jayrayner

My colleague Terry Durack, who reviews for the Independent on Sunday here in the UK, put it best I think when he said: 'I am yet to find a bad restaurant that becomes a good one because I walk through the door.'

Brilliant. Do not apologise. We need more small people in restaurants. I'm particularly delighted to hear Galvin has at least four high chairs. I believe it's called progress.

As much a defamation as calling it a crustacean? ← fuck. I remember thinking to myself. Must check that. And then I didn't. V crap of me.

You can be sure that no one was more distressed by this dismal experience than I was. Remember, I was years away from becoming a restaurant critic. Although I went to restaurants regularly, I did not have the money to do so regularly so it was absolutely not a case of ennui or jaded palate. It was as I describe: dull, sombre, a misery and memorable only for that.

everyone else apart from little ol' me.... x ← And me.

For what it's worth... AT the time they were making the show last fall everybody involved - all the execs from top to bottom, the consultant British producers, ramsay himself - made it clear to me this wasn't going to be a food thing. Like so much out there this kind of thing is never likely to satisfy the majority of people who post on egullet, though it is fun to watch Paula hyperventilate about the damage being done to the 'culinary arts' like it's the fall of the western empire. It's reality tv. A bunch of people signed up for it. Nobody died. Though somebody in there did make me a rather impressive pannacotta.

go on, you've got me. dish! ←

Re the Ledbury don't watch this space. Not minded to review, for reasons I'll expand upon if any body is that interested, but they won't be. Re Taiwan Village, do watch this space. Fay Maschler was wrong, wrong, wrong.

the guardian restaurant reviewer is a veggie, how predictable. And they sent her to a place that doesn't have a vegetarian option whilst she might not find the bread exciting, i have tony's recipe and not only does it go well with parmesan butter and the like, it makes great chip butties! ← Don't worry. Kath's the editor of the magazine, so she sent herself. in other words, don't expect to see her become a regular. At the moment they are trying out people. Hence the week by week change.

Before. Atherton's claim to fame is to be the first British chef to do an unpaid stage there. Flinn was the first british chef to be a paid employee.

tragically I had to leave the country at very short (and bloody convenient) notice so couldn 't make it. Bet the bastards will get me this year...

It is, for the record, a complete coincidence and nobody is more dismayed by it than me (not least because I came out second). The only other time this has happened, was when I actually had eaten dinner with Matthew Fort, and I vowed never to do it again because it made both papers look silly. I didn't know anything about it until I opened the Guardian Weekend yesterday. Though we are owned by the same group, THe observer and, particularly, the Saturday edition of the Guardian, regard themselves as being in competition. We don't liaise. All I will say is that, after the total cack that has filled the Guardian space for so long since Matthew departed, it was refreshing to read someone who knew something about the subject at hand.

It's record in Britain, not Europe. Both Bocuse and the Auberge de L'Ill have held three for around 40 years, and I'm sure a bunch of other places can beat 22.

This is terribly self-referential because its by me. But anybody who wants to know a little more about the show will at least gather the odd fact.

That is low Ms Cavendish, very low. ← At the end of the piece she asks sniffily if children ever go there. The answer is yes and she should know: when she was editor of OFM she agreed to send me there with three two year olds (including my own) for what became a cover story. Bloody journalists, eh.

Lovely review. And from a squaddie too. And all that for £45 really is intriguing.

I'm with you Moby. Jonathan Meades is, and can be, a great writer, but since stepping back from the gig he has made like some whore whose suddenly become shocked by all the shagging going on in the brothel. This, remember was the guy who, more than any other critic, secured Marco's reputation. To rant now about the filthy celebrity business and to point to France as some eden, when top chefs there aren't made men unless they've got the legion d'honour, is simply bizzare. As to the book, yes the Sean Hill section is the best, probably because it is the least familliar but I defy anyone who bothers to waste as much time as we all do posting here not to be intrigued by it. Tough Cookies is a very good read.

Is that a regional type of sausage?

Obviously the 'cool' thing would be to say nothing, but it seems rather peculiar to have people misrepresenting my views when I'm around and reading so... I have never been a proponent of Molecular Gastronomy for its own sake. Indeed, on a number of occasions in my column I have expressed the fear that terrible things will be done in its name by young chefs watching the likes of blumenthal, Adria et al and thinking metoo. I've referred to it as the 'liver in lager' moment and it will happen. (For what its worth I've also said that I am probably happiest eating in the classic French bistro, than anywhere else; hardly makes me a goggle-eyed supporter of the foams and jellies brigade.) I have though referred to MG with regards to the Fat Duck and Blumenthal's cooking, because others have referred to it in that way and it is a useful label for what is a base style of cooking that is a development on (but not removed from) the traditonal French method. Yes I am a huge fan of the Fat Duck. The Fat Duck is MG. therefore I am a fan of MG. No, not quite. Blumenthal has said time and time again that his method counts for nothing if the food doesn't taste nice, and it does taste nice. very. that's why I like it. Re the menu, yes there are a number of dishes which, according to their description, have remained the same for a number of years. But all of them have evolved over that time. (The quail jelly, with pea puree and foie gras parfait today is nothing like it was four or five years ago) They are constantly changing and being refined. In any case so many of the FD's dishes are so good - so far ahead of many of those offered by competitors - I'd be distraught if they came off the menu. There is also very little difference between the maintanence of those core dishes at the FD, and what they do at, say, the Auberge d L'ill where some of the offerings have been on the menu for over 40 years. As with the Auberge - which I adored on my one visit - I am attracted to a restaurant and a chef who knows what he wants to do and does it surpemely well. Yes of course, if you wanted to go there six times a year, you might find it limiting. But that is not the way either I or the readers of my column in the Observer think about three star restaurnats. That is a fetish that only a very few could either afford or enjoy. As to me not entertaining you, well Dick, there's nowt I can do about that save for put tassels on my nipples and strart siging the score from Gypsy, but I really don't have the hips for it. Not any more.

SOrry. Just noticed the Nigel slater thing. That is intriguing. Will read with interest.

On first blush it seems that your editor, Ms. Reichl, may have pulled rank and installed "Dark Roast" in lieu of "D is for Drinking", however there is an unattributed piece called "Just Drinks" that mentions Match EC1, Match Bar, The Cork and Bottle Wine Bar and Cross Bar. And Nigel Slater offers "The Tables Have Turned", an article on . . . wait for it . . . British restaurant critics. ← Ah, the no-byline thing. That's the way to keep the uppity journos in their place. Yes, that drinks piece is me. I suspect they'll be some round up of names somewhere in 2point.

THe March issue of Saveur has a piece on the differences between US and UK restaurant critics by, er, me. It goes into all this stuff. ← Congratulations to Jay Rayner for his article in Saveur entitled "Diatribes for Dinner" which does indeed explain why British critics feel a compunction to dish spleen or merely offal. There is an interesting historical slant to the piece as well, although it doesn't mention Craig Brown, whom I had thought was in the vanguard of eatertainment reviewers. My only real complaint with the piece was that--at less than 40 column inches--it was even shorter, if only slightly, than Michael Winner. By the way, Gourmet magazine this month scours London. ← ANd thank you. Believe me I could have gone on for another thousand words. Re Craig Brown - he was great, and perfectly fit the model of the journeyman writer thrust into the gig, but historically he's not really more relevant than any of the others. thanks for the heads up on the London Gourmet. Am meant to have a small bit in there (D is for drinks) and didn't know when it was out.

Bar Marina we are all at least national reviewers. Also Robert Cockroft of the Yorkshire Post has been shortlisted in the glenfiddichs at various times.

Trust me, They party-ed good and hard at the awards party in London on Thursday night.

Readers vote for best restaurant; panel of judges choose best newcomer. For what it's worth my shortlist for best newcomer was 1. Leon 2. Anthony's ...simply because Leon really does break the mold. Anyway I'm v pleased with the result all round.