. that he just gets on and does it, without apologising. Anybody think he ought to be tailoring his recipes for perceived domestic tastes? BTW - where's Majumdar?

I have shortly to interview Gary Rhodes for a large profile piece. My general opinion as it stands is positive. Put aside the hair (which he has cut, thnak god) and he seems to have endured the desperate fripperies of televisual cookery, and kept true to his thing. His masterchef was oceans better than grossman's. His cookery year is serious stuff and his two flagship restaurants in London are still held in high regard, not least on this bulletin board. So, inform my opinions with yours. Has anybody eaten at the other Rhodes brasseries? What were they like. How useful are his cook books? Is he, to repeat myself, saint or sinner?

Gosh, M Foie Gras, that sounds like inside information. As I said to you in the real world it's important to be completely upfront here and declare any interests. Knowing that you were, say, PR consultant to the George - and, may I say, the best restaurant PR in Britain (no hyperbole here, chaps; she is the only reliable restaurnat pr in London) - would not detract from the fact that Mangeolles paid for himself on the French laundry trips. It's clearly important that we get our facts right here and don't libel people. In defence of myself - I never said that his dish tasted of snot; only that I have always thought tapioca, in any preparation, has the consistency of snot. Secondly, i didn't make the comparrison with Keller in my review because I didn't know about it. I was merely commenting on other peoples' info.

Good point about chef's moving on though restaurants selling themselves on old reviews is hardly new. There's a chinese place on beak street (I think it is) which has a review in the window by Michael Parkinson, circa 1977. Fact is most people looking at these reviews in windows a) don't pay attention to the date on them and b) don't know the chef has chnaged since then. Twas ever thus. On the updates column, well er yes but as I've said so many times before we - or at least I - don't attempt to produce something comprehensive. if you want that you have to go to a guide book. One person reviewing one place once a week can never be comprehensive. We give a general over view, as much of our own prejudices as anything else. My job is to produce a column about restaurants which firstly, is readable and secondly, is informative. I try to do both things at the same time but it doesn't always happen. All that said if I know about a change of chef I will say so, not that I think most readers care. People on this bulletin board certainly care. It would be sad if we didn't, given how interested we are in the subject. general readers are a different matter entirely.

I don't understand why the text that I pasted in the first time didn't appear. I'm going to try again. If it fails this time can someone let me know what I'm doing wrong Quote:: From the specials we went for the double braised pork in hot pot which, according to the menu, is ‘praised by food writers’ and is about so to be again. Slices of belly pork, some completely lean, some quite fatty, are cooked in a dense gravy until they all but fall apart on the chopsticks. The efforts to retrieve the shards of meat are well rewarded. And below is a softened stew of vegetables - onions, mushrooms, Chinese greens - which soak beautifully into a bowl of rice. Beside these a plate of king prawns in hot sweet sauce seemed only workmanlike, but that is simply because the competition was so great. ends